Compelling Love

God’s love is measureless and pure, as most clearly revealed by Jesus Christ.

John 1:18 declares, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into the world to reveal the love of God by laying down His life to take the judgment for the sins of the world upon Himself for all who believe.  For those who receive and follow Him, nothing can ever separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord:

John 3:16 (NKJV)
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Romans 8:38-39
³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul prays in Ephesians 3 that we as believers would “know the love Christ that passes knowledge”, and “be filled with all the fullness of God”.

Ephesians 3 (NKJV)
¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, ¹⁶ that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, ¹⁷ that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— ¹⁹ to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Inspired by the revelation of God’s love through Jesus Christ, Frederick M. Lehman published in 1917 a song entitled “The Love Of God”, with the following refrain:

Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Worship leader and songwriter Shelly E. Williams released a new song in 2016 inspired by this old hymn.  She writes on her blog, Feb 3, 2016:

(https://shellyejohnson.com/measureless-story-behind-the-song/)

“Measureless” – Story Behind the Song

“One of my favorite aspects of church music is the history. Some Sundays we sing songs that were written a year ago or a decade ago. And some Sundays we sing songs that were written centuries ago.  We get to be part of this beautiful history of God’s people singing God’s story, generation after generation.

“There’s an “old hymn” that I have been surprised to discover is largely unknown amongst many of my worship leader friends. It’s called “The Love of God”, and it was written in 1917 by a guy named Frederick Lehman. Frederick was dealing with some major financial issues and found himself working in a packing factory in Pasadena, California, moving thirty tons of lemons and oranges a day. Despite his circumstances, he was in awe of the goodness of God and began writing a song to describe the limitless love of God. He wrote the lyrics and melody but was still in need of a third verse.  It was then he remembered these beautiful words he had heard quoted recently:

Could we with ink the ocean fill and were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry,
Nor could the scroll contain the whole though stretched from sky to sky.

“Those lyrics were written on the wall of an insane asylum by an unknown inmate, but the words originally came from an eleventh-century Jewish poet from Germany named Meir Ben Isaac Nehorai.”

“Many of us may find ourselves in a similar state of desperation as the patient in that asylum who wrote those lyrics on his cell wall. And what’s so beautiful is that 100 years later, those words still ring with truth and application for our lives today.”

Speaking of the revelation of God’s love through Jesus Christ, John’s gospel concludes, “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.”  (John 21:25 NKJV)

Shelly E. Williams continues, “God’s love for us is absolutely unfathomable.  If we could truly grasp it, we would never even think of pursuing all the empty things this world has to offer.”

“I am so excited to finally share with you this brand new song, Measureless”!  Enjoy!”

MEASURELESS
Original Hymn Text by Frederick Lehman (1917)
New Words & Music by Shelly E. Johnson & Sean Hill

Verse 1
The love of God is greater than
A tongue or pen could tell
It reaches to the highest star
Beyond the depths of hell

Verse 2
If we could fill the seas with ink
Make pages of the sky
To write the love of God above
Would drain the oceans dry

Chorus
Oh, the love of God, How rich and pure
How boundless, oh how strong!
Forevermore it will endure
How measureless is His love

Verse 3
The sons of Adam lost in sin
By God’s great love were found
When on the cross, He fought for us
To win us Glory’s Crown

Chorus
Oh, the love of God, How rich and pure
How boundless, oh how strong!
Forevermore it will endure
How measureless is His love

Bridge
Beyond the highest of heights
Beneath the depths of the sea
Nothing on earth can contain
His endless love for me

Verse 4
When earthly things have passed away
And the sting of death is gone
The love of God will still remain
All measureless and strong!

Chorus
Oh, the love of God, How rich and pure
How boundless, oh how strong!
Forevermore it will endure
How measureless is His love

God has revealed his love through Jesus Christ, and poured out his love in our hearts, as Romans 5:5 declares, “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 3/16/2019, https://compellinglove.net/

Photo credits:
(1)  https://www.biblestudytools.com/john/3-16.html
(2) https://sermons.faithlife.com/sermons/230774-finding-your-identity-in-christ-(ephesians-3:14-21)
(3) https://slideplayer.com/slide/9950064/
(4) https://searching4christ.com/2016/07/14/so-much-more-in-jesus/
(5) https://www.verseoftheday.com/en/05052016/