A reflection on the classic hymn, O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus
Part 3
By Rod Benson
O the deep, deep love of Jesus—
Love of ev’ry love the best—
’Tis an ocean vast of blessing;
’Tis a haven sweet of rest.
Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus—
’Tis a heav’n of heav’ns to me;
And it lifts me up to glory,
For it lifts me up to Thee.
This final stanza gathers up and brings to theological conclusion the hymn’s oceanic imagery. The love that surrounds the follower of Jesus in the first stanza, and watches over the Church in the second is now recognised as blessing, rest and communion with Christ. Christians are lifted “to glory” because they are united to Christ. The stanza draws together resurrection, ascension, union with Christ and present participation in the life of the age to come.
The love by which every love is judged
To call the love of Jesus the best of all loves does not demean natural human affection or other loves. Parental care, friendship, marriage, solidarity and compassionate service may become genuine means of grace. Yet every human love is limited and morally ambiguous. We may love possessively, selectively or fearfully. Christ’s love both originates and judges our loving. It shows us what love is by giving itself for the good and freedom of the other.
The New Testament locates this disclosure in the cross: “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). Love consists not primarily in our love for God but in God’s initiative in sending the Son (1 Jn 4:9-10). Christ’s love is “best” because it is holy, reconciling and faithful even when rejected. Wherever people practise patient, truthful and self-giving care, Christians may recognise signs of the God who is love. The superiority claimed by the hymn belongs to Christ, not to the moral performance of Christians.
Ocean of blessing, haven of rest
The ocean of the first stanza reappears, but its meaning has developed. What initially surrounds and carries the believer is now consciously received as blessing. Biblical blessing is more than comfort or favourable circumstances. It is the communication of God’s life-giving purpose: reconciliation with God, incorporation into a people, growth in holiness and hope for renewed creation.
The “haven” complements the moving current. Christ’s love both carries and shelters, impels and gives rest. Christian spirituality requires both movements. Without the current, rest can become spiritual passivity. Without the haven, discipleship can degenerate into anxious activism. Jesus invites the weary to come to him for rest and to receive his yoke (Mt 11:28-30). His rest is not exemption from discipleship but freedom from the burden of establishing our worth before God.
The letter to the Hebrews speaks of a Sabbath rest that remains for God’s people (Heb 4:1-11). Augustine later expressed such longing by describing the human heart as restless until it rests in God. This rest begins in faith but awaits fulfilment. Christians receive peace with God now while still sharing the groaning of creation and longing for redemption.
Resurrection ascension and exaltation
The resurrection and ascension are distinguishable but inseparable dimensions of Christ’s exaltation. In the resurrection God vindicated the crucified Jesus, defeated death and inaugurated the new creation. In the ascension the risen Christ entered the unveiled presence of God and assumed his messianic reign. Acts describes him as being lifted up and received by a cloud, the biblical symbol of divine presence (Ac 1:9). Philippians declares that God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name above every name (Php 2:9-11).
The spatial language of “up” expresses theological reality rather than locating heaven above the clouds. Jesus has passed from the conditions of mortal existence into God’s immediate presence. He reigns over every power and fills all things (Eph 1:20-23; 4:10). His ascension is not a departure into remoteness but his enthronement as the universally present Lord.
The hymn’s language of being lifted follows this pattern. Christians are drawn to Christ because the risen Lord shares with them his relationship to the Father. In John, being “lifted up” refers paradoxically to the cross while also suggesting glorification (Jn 12:32). The movement into glory passes through self-giving love. Christian exaltation cannot be separated from the cruciform way of Jesus.
Raised and seated with Christ
The principal theological idea behind the stanza is union with Christ. The believer is not merely an admirer of Jesus or the recipient of benefits distributed from a distance. Through faith, baptism and the Holy Spirit, the Christian is incorporated into Christ’s death and resurrection. Paul says that believers are buried and raised with Christ in baptism (Rom 6:3-11; Col 2:12). Their true life is now “hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3).
Ephesians makes the startling claim that God has raised believers with Christ and seated them with him in the heavenly places (Eph 2:6). What is uniquely and objectively true of Jesus becomes spiritually and representatively true of his people. They do not ascend by mastering an esoteric technique. God unites them to the ascended Christ by grace through the Spirit.
This participation is both present and future. Christians already share Christ’s life and access to the Father, yet they still await bodily resurrection and the renewal of creation. Their citizenship is in heaven, from which they await the Saviour who will transform their bodies (Php 3:20-21). Christian hope is not the permanent escape of disembodied souls. It is resurrection and the liberation of creation into the glory of God’s children (Rom 8:18-25).
Lifted by the Spirit into life on earth
Christ’s ascended life becomes present through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit does not replace an absent Jesus but unites the Church to its reigning Lord. Through the Spirit believers know God as Father, pray within the communion of the Son and receive a foretaste of their promised inheritance (Rom 8:14-17; Eph 1:13-14).
Paul therefore urges Christians to seek the things above, where Christ is seated at God’s right hand (Col 3:1-2). This is not indifference to earthly life. Paul immediately describes its practical form: compassion, kindness, humility, patience, forgiveness, peace and love. To be lifted to Christ is to come under his reign. Genuine spiritual elevation sends us back to our neighbours with a Christ-shaped imagination.
The ancient eucharistic dialogue expresses this movement: “Lift up your hearts.” The congregation answers, “We lift them to the Lord.” In worship, Scripture, silence and the Lord’s Supper, the Church turns towards the enthroned Christ while remaining present to the world he loves. Service, reconciliation and solidarity are equally forms of participation in his life.
This stanza may be explored through prayerful reading of Ephesians 1-2, Colossians 3, John 14-17, Hebrews 4 and Revelation 4-5. Receive by faith the truth that your life is held within Christ’s life. Then ask how his heavenly reign should take earthly form in your relationships, decisions and public commitments.
The stanza is profoundly true when heard within the whole biblical story. Christ’s love gives rest because it frees us from securing our own worth. It lifts us because it unites us to the crucified, risen and ascended Lord. We share his life now while awaiting its complete manifestation in resurrection. Spiritual ascent and ethical descent belong together: lifted towards Christ, the Church is sent with Christ into the suffering and hope of the world.
Living within the love of Jesus
The three stanzas form a single account of Christian existence. Christ’s love is the surrounding reality beneath our lives, the saving action that claims and keeps a people, and the communion that carries creation towards glory. The hymn moves from providence through redemption to participation.
Its emotional warmth should not obscure its theological depth. The love of Jesus is cruciform, trinitarian, ecclesial and eschatological. It originates in the Father, is revealed in the Son and becomes present through the Spirit. It gathers a community whose praise crosses boundaries, and it directs hope towards resurrection and renewed creation.
To sing the hymn faithfully is to entrust ourselves to Jesus Christ, receive others as those whom he loves, and allow his reign to take visible form in our common life. The deep love of Jesus consoles, converts and commissions. It surrounds us, carries us, and teaches us to love until faith gives way to sight, and hope to the fullness of the everlasting embrace of God’s love.
Rev Dr Rod Benson is General Secretary of the NSW Ecumenical Council and a minister of the Uniting Church in Australia serving at North Rocks Community Church in Sydney.
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