Jason Clark

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Bigger Than The Future

It was bedtime and I was snuggling Eva. I told a story about a bunny princess named Gertrude who only wore plaid, and a squirrel prince named Hank who only wore pajamas. I paused for the expected interruption and then listened, smiling to tears, as Eva made her revisions. Gertrude became Lizzy with a beautiful pink dress. Hank became Lizzy’s best friend Molly. She too had a beautiful dress, hers was purple; and they also had ponies. And as Eva imagined out loud, I thanked my Father for the wonder of this girl. In that moment, I knew love like I never had before.

We transitioned from story time into our closing goodnight communion.

“Eva, you’re my favorite. I love you best.”

I say this to all my kids. It’s become a Clark family way to express our love. And its true, every time.

“I love you best too daddy” She responded and the game began.

“I love you to the tops of the trees.” I grinned.

“I love you to the tops of the tree’s and the moon, times a hundred.” She knows how to play.

“I love you to the moon, and stars, and universe and back, times a hundred and five.” I said as I gave her nose kisses.

She giggled, “I love you to the moon, the stars, the universe and back, times a hundred and ten!”

We continued for a few more beautiful minutes, each taking turns surpassing the last statement, a million, billion, gazillion, eternity, to infinity and beyond.

Many of you know the pure joy of this game. You have played it with your loved one. It never loses its wonder.

I don’t know if you have ever thought of it this way but this is a game of measurements. The stunning thing is, love is immeasurable. Every time Eva and I play this game we do our best to measure love and discover to our immense joy that it can’t be done.

Eva always ends our competition with an amazing statement. The first time she said it I was astonished by its brilliance. Now it’s become the phrase that suspends our conversation until next time…

“I love you bigger than the future…”

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Eph 3:17-19)

I can’t imagine how Paul felt trying to describe a love that is bigger than the future – a love that surpasses knowledge. But I bet it felt a little like the game Eva and I play at bedtime.

Paul starts by using the language of earth. Its as if he is saying Christ love is wider than forever, longer than eternity, higher than a million, billion, gazillion, and deeper than infinity, times a hundred.

Paul invites us into an encounter with Gods love that we may be filled to the full measure of the fullness of God.

Measurements are the stuff of earth. To measure, we use words like wide, long, high, and deep – words like filled and fullness.

But once Paul has done his absolute best to measure the love of God, he shifts into the language of heaven. In the next breath Paul expands our revelation.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…” (Eph 3:17-20)

Paul essentially says, “I want you to be filled to the full measure of the immeasurable.” And just in case we might be tempted to apply measurements to the “immeasurable” Paul added, “beyond” and “all” as if to say, “Stop it, you can’t measure Love, He is bigger than the future”!

Measurements are something that make perfect sense on earth but are a foreign concept in heaven. Heaven sits outside of time, its infinite and operates in the economy of a love that is bigger than the future. I believe this scripture is an invitation to move from the measurable reality of earth to the immeasurable revelation of heaven.

And I would like to suggest that’s why Jesus came. Jesus didn’t live simply to reveal a destination, He showed us the foundation – our Fathers perfect love.

Jesus never lived for the immeasurable, He lived from it. Jesus demonstrated what a bigger than the future love could look like. And He invited us to know and live it like He did. Immeasurable was never meant to be simply a description of the destination, it’s always been His heart that it would be our foundation.

Need is measurable; it’s the stuff of earth. Love is immeasurable; it’s the economy of heaven. Love trumps need. This life is the only time we will ever be given the opportunity to live from heaven while on earth.

Thy Kingdom come…bigger than the future.