"The love of God is greater far

Than tongue or pen can ever tell;

It goes beyond the highest star,

And reaches to the lowest hell;"

Thus begins Herbert Lehman’s great hymn. Everyone who has come to know God, or to be known by God, must rejoice in this magnificent hymn/poem. It speaks of the condition of mankind and of the love that overcomes all opposition to defeat the enemies we face.

As sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, we are born with a problem that we cannot solve. That problem is sin and how to be saved from its consequences. You see, the Bible is very clear when it says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Further, the Bible says, "The wages of sin is death." These truths bring us to a horrible conclusion: We all deserve to be condemned to eternal death and must find a cure.

Many believe they are good enough that they should be acceptable to God on their own merits. In fact there are many very good people in the world and we should thank God daily for them. Our world would be a very frightening place if there were not good people. In every generation of mankind there have been good people. Yet our goodness will never overcome the guilt we were born with. As human beings we inherit spiritual death. Mr. Lehman continues:

"The guilty pair, bowed down with care,

God gave His Son to win;

His erring child He reconciled,

And pardoned from his sin."

God the Father determined to deliver our fallen race through Jesus Christ before man sinned. He knew we would fail to live up to his glory before he created the universe. You see, man could not deliver himself by his goodness. Isaiah had seen the problem clearly when he wrote, "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment."

The apostle Paul also recognized our need when he wrote to the Ephesian Christians, "You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked."

"Once walked" is encouraging. This wording implies his readers are no longer in that condition. Could it be that they found some good deed they could do that delivered them from spiritual death?

No, the apostle goes on to write these words to his friends: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

Wow, what happened to cause this good news to come to them (and to us)? The Bible gives us the answer, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great LOVE with which He loved us, made us alive together with Christ _ by grace you have been saved."

Indeed, the love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can tell. Yet we must try to tell so that others understand. God loves us so much that he would not even create the race without a foolproof plan to deliver those who would come to him by faith. Thank God that he first loved us. Because of his love that brings salvation to all who believe we are able to rightly love one another. The Bible says, "We love because He first loved us."

Jesus had given a "new" commandment, "that you love one another," and our response to that commandment allows all people to know that we are his disciples. It is little wonder that the people of the world do not recognize that we are Jesus’ disciples because we who claim to be his people appear to have so little love for one another.

The apostle John said, "We know that we have passed out of death and into life, because we love the brothers."

Not only will we know that we have his life in us but the world around will also know we are his disciples if we will love one another.

The love of God is so great that he would send his only son to take our sin into his own body and die our death in our place. He loved the world so much "that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

The apostle John wrote, "He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God."

All Bible quotes are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, 2001, Wheaton, Ill.

The Rev. Waylen Bray is pastor at Stamford Baptist Church.