A GLIMPSE OF GOD'S LIMITLESS LOVE

On the morning of November 9th in 2006 my brother met at Ridge Road in The Patch. We were to witness that day something that will not be seen again in Australia until 2032.

My brother's telescope was fitted with a strong solar filter, and with it pointed directly at the sun, we watched a miniscule black speck crawl its way across the sun - the transit of Mercury across the sun.

Something struck me as I gazed through the eyepiece. Mercury (which is only a little bit larger than our moon) seemed so incredibly tiny. I knew the sun was big, but this just blew my mind! You can watch a video of the event here.

Seeing Mercury silhouetted against the sun, it looked to be crawling across the surface. However it was in fact around 60 million km away from the sun, and interestingly, even further from the earth. No matter what I did, I just could not grasp the size of the giant ball of gas hanging there in space, even though it was right there in front of me.

This reminds me of something the apostle Paul said in his letter to the church in Ephesus.

"And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." Ephesians 3:18, 19 (NLT)

In the same breath, Paul prays that we would comprehend the immenseness of the love of God, and then says that it's too huge to even wrap our minds around properly.

God's love for us is displayed in so many ways. Just like the sun, we feel the warmth of His presence, lighting our way in this world. He loved us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die and take the penalty for sin that we can be in relationship with Him and enjoy His presence now and for all eternity.

How can we even begin to comprehend the magnitude of a love like this?

For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favour and honour. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. Ps 84:11 (ESV)