Love That Surpasses Knowledge

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“To know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.”
(Ephesians 3:19)

If I could only make people understand the real meaning of the apostle John’s words—“God is love”—I would take that single text and travel the world proclaiming this glorious truth. If you can convince someone that you love them, you have won their heart. If we could truly make people believe that God loves them, how we would see them flocking to the kingdom of heaven! The trouble is that people think God hates them, so they are constantly running away from Him.

We built a church in Chicago some years ago and were eager to teach the people about God’s love. We thought that if we could not preach it into their hearts, we would try to burn it in. So, we placed above the pulpit, in gas-lit letters, the words—GOD IS LOVE. One night, a man passing by glanced through the door and saw the text. He was a poor prodigal. As he walked on, he thought to himself, “‘God is love!’ No! He does not love me, for I am a wretched sinner.” He tried to shake off the text, but it seemed to blaze before him in letters of fire. He went a little further, then turned back and entered the meeting. He did not hear the sermon, but those few words had lodged deeply in his heart, and that was enough. What people say matters little if the Word of God finds a way into a sinner’s heart. He stayed after the meeting, and I found him weeping like a child. As I explained the Scriptures and showed him how God had loved him all along, despite his wandering, and how God was ready to receive and forgive him, the light of the Gospel broke into his mind, and he left rejoicing.

There is nothing in this world that people value as much as love. Show me a person who has no one to care for or love them, and I will show you one of the most miserable beings on earth. Why do people take their own lives? Often, it is because they feel that no one loves them, and they would rather die than live.

I know of no truth in the Bible that should touch us with such power and tenderness as the love of God, and there is no truth Satan would more eagerly erase. For over six thousand years, he has been trying to convince people that God does not love them. He succeeded in making our first parents believe this lie, and he too often succeeds with their descendants.

The notion that God does not love us often stems from false teaching. Mothers err in teaching children that God only loves them when they do right, not when they do wrong. That is not taught in Scripture. You do not teach your children that you hate them when they misbehave. Their wrongdoing does not turn your love into hate; if it did, your love would change countless times. When your child is fretful or disobedient, you do not cast them out as if they were no longer yours! No, they are still your child, and you love them. Similarly, if people have strayed from God, it does not mean He hates them. It is the sin that He hates.

I believe many people think God does not love them because they measure Him by their own limited standards. We love others as long as we deem them worthy; when they are not, we reject them. But it is not so with God. There is a vast difference between human love and divine love.

In Ephesians 3:18, we are told of the breadth, length, depth, and height of God’s love. Many of us think we know something of God’s love, but centuries from now, we will admit we knew very little. Columbus discovered America, but what did he know of its great lakes, rivers, forests, or the Mississippi Valley? He died knowing little of what he had found. Likewise, many of us have glimpsed God’s love, but its heights, depths, and lengths remain beyond our understanding. That love is a vast ocean, and we must dive into it to begin to comprehend it. It is said that a Roman Catholic Archbishop of Paris, when imprisoned and condemned to death, saw a cross-shaped window in his cell. He wrote “height” at the top, “depth” at the bottom, and “length” at the ends of the arms. He had experienced the truth conveyed in the hymn:

“When I survey the wondrous Cross,
On which the Prince of Glory died.”

To know God’s love, we should go to Calvary. Can we look at that scene and say God does not love us? The cross proclaims God’s love. No greater love has ever been shown than that taught by the cross. What prompted God to give up Christ? What prompted Christ to die? It was love. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Christ laid down His life for His enemies, for His murderers, for those who hated Him. The spirit of the cross, the spirit of Calvary, is love. When they mocked and derided Him, what did He say? “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). That is love. He did not call down fire from heaven to destroy them; His heart was full of love.

If you study the Bible, you will find that God’s love is unchanging. Many who once loved you may have grown cold or turned against you; their love may have turned to hatred. But it is not so with God. It is recorded of Jesus Christ, just before He was parted from His disciples and led to Calvary, that: “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). He knew one disciple would betray Him, yet He loved Judas. He knew another would deny Him and swear he never knew Him, yet He loved Peter. It was Christ’s love for Peter that broke his heart and brought him back in repentance to the feet of his Lord. For three years, Jesus had been with the disciples, teaching them His love—not only through His life and words but through His actions. On the night of His betrayal, He took a basin of water, wrapped Himself with a towel, and, taking the role of a servant, washed their feet; He wanted to prove His unchanging love.

