The Deep, Deep Love Of Jesus

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. ~Ephesians 3:17-18

This past Sunday, we sang one of my favorite hymns in chapel, Oh The Deep Deep. While not as old a hymn as other of my faves, it rests securely in my top five. The hymn was penned by S. Trevor Francis who was a prominent lay leader with the Plymouth Brethren in England and I can’t help but wonder if Mr. Francis was inspired to write this hymn because he understood how hard it was for a frail, human mind to grasp the depth of Christ’s love for us.

I believe that human our finite minds, inhibited by our human nature, just can’t understand why someone as holy as God would love something as un-lovely as us. I am painfully aware of my inadequacies and imperfections. I know just how unlovely I can be, even when I keep it buried in my mind. I do wonder how a Holy God such as mine can love such a filthy little creature as me. I am so thankful for hymns like this that rest on Biblical truths; truths that are meant to reassure and assure me of my standing in Christ’s atonement. Thanks to Christ, I stand acquitted in God’s judicial court. The ruling: forgiven. The love of Christ is the best, a vast ocean of blessing, and a haven of sweet rest!