Have you ever seen a child trying to show their parent or family member how much they love them? They stretch their little arms out as far as they can go, even bending them backwards as if this signifies an even greater amount. “I love you THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS much!”  

It’s a childlike but beautiful gesture. True love is, of course, very difficult to adequately portray. Like a little child struggling to stretch out their arms wide enough, it may be hard for us to find the right words, actions or pictures to show the magnitude of our love for someone.

No matter how much we love our fellow human beings, nothing can even come close to God’s love for His people. Psalm 103:11,12 puts it like this: “as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” This vertical and horizontal language reminds us that God’s love goes on and on; it reaches as high and as wide as we can possibly imagine.

Why does His love far surpass anything we are capable of? Because, despite God’s perfect holiness and righteousness, He is willing to deal with our sin. Although we rebel against Him, He still loves us and paid the price for our forgiveness and cleansing. Draw a vertical line intersecting with a horizontal one, and what do you get? A cross.

As it says in 1 Peter 2:24, “Christ Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds, we are healed.”

No matter how far we’ve wandered or fallen, there is mercy and grace available to us through faith in the Lord Jesus. On the cross, His arms stretched out as if to say, “this is how much I love you.”

May God’s unparalleled love be our encouragement and example, now and always.