There is no portion of Scripture I read as often as John 14, and none is sweeter to me. I never tire of it. Hear what our Lord says as He pours out His heart to His disciples: “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father” (John 14:20-21). Think of the great God who created heaven and earth loving you and me! “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23).

If only our limited minds could grasp this great truth: that the Father and the Son so love us that They desire to come and dwell with us—not for a night, but to abide in our hearts.

We have another passage, even more astonishing, in John 17:23: “I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” I think that is one of the most remarkable statements Jesus ever made. There is no reason why the Father should not love Him. He was obedient unto death; He never transgressed the Father’s law or strayed from perfect obedience by even a hair’s breadth. It is very different with us; yet, despite all our rebellion and foolishness, He says that if we trust in Christ, the Father loves us as He loves the Son. Marvelous love! Wonderful love! That God could love us as He loves His own Son seems too good to be true. Yet that is the teaching of Jesus Christ.

It is hard to make a sinner believe in this unchanging love of God. When someone has wandered from God, they think He hates them. We must distinguish between sin and the sinner. God loves the sinner but hates the sin. He hates sin because it ruins human life. It is precisely because God loves the sinner that He hates sin.

God’s love is not only unchanging but unfailing. In Isaiah 49:15-16, we read: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.”

The strongest human love we know is a mother’s love. Many things may separate a man from his wife. A father may turn his back on his child; brothers and sisters may become bitter enemies; husbands may abandon their wives, and wives their husbands. But a mother’s love endures through all. In good times or bad, even in the face of the world’s condemnation, a mother loves on, hoping her child will turn from evil ways and repent. She remembers the infant smiles, the joyful laughter of childhood, the promise of youth; she can never consider her child unworthy. Death cannot extinguish a mother’s love; it is stronger than death.

You have seen a mother watching over her sick child. How willingly she would take the illness into her own body to relieve her child! Week after week, she will keep watch, allowing no one else to care for that child.

A friend of mine once visited a beautiful home where he met several friends. After they left, he returned to retrieve something he had forgotten. There, he found the wealthy lady of the house sitting behind a poor, tramp-like fellow—her own son. Like the prodigal, he had wandered far, yet the mother said, “This is my boy; I love him still.” Take a mother with nine or ten children; if one goes astray, she seems to love that one more than the rest.

A leading minister in New York once told me of a father who was a terrible character. The mother did all she could to shield her son from his influence, but the father’s sway was stronger, leading the boy into all kinds of sin until he became a notorious criminal. He committed murder and was put on trial. Throughout the trial, the widowed mother (for the father had died) sat in the courtroom. When witnesses testified against her son, it seemed to hurt her more than him. When he was found guilty and sentenced to death, everyone else felt the verdict was just, but the mother’s love never wavered. She begged for a reprieve, but it was denied. After the execution, she pleaded for his body, but that too was refused. By custom, it was buried in the prison yard. Soon after, the mother died, but before her death, she expressed a desire to be buried beside her son. She was not ashamed to be known as the mother of a murderer.

In Scotland, a young woman left home and became an outcast in Glasgow. Her mother searched for her far and wide but in vain. Finally, she had her picture hung in the Midnight Mission rooms, where fallen women gathered. Many glanced at the picture, but one lingered. It was the same dear face that had looked down on her in childhood. She had not forgotten or rejected her wayward daughter, or her picture would not have been there. The lips seemed to whisper, “Come home; I forgive you and love you still.” The poor girl sank down, overwhelmed. She was the prodigal daughter. The sight of her mother’s face broke the daughter’s heart. Truly repentant, she returned to her forsaken home with sorrow and shame, and mother and daughter were reunited.

But let me tell you, no mother’s love compares to the love of God; it cannot measure the height or depth of God’s love. No mother ever loved her child as God loves you and me. Consider the love God must have had when He gave His Son to die for the world. I used to think more of Christ than of the Father, imagining God as a stern judge and Christ as the one who appeased His anger. But after becoming a father and watching my only son, I realized that it took more love for the Father to give His Son than for the Son to die. Oh, the love God had for the world when He gave His Son! “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). I have never been able to preach from that text. I have often thought I would, but it is so profound that I can only quote it and move on. Who can fathom the depth of those words: “God so loved the world”? We can never scale the heights or plumb the depths of His love. Paul prayed to know the height, depth, length, and breadth of God’s love, but it was beyond his understanding. It “surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19).

