It is a disservice to God when we compare His love to the love of our earthly father.
God’s kind of love cannot be explained by human experience. It can only be known by revelation. When we truly know this love, we are filled with all the fullness of God.
This teaching draws from Pastor Chris Oyakhilome’s message “Love’s Dimensions” on Ephesians 3:14-19 GNT, and Pastor Dolapo Lawal’s teaching on “The Fatherhood of God.”
What Are the Dimensions of God’s Love?
Pastor Chris Oyakhilome teaches that God’s love has width, depth, and height. Let’s break it down:
1. How Wide Is God’s Love?
The width of God’s love is seen in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…”
God’s kind of love means being filled with the fullness and totality of God - John 1:16.
It is Agape love: self-giving, sacrificial, and unconditional.
Pastor Chris asks: If we are filled with the fullness of God, how far can our love go?
- Can it pursue the worst of sinners?
- Can it be patient and stretched?
- Is it forgiving? - Matthew 18:21-22
2. How Deep Is God’s Love?
The depth of God’s love is the intensity of it.
Ephesians 2:4 says “…that His love for us is so great…”
Romans 5:8 shows the depth: “God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
God’s heart burns for us. That’s why He gave His Son even when we didn’t deserve it.
3. How High Is God’s Love?
The height of God’s love is the loftiness of His character.
God’s love overlooks human weaknesses and failures.
It is so high that it drowns bitterness and accepts us even when we reject Him.
How God Fathers Us: Lessons from the Fatherhood of God
Pastor Dolapo Lawal teaches that we understand God’s kind of love by how He loved and fathered Jesus Christ.
Here’s how God showed love to Jesus, and how He shows it to us:
1. God Gives Us Identity
God is Jesus’ source and principal. He defined who Jesus was.
In the same way, *God gives us a new identity*. You are not who your past says you are. You are who God says you are.
2. God Declares He Is Pleased With Us
At Jesus’ baptism, God said “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased” - Matthew 3:17.
Jesus hadn’t done any ministry yet.
You don’t need to do anything to earn God’s love. He is already pleased with you. All we need to do is yield to Him.
3. God Teaches Us How to Love Like Him
God is ready to show us how to walk in His love - Psalm 32:7-8, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 AMPC.
God’s kind of love is not self-seeking, not easily offended, and not touchy.
Because we were paid for with the same blood of Christ, we should have the same value of love for everybody.
Conclusion:
Will You Swim in God’s Love?
God has already demonstrated His kind of love to us through the cross.
Now the question is: Can you love with the love of God?
It’s left for us to decide to dive in and swim in the ocean of God’s love.
Don’t settle for earthly definitions of love. Experience the Heart of the Father.