Faith

Ellen and the “Ocean of God’s Love”

Keep family and friends informed by sharing this article.

It has sometimes been suggested that the early Ellen White did not have a great appreciation for the love of God. It’s true that her grasp of God’s love grew as time went by. In this article we will explore what Ellen understood of God’s love in the early years of her ministry. It needs to be understood that in these years there is not a lot of written material, but what is there yields some nuggets of gold.

“The Tender Love of God”

This expression appears in a broadside titled, “To Those Who Are Receiving the Seal of the Living God”. There she wrote, “I have seen the tender love that God has for His people, and it is very great.”¹ She then goes on to describe what she saw take place in heaven when individual Christians responded or rejected the working of God in their lives, and the impact that had in heaven. When it was positive, the angels “would touch their golden harps and sing with a loud voice—Alleluia! and the heavenly arches would ring with their lovely songs.”² This expression is used only once in her writings, though it is republished several times. In addition, the phrase, “the tender love of God”, is used only four times in her writings, the first of which was in 1888.³

Ellen went on to describe what heaven is like and added, “I long to be there, and behold my lovely Jesus, who gave his life for me.”⁴ Note how she describes Jesus as “my lovely Jesus”. Surely that shows something of her experience at that time. She continued to express her desire for the “living streams that make glad the city of our God” and bemoaned the lack of human language to portray what she had seen.

“The Ocean of God’s Love”

Then comes this powerful expression that is used only three times between September 1850 and August 1851: the ocean of God’s love! It first appears in her recounting a vision at Sutton, Vermont, that begins with, “I saw the loveliness of Jesus and the love that the angels have for one another. Said the angel, Can ye not behold their love? Follow it. Just so, God’s people must love one another.”⁵ Thus, the love of God is displayed among the angels of heaven and is to be seen among God’s people here on earth.

But there had been disunion among the shepherds of the flock, the ministers, and this had impacted the members negatively. The angel counselled that Joseph Bates needed to “drink deep, deep from the water of the fountain. Said the angel, Ye must reflect the lovely image of Jesus more and more.”⁶ James is included in the need to show the love of God. Then comes this beautiful statement: “Said the angel, Press together, press together, press together, press together, ye shepherds, lest the sheep be scattered. Love one another as I have loved you. Swim, swim, swim, plunge deep, deep, deep in the ocean of God’s love. Come into a nearness with God.”⁷

What imagery! What descriptive language! Yet when this is republished in Early Writings, this section is deleted and these descriptive terms are not found anywhere else in her writings.

There are two other occurrences in private letters written some nine months apart. In the first she urges, “Let us not rest unless we know that our lives are hid with Christ in God. We must have daily the full assurance that we are accepted of Him.”⁸ Note the certainty Ellen believed Christians should have of their standing with God! She went on to outline her desire to have “the mind that was in Christ” and how she wished to “reflect the lovely image of Jesus”. Then she wrote: “At times I feel the power of God even in my flesh and yet I am not satisfied. I want to plunge deeper and deeper in the ocean of God’s love and be wholly swallowed up in Him.” This expresses the hunger of her soul to be like Jesus and for self to be completely subdued in the process. What drove that desire? For her, “Time is almost finished, almost finished, almost finished.” Further, she had developed an almost unquenchable thirst for more of God’s love.

The last reference was written to her friend, Harriet Hastings, dated August 11, 1851. It was written the day after enjoying a beautiful Sabbath worship experience. Ellen wrote:

“The Lord met with us and the glory of God was shed upon us and we were made to rejoice and glorify God for His exceeding goodness unto us. I had a deep plunge in the ocean of God’s love. It seemed that the angels of God were hovering all around. The love of God was shed abroad in my heart, my whole being was ravished with the glory of God and I was taken off in vision. I saw the exceeding loveliness and glory of Jesus. His countenance was brighter than the sun at noonday. His robe was whiter than the whitest white.”⁹

The language here is vivid and the metaphors profound, even confronting. They illustrate the depth of her experience with God, someone who deeply and passionately loved Him for Who He is and what He has done for them. This could only come from a deep spiritual experience with God that would continue to grow and strengthen over the coming years of her ministry.

One final example is found in her 1854 Supplement to the Christian Experience and Views of Ellen G. White. There is a sub-heading: “The Love of God in Giving His Son”.¹⁰ Here she discusses the “great love and condescension of God in giving his Son to die that man might find pardon and live”.¹¹ She is reflecting on Who God is in contrast to who we are as human beings, and yet how God, because of His parental love for His children, chose to make the greatest sacrifice to give us the hope and certainty of eternal life in Jesus.

Thus, Ellen knew the love of God in Jesus Christ personally. She wanted you to know and experience that love too.

Ellen G White, “To Those Who Are Receiving the Seal of the Living God,” (Topsham, ME:James and Ellen White, January 31).
Ellen G White, “To Those Who Are Receiving the Seal of the Living God,” (Topsham, ME:James and Ellen White, January 31).
Ellen G White, “Praise the Lord,” Signs of the Times, June 29, 1888.
Ellen G White, “To Those Who Are Receiving the Seal of the Living God,” January 31, 1849, par 7.
Ellen G White, A Vision the Lord Gave Me at Sutton, Vermont, September, 1850, MS 14.
White, A Vision the Lord Gave Me at Sutton, Vermont.
White, A Vision the Lord Gave Me at Sutton, Vermont.
Ellen G White, To Reuben and Belinda Loveland, Letter 26, November 1, 1850.
Ellen G White, To Harriet Arabella Hastings, Letter 3, August 11, 1851.
Ellen G White, Supplement to the Christian Experience and Views of Ellen G White (Rochester, NY: James White, 1854), 46.
White, Supplement, 46.