By Jeff Ashcraft.
…neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39
Romans chapter 8, considered by many as the Bible’s greatest chapter, is packed with a “litany of privileges, securities, and assurances” (J. Piper) for the Christian. It crescendos to the profound truth that God’s love for each us is immeasurable and eternal. It has no boundaries of size or time.
The biggest thing most of us have likely ever thought about is the universe, the aggregate of all existing matter, energy and space and the place where we live. First of all, as big as it is, it is measurable. Scientist believe the observable universe (the sphere of space with Earth at the center which can be seen with eyes, telescopes, satellites or other instruments) is approximately 92 billion light-years across. In miles, that’s a nine with 26 zeros behind it! And to further complicate things, we have no idea just how large the unobservable universe is. Nearly everyone who studies these things agrees, however, that it does have a boundary somewhere. The point is the universe is beyond immensely gargantuan. Even still, its size cannot be compared to how unfathomably vast God’s love is for each of us. His love is infinite!
Secondly, the universe isn’t eternal. After all, Genesis tells us there was a beginning to the moon, planets, stars, galaxies and “all creation”. And we know from Revelation, there will be an end to it someday. Where do you read in the Bible that God’s love ever ends? Nowhere! God’s love is endless!
There is a great hymn called “The Love of God”, and its third verse beautifully describes (as best as we can with the human language) how great God’s love for us is. It says:
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!
Spend a few minutes contemplating and celebrating the abundance of God’s love for you today.
Jeff and his wife Sandi have been involved with Grace Hills since the first organizational meeting. Since then, their son, Isaac, came along. Jeff works at J.B. Hunt and serves with Sandi in the children’s ministry.