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FIRST-PERSON: Always loving

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EL CAJON, Calif. (BP) — More than a half-century ago a Chinese man named Liu Guojiang, 19, fell in love with Xu Chaoqin, 29, a widow with children. When Liu announced his intention to marry an older woman who already had children, he was rejected by friends and family. Liu and Xu married in secret and took up residence in a mountain cave in Jiangjin County.

The couple nearly starved. Over time, Liu carved 6,000 steps up the mountainside for his wife, and the couple lived in seclusion for over 50 years. One day Liu came in from his daily work and collapsed. Xu was devastated. “You promised me you’d take care of me,” she said, “and would always be with me until the day I died.”

Note the word: Always …

That’s a hard promise to keep. Fifty years is a long time, but it’s not forever. Without Christ, there is never an always. Without Him there’s no lasting hope, and even the greatest love stories come to an end. But with the Lord, there is always an always. The psalmist said, “I have set the LORD always before me,” and Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you always” (Psalm 16:8; Matthew 28:20). The apostle Paul said, “We are always confident …” (2 Corinthians 5:6), and “thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

Human love is a powerful force, but it’s a pale reflection of God’s love. God has always loved you and always will.

Four dimensional love

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In Ephesians 3:18-19 the apostle Paul prays for his readers to “comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height — to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge.” How interesting that Paul describes the love of God in terms of a cube. It is perfect in its symmetry. When C.S. Lewis wrote “The Chronicles of Narnia,” he presented the concept of something being larger on the inside than on the outside. For example, the children entered a wardrobe through the door and found a whole new world on the inside. It was much bigger inside than outside.

We can apply that principle to the cube-shaped love of God. Seen from without, it is flawlessly proportioned. Seen from within, it surpasses knowledge.

God’s love is always wide

Realizing, then, that we can’t measure God’s immeasurable love, let’s look at its four sides. The first thing to see about the love of God is its breadth. God’s love is broad enough for anyone who will respond to it. The Bible says, “He died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:15). His love knows no limits, has no boundaries, allows no prejudices, and excludes no sinners when they come to Him in repentance and faith.

God’s love is always long

What about the length of God’s love? How long has He loved us? He has always loved us and He always will. He loves us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). God knew and loved you before time began (2 Timothy 1:9), before you were born (Jeremiah 1:5), and before you were able to love Him in return (1 John 4:19).

And His love has no expiration date; it cannot decrease, diminish, fluctuate, or fail. Since God is self-existent and endless, His attributes are eternal and infinite.

God’s love is always deep

That brings us to the next dimension. How deep is His love? It’s deep enough to get to the bottom of all our sins and sorrows. Jesus came down from heaven into the sufferings of Calvary for us.

Romans 8:39 (NIV 1984) says “neither height nor depth … will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” No matter how far we fall or how low we go, God’s love is deeper still.

God’s love is always high

There’s also the height of His love. His love is as high as the heaven of heavens. No wonder Paul’s great prayer for the Ephesians was for them to comprehend and to know this love which passes knowledge, that they may be filled with the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:18-19).

Remind yourself today: He Loves Me. Always!