Love in Four Dimensions

Love in Four Dimensions

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus *said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. "Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? "Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. "If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."(John 3:1-21)

The cross is the yardstick that measures the love of God. So long as the cross remains silhouetted against the horizon of time man cast rest assured that God who created him and placed him  upon this earth is manifestly a God of love. Nature foes not cry aloud of the love of God for there are too many cruel and ugly things in nature along side of the beautiful and lovely. History is an excellent commentary upon the ways of God but history apart from the gospel does not convince us of the love of God. Surely the world of human affairs with all that we see about us of injustice and tragedy is not the place to become convinced of the fact of God’s love. The one all conclusive proof of God’s love is the cross which if it could speak would say: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” In these words of our text we find revealed the breadth and length, the height and depth of the love of God.

First: the breadth of the love of God. God so loved the world. World is the term used in Scripture in three different senses. In its first sense it means the universe of created things. In the beginning God created the world and all that therein. Its more usual meaning as it is found so frequently on the lips of Christ and the writers of the Epistles, it that of those evil forces which are opposed to God and goodness. Jesus says, “I have chosen you out of the world.” John says, “Little children love not the world.” The love of that world is deadly to faith and holiness. Its third sense is that which is employed here. It is the world of man that God loves. It is the world of men without distinction or exception.

God loves us all. Can we grasp what that means? He loves all who are seated in this auditorium. I wonder if we as we look over the people gathered here could say that to each one: “I love you.” I wonder if in all honesty and sincerity you could say to each one gathered here: “I love you. I have no feeling of jealousy, envy, hatred, animosity in my heart towards you?” he loves us all! It make no difference to Him what our nationality is, what the color of our skin happens to be, or what our talents are; He loves us. He loves all men no matter what condition they find themselves. He loves the prodigal who dwells in the swine pit; wasting his God given talents; the rebel who defies God’s authority; the skeptic who denies His existence; the ingrate who despises His love and goodness. God loves us all – all sorts and conditions of us.

God loves each one of us. It is not sufficient to think of God’s love for the world of men in general terms; we must personalize and understand that God loves me. Say to your own heart; “He loves me and gave Himself for me.” Just to say, “God so loved the world” is to become lost in that which is so vast, so cosmic, so impersonal. If the Scripture teaches us anything at all about God it teaches us that He is a personal God who is interested in each individual. He is so interested in you that the very hairs of your head are numbered and He knows you by name. He knows when a sparrow falls to the ground and you are much more valuable than it. God is in, love which each person of this world. You are not lost in the great mass of humanity. God loves all of you, God loves each of you.

Second: The length of the love of God. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” God so love that He gave. The test of love is the length to which it will go. Love is not love if it will not go all the way. For the soldier who gave his live on the battlefield for love of country, to the playmate who gave his life to rescue another playmate who was loved; to the missionary who died on the mission field out of love for God and man, the one test of love is the length to which it will go. Love gives. It is measured by what it does for and bestows upon the beloved. God could not love without giving and giving magnificently.

The love of God takes us to Bethlehem. The little babe silently sleeping in his mother’s arms is God’s gift of love to man. Christina Rossetti expressed it beautifully in her poem:

Love came down at Christmas, love all lovely, love divine;

Love was born at Christmas, stars and angels gave the sign.

The truth of God’s love takes out upon the highway of life where we behold the Son of God giving expression of love in the healing of the sick and blind and lame; in the words of instruction, comfort and sympathetic understanding that He spoke.

Immortal love forever full, forever glowing free,

Forever shared, forever whole, a never ending sea.

But warm sweet tender even yet a present help is He;

And faith has still its Olivet and love its Galilee.

The healing of His seamless dress is by our beds of pain;

We touch Him in life’s throng and press, and we are whole again.

But any full understanding of God’s love must take us to Calvary and stand with those “Who watched Him there.” Here we behold the full and complete expression of God’s love. We see Him giving Himself: “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.” God made not only a sacrifice of His Son on Calvary for the sin of the world: God gave Himself. “The Church of God which He has purchased with His own blood.” Here then is the supreme manifestation of the love of God for the world; here then is the length to which God is willing to go to show His love for each of us: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” “God commands His love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” 

Thirdly: The depth of the love of God. “That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish>” the plain intent of the love of God is to deliver man for the depth and death of sin – that “They should not perish.” This is not theology. The Bible clearly teaches that there is a heaven to gain, it just as clearly teaches that there is a hell to shun. If the grace of God in Christ does not snatch men from the depths of hell, all sin and degradation what chance of deliverance does man have.

Jesus came to the unlovely. He came not to call the righteous but the sinners to repentance. We can all love the lovable. We can respond to those who lavish their hearts upon us. But how many of us have that depth of love which is kind to the unthankful and the evil? Let a man prove false to us, let him flash his temper upon us, let him block our career, or eye us with scorn and hatred for him is born within us. A single act of neglect will sometime dry up the shallow pool of love that we have for another. But not so with the love of God. God so loved that whosoever believeth – whether rich or poor, lovely or unlovely, the guiltiest, foulest, most unclean – should not perish.

Jesus the Son of God became the son of man. Jesus crowned with the garment of heaven became wrapped in swaddling bands. He received the homage of angels accepted the denial of Peter. He who was worthy of the Father’s kiss accepted the kiss of Judas. He who wore the diadem of heaven traded it for a crown of thorns. He who reigned from the heights of glory became obedient unto death even the death on a cross. How unsearchable is the depth of His love for sinning man.

Fourthly: The height of the love of God. “But have everlasting life.” The height of God’s love is seen in the high and holy purpose it cherishes. God love the world of sinning, rebellious men; into that world He sent His only Son to live and die that man might be lifted out of the depths of sin unto the heights of eternity. “That where I am, there ye may be also.” 

If we would comprehend the height of God’s love we must leave cross – crowned Calvary and go into the garden of Joseph of Arimathea and hear the angel say concerning God’s Son, “He is not here, He is risen.” And now we hear Him say, “Because I live, ye too, shall live.” The knowledge of the height of God’s love answers the age old question of Job: “If a man die shall he live again?” The answer is yes, it is the purpose of God’s love that we might live eternally.

“And when the task on earth is done, when by thy grace the victory is won,

Even deaths cold wave I will not flee, since God through Jordan leadeth me.”

The height of God’s love leads out of the veil of tears into the land of endless joy. It leads through the valley of the shadow of death onto the mountain top of God’s presence. It leads us across the Jordan into the Promised Land of heaven where the saints immortal we shall dwell. In that land life shall be lived to the fullest, talents which in this life lie buried shall be unearthed and used; we shall see Him and be like Him in all His glorious perfection. There are no more powers of hell can prevail to mar our peace. There we “shall be filled with all the fullness of God.”

The height of God’s love leads us to this present moment, eternal life is something which we can have here and now. We can have this life which death cannot harm, which tribulation, and distress, persecution and famine are powerless to menace. But how can we have it? Our text discloses the answer – “whosoever believeth.” That whosoever includes each one of us. It includes all, it excludes none. Whosoever believeth in Jesus Christ shall be lifted out of the penalty of sin and given eternal life. This means more than intellectual assent. It means total commitment of self unto Christ as our Savior and Lord. It mans to cast ourselves just as we are upon Him.

Won’t you do that now? This matter is too important and too urgent to postpone. Suppose this were your last opportunity to hear of the breadth and length, height and depth of the love of God. What would you do? What will you do now?

Dr. Robert W Kirkpatrick

First Presbyterian Church, Hinton W VA, February 20, 1955