Nothing speaks of God’s love like the cross of Christ. Come with me to Calvary and see the Son of God hanging there. Can you hear His piercing cry: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!” (Luke 23:34) and say He does not love you? “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). But Jesus laid down His life for His enemies.

Another thought: He loved us long before we ever thought of Him. The idea that He only loves us when we first love Him is not in Scripture. In 1 John 4:10, it is written: “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” He loved us before we ever considered loving Him. You loved your children before they knew of your love. So, long before we thought of God, we were in His thoughts.

What brought the prodigal home? The thought that his father still loved him. If he had heard that his father had cast him off and no longer cared, would he have returned? Never! But the realization that his father loved him spurred him to rise and go back home. Dear reader, the Father’s love should draw us back to Him. It was Adam’s sin that revealed God’s love. When Adam fell, God came down and dealt with him in mercy. If anyone is lost, it will not be because God does not love them; it will be because they have resisted His love.

What makes heaven attractive? Is it the pearly gates or golden streets? No. Heaven is attractive because there we will behold Him who loved us so much as to give His only Son to die for us. What makes a home appealing? Is it beautiful furniture or grand rooms? No; some homes with all these are like whitewashed tombs. In Brooklyn, a mother was dying, and her child had to be taken away because the little one could not understand the illness and disturbed her. Every night, the child sobbed herself to sleep in a neighbor’s house, longing to return to her mother. But the mother grew worse, and they could not bring the child home. When the mother died, they thought it best not to let the child see her in her coffin. After the burial, the child ran through the house, crying “Mama! Mama!” in every room. When she could not find her beloved mother, she begged to be taken back to the neighbors. So, what makes heaven appealing is the thought that we will see Christ, who loved us and gave Himself for us.

If you ask why God should love us, I cannot say. I suppose it is because He is a true Father. It is His nature to love, just as it is the sun’s nature to shine. He wants you to share in that love. Do not let unbelief keep you from Him. Do not think that because you are a sinner, God does not love or care for you. He does! He wants to save and bless you.

“When we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). Is that not enough to convince you of His love? He would not have died for you if He did not love you. Is your heart so hard that you can resist His love and despise it? You can, but it will be at your peril.

Some may say, “Yes, we believe God loves us if we love Him; we believe He loves the pure and holy.” Let me tell you, my friend, God loves not only the pure and holy but also the ungodly. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God sent Him to die for the sins of the whole world. If you are part of this world, you have a share in the love displayed on the cross of Christ.

There is a passage in Revelation 1:5 that I cherish: “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.” One might think God would first cleanse us and then love us. But no, He loved us first. About eight years ago, the country was gripped by the story of Charlie Ross, a four-year-old boy who was kidnapped. Two men in a carriage lured him and his older brother with candy, then drove off with the younger boy. For years, a search spanned every state and territory, even reaching Great Britain, France, and Germany, but the child was not found. The mother still hopes to see her long-lost Charlie. I cannot recall a time when the nation was so stirred, except perhaps during the assassination of President Garfield. Suppose Charlie Ross’s mother were at a meeting and, while the preacher spoke, she spotted her son among the audience—poor, dirty, ragged, barefoot, and coatless. Would she wait until he was cleaned and clothed to acknowledge him? No, she would rush to him and embrace him. Only then would she wash and clothe him. So it is with God. He loved us and then cleansed us. Some may ask, “If God loves me, why does He not make me good?” God wants sons and daughters in heaven, not machines or slaves. He could break our stubborn hearts, but He wants to draw us to Himself with cords of love.

He wants you to sit with Him at the marriage supper of the Lamb, to wash you and make you whiter than snow. He wants you to walk with Him on the crystal streets of that blissful world. He wants to adopt you into His family and make you a son or daughter of heaven. Will you trample His love under your feet, or will you, this very hour, give yourself to Him?

During our terrible Civil War, a mother received news that her son had been wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness. She took the first train, though the War Department had barred women from the lines. A mother’s love knows no orders, so she pleaded and wept her way through to the Wilderness. She found the hospital where her son lay. She approached the doctor and asked, “Will you let me go to the ward and nurse my son?”

The doctor replied, “I’ve just gotten your son to sleep; he’s in critical condition, and I’m afraid the excitement of seeing you might kill him. Wait a while, and I’ll break the news to him gradually.”

