Welcome to this episode of our month-long series on knowing and believing God's love. Today, we explore the inspiring life and mindset of the Apostle John, who boldly defined his identity not by his own achievements or mistakes, but as 'the disciple whom Jesus loved.' By looking at his closeness to Christ at the Last Supper and his miraculous endurance through historical trials, we discover the transformative power of living with a constant awareness of being God's beloved. We also dive into the beautiful, four-dimensional nature of God's love outlined in Ephesians 3—its breadth, length, depth, and height. From the wide-reaching embrace that welcomes every sinner to the everlasting nature of His covenant, we find that the cross is the ultimate, perfect physical representation of these dimensions. Learn how to stop trying to earn His love through performance and instead anchor yourself in His steady, loyal, and unshakeable grace.
Key Points
- To fully experience God's grace, we must both know His love intellectually and actively believe it in our hearts.
- John's self-identity as 'the disciple whom Jesus loved' allowed him to remain close to Christ and survive immense adversity.
- Our security in God's love must be based on what He has already done on the cross, not on our daily performance or quiet times.
- God's love is four-dimensional: possessing breadth (all-encompassing), length (everlasting), depth (sacrificial), and height (elevating).
- The physical cross stands as a perfect visual measure of all four dimensions of God's unconditional love.
Notable Quotes
- "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love." (Jeremiah 31:3)
- "God's love for you doesn't go down an inch because you've not been able to do your quiet time or you didn't go to church."
- "Your description of yourself, your perspective of yourself, when it comes to God, matters a whole lot."
