“I pray that you . . . may have power . . . to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” – Ephesians 3:17-18
“He measured the city with the rod and found it to be . . . as wide and high as it is long . . . I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” – Revelation 21:16,22
A simple square
Of length and width,
So distinct, and very clear.
If it is raised
And given height,
A cube it now becomes.
In three dimensions,
Volume calculated
By length times width times height.
I can determine
The amount of space
My cube occupies.
Multiply, I will
The length by width by height.
My basic math procedures
Will not suffice, however,
To measure the amount of love
My God has for me.
Little cubes
In the three space dimensions I know
Have capacity determined
By how long and wide and high.
But the love of God,
In dimensions unknown,
Has magnitude unbelievable!
Paul prayed
That we would have the power to grasp
How long and wide and high and deep
Is the love of Christ.
Four dimensions to the expanse of God’s love!
Exceeding all I know in this world alone,
Defying my calculations,
His love goes a dimension deeper.
Oh, Lord,
We need your love
To be as long as our lives endure,
As wide as our unfaithfulness,
As high as Heaven can take us,
And as deep as human misery goes.
Oh, Lord,
Your love’s volume
Covers all I know,
And all I don’t know.
We read of your love’s dimensions
In the vision you gave to John.
He saw the New Jerusalem
Come down from Heaven,
Measuring as long as it is wide as it is high –
A perfect cube.
And then He saw,
In that glorious city
Of length and width and height,
No temple did abide.
For the fourth dimension –
The depth of that city –
Is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb.
Beyond all comprehension,
Deeper than any physical glory could ever be,
Stands the love of God in Jesus,
The Lamb slain for you and me.
So when tempted to think
All is lost –
That we could have possibly exhausted
The length and width and height of
The love we grasp,
Remember the added dimension –
The depth –
The unfathomable depth –
That passes our understanding –
The depth of the love of Christ.
How long, how wide, how high
And – gloriously –
How deep
Is the love that makes me think
“Outside the box.”