In Ephesians 3:16–19, Paul prays that believers would be “strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man” in order that they might understand the “love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.” In other words, it takes a lot of Spirit-supplied strength for us to catch even a glimpse of God’s love—and when we do, we’ve only scratched the surface.

But what is it about God’s love that makes it so inscrutable? Paul answers this by saying the Son of God “loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20). John answers, “In this is love . . . that [God] loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). The answer is that God’s love is a redeeming love. It saves undeserving sinners from just punishment by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and it delivers them into eternal life.

This is the dumbfounding truth of God’s love. But it creates a problem for a world which, in the words of John MacArthur, thinks of God as the “equal-opportunity Savior of everybody.” In truth, God redeems only a subset of humanity. It is His elect who experience the depths of God’s love through salvation. And that means His love is not indiscriminate.

That’s why John MacArthur, in his sermon “An Everlasting Love: The Love of God,” said, “Most professing Christians do not understand the love of God. It is far more profound, it is far more complex, and frankly, it is incomprehensible, and at times disturbing to contemplate.”

In this sermon, John explains that if we are to understand the nature of God’s love, then we must also understand the scope of God’s love. We must not fall into the trap of making God’s love a mile wide but only an inch deep.

To walk us through the Bible’s teaching on God’s unfathomable love, John begins with the Father’s love-gift to the Son: a chosen people. He then deals with the question of whether God loves the non-elect—and if so, in what way does He love them?

Finally, John unpacks the love God has for His own people—not just a general love which is shown to all, but a saving, covenant love.

If you want to grow in your understanding of the love of God, listen to “An Everlasting Love: The Love of God” here.