At the Royal Wedding yesterday, Bishop Michael Bruce’s delivered the unforgettable sermon watched by millions worldwide. “There’s power in love,” he proclaimed.
He read:
‘Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. ‘
(Song of Songs 8:7 NIV)
He also quoted Dr Martin Luther King Jr:
‘We must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love, and when we do that, we will make of this old world a new world, for love is the way.’
I love that phrase ‘the redemptive power of love‘
I immediately thought of perhaps the most well known verse in the Bible:
‘For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life.’
(JOHN 3:16 AMP)
The redemptive power of love was mentioned at the wedding but demonstrated clearly on the cross. God loved the world SO much that He sent His Son to redeem us:
‘But when [in God’s plan] the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the [regulations of the] Law, so that He might redeem and liberate those who were under the Law, that we [who believe] might be adopted as sons [as God’s children with all rights as fully grown members of a family].’
(GALATIANS 4:4-5 AMP)
That’s the redemptive power of love!
‘Ultimately, the source of love is God himself’ preached Bishop Bruce yesterday.
God’s very essence is love.
‘God is love.’
(1 John 4:16 NIV)
Paul wrote ‘And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God’ (Eph 3:17-19 – NIV)
David wrote ‘Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies. How priceless is your unfailing love!’ (Psalm 36:5 & 7 – NIV)
God’s love is boundless.
We will never fully grasp or understand it.
It goes beyond our dimensions.
It just can’t be measured.
It is so wide that it encompasses the whole world.
It is so long that it can reach us just where we are, when we need to feel loved the most.
Its height is higher than our highs and its depths are deeper than our downers!
It is like a waterfall, deep and never ending from before time began to eternity!
‘I could more easily contain Niagara Falls in a teacup than I can comprehend the wild, uncontainable love of God’
(Brennan Manning)
Paul says ‘May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvellous love’
(Eph 3:17 NLT)
May we draw nourishment and energy for daily life as we meditate on the awesome love God has for us.
‘And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.
(Eph 3:17- 19– The Message)
‘Life is the question and life is the answer
And God is the reason and love is the way…’
(Kris Kristofferson – Love Is The Way)
‘And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.’
(1 John 4:16 NIV)
Love is the way!
‘May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love’
(II Thessalonians 3:5 – NIV)
Thank You God!
Lord, I thank You for Your amazing, unending, unquenchable love:
-A love that cost your Son His life.
-A love that began in eternity past.
-A love that forgives my sin – my failures and shortcomings.
-A love that redeems and restores.
-A love that forgets the past.
-A love that brings joy to the present.
-A love that brings hope to the future.
-A love that has adopted me into Your family.
-A love that gives life purpose and direction.
-A love that has no limits.
-A love that knows no barriers.
-A love that stretches beyond our farthest horizons.
-A love that reached down to me, just where I was.
-A love that has done more than we could ever dare to imagine.
-A love that can only come from You – my awesome Father God.
I thank You from the bottom of my heart.
I thank You with all that I am.
I thank You with all that I’ve got.
I thank You for this love You’ve poured unreservedly into my life:
-A love I don’t deserve
-A love I could never earn.
-A love I can never fully comprehend.
-A love that is mine to embrace and enjoy.
-A love that is Your gift to me – Your gift of grace.
Thank You God – I want to say thank You with my life.
Blessings,
Ruth x
Blessed! 