The mother looked at the doctor and said, “Doctor, what if my son doesn’t wake up, and I never see him alive? Let me sit by his side; I won’t speak to him.”

“If you won’t speak, you may,” said the doctor.

She crept to the cot and gazed at her son’s face. How she had longed to see him! Her eyes feasted on his countenance. When she drew near, she could not keep her hands off; she placed her tender, loving hand on his brow. The moment her hand touched his forehead, he, without opening his eyes, cried, “Mother, you’ve come!” He knew the touch of that loving hand, full of love and sympathy.

Oh, sinner, if you feel the loving touch of Jesus, you will recognize it; it is so full of tenderness. The world may treat you harshly, but Christ never will. You will never find a better Friend. What you need is to come to Him today. Let His loving arm support you; let His loving hand surround you, and He will hold you with mighty power. He will keep you and fill your heart with His tenderness and love.

Some may ask, “How shall I go to Him?” Just as you would go to your mother. If you have wronged her greatly, you go and say, “Mother, I want you to forgive me.” Treat Christ the same way. Go to Him today and confess that you have not loved Him, that you have not treated Him right; admit your sins, and see how quickly He will bless you.

I recall a boy tried by court-martial and sentenced to death. His parents’ hearts were broken. In their home was a little girl who had read about Abraham Lincoln. She said, “If Abraham Lincoln knew how much my parents love their boy, he wouldn’t let my brother be shot.” She urged her father to go to Washington, but he said, “No, it’s no use; the law must take its course. They’ve refused pardons before, and the President won’t interfere again.” The parents lacked faith, but the girl was full of hope. She boarded a train in Vermont and headed to Washington. At the White House, soldiers blocked her entry, but she told her story, and they let her pass. The President’s private secretary also refused her, but her tale touched his heart, and he let her in. As she entered Lincoln’s office, senators, generals, and politicians were there discussing the war. Lincoln noticed the child at the door, asked what she wanted, and she told her story. Tears streamed down his cheeks. He wrote a dispatch to have the boy sent to Washington. When he arrived, Lincoln pardoned him, gave him a thirty-day furlough, and sent him home with the girl to gladden their parents’ hearts.

Do you want to know how to go to Christ? Go as that girl went to Lincoln. If you have a dark story to tell, confess it all; hold nothing back. If Lincoln had compassion on that girl and answered her plea, do you think Jesus will not hear your prayer? No one, not even Lincoln, had as much compassion as Christ. He will be touched when no one else will; He will show mercy and pity when no one else will. If you go to Him, confessing your sin and need, He will save you.

Years ago, an Englishman moved to America, became a citizen, but grew restless and went to Cuba. In 1867, civil war broke out there, and he was arrested as a spy by the Spanish government. Tried by court-martial in a language he didn’t understand, he was found guilty and sentenced to death. He appealed to the American and British consuls, proving his innocence. They investigated and confirmed he was innocent, telling the Spanish general, “This man you’ve condemned is innocent.” But the general said, “He’s been tried by our law, found guilty, and must die.” With no telegraph, they couldn’t consult their governments.

On the morning of his execution, he was brought out on his coffin in a cart to the place of death. A grave was dug. They placed him on the coffin, pulled the black cap over his face, and the soldiers awaited the order to fire. Just then, the American and British consuls arrived. The British consul leaped from the carriage, wrapped the union jack around the man, and the American consul draped the stars and stripes over him. They said to the Spanish officers, “Fire on these flags if you dare.” They did not dare. Two great governments stood behind those flags.

“He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me” (Song of Solomon 2:4, 6). Thank God, we can come under that banner today. Any sinner can come under it. His banner of love is over us. Blessed Gospel; blessed, precious news. Believe it today; receive it into your heart; and enter a new life. Let the love of God be poured out in your heart by the Holy Spirit today: it will drive away darkness, gloom, and sin, and peace and joy will be yours.

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About the Author

Born in Northfield, Massachusetts, Dwight L. Moody overcame a poor upbringing and limited education to become a leading 19th-century evangelist. Converted in 1855, he left a successful Chicago business career for ministry, founding the Moody Church and leading the Chicago YMCA. His powerful revivals with singer Ira D. Sankey drew millions in America and Britain. Moody’s simple, heartfelt preaching on salvation transformed lives. He established the Moody Bible Institute and Northfield Schools, leaving a lasting legacy in modern evangelism.