In a recent divine service in Vienna in Austria, the Chief Apostle elucidated the dimensions of God’s love: the width of His grace, the length of His patience, the depth of His activity, and the height of the goal. There are limits, however.
“[That you] may be able 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; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” These words from Ephesians 3: 18–19 were the basis of the divine service Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider held on 21 June in the Austrian capital of Vienna.
In the Bible text, the Apostle “is praying for the congregation that it may be filled with the Holy Spirit so that each soul may be filled with all the fullness of God,” the Chief Apostle said, going into its context.
The width of grace
“God’s love is wide: His grace is for everyone,” he said. “At the latest in the kingdom of peace, the Lord Jesus will offer His salvation to all human beings—no one will be excluded.” The same applies for the brothers and sisters, “It is not up to us to draw borders or exclude anyone.”
Although this grace is wide, it is not boundless. Jesus did, after all, make clear that no one would come to the Father except through Him, Jesus. “If you want to obtain salvation today, you must believe in Jesus Christ. This is the only way that leads to fellowship with God,” the Chief Apostle explained.
The length of patience
“God’s love is long. It is a symbol of God’s measure of time. His conception of time is completely different,” the Chief Apostle said. “The love of God cannot be determined with our notion of time. It far surpasses our conception of it. But over and over, God intervenes in the human timeline, in the history of mankind. This is important for us.”
Jesus came to earth at a certain point in time. “The Mosaic Law was in effect before He came, and afterwards it was the gospel.” It was a turning-point, just like the return of Christ will be. “Before He returns, people will have the opportunity to belong to the bride. After His return, this will no longer be possible.” Also the Last Judgment is such a turning-point, the Chief Apostle said, “Before that point in time, people have the opportunity to believe in Jesus Christ and to enter the new creation. Afterwards it will definitely be too late.”
“‘Today’ is the important thing for us,” the Chief Apostle said, referring to Psalm 95. “Today, if you will hear His voice: ‘Do not harden your hearts!’” It is important because “what we decide today, our relationship to God today, will decide our eternal future.”
The depth of salvation
When we look at all the suffering and evil in the world, we could easily think, “If there were a God, He would not permit all these things to happen.” But this is a superficial conception of the love of God, the Chief Apostle said, “The love of God runs deep. He wants to eradicate the root of all evil.”
“The reason for all the suffering and injustice on earth is that, at some point in time, man wanted to stand on his own two feet and distanced himself from God,” the Chief Apostle went on. God will create a new man, who will continuously seek fellowship with Him. “This is the only way to eradicate evil once and for all.”
For this, God has given the rebirth out of water and the Holy Spirit. “This is the first step in becoming a new man. We have been given this opportunity, but we must still do our part and work on it. In the kingdom of peace He will create more such new people—and even a whole new world. There will be a new heaven and a new earth—and there will be no more evil.”
The height of the goal
“God’s love also reaches high because He wants to elevate us and lead us into His eternal glory.” That is the objective of all of God’s salvation-causing activity. “There will be no more suffering and no more pain. We will see and know everything and we will all be one.”
In summarizing, the Chief Apostle said, “If we really accept all this in faith—the width of God’s grace, His nearness, His depth, and height—we will be filled with the of God. Following Him will then be sweet, and being obedient will no longer seem like an obligation. Everything will be a matter of course—quite normal, really.”