The Battle of Put-in-Bay

“God’s love is so vast and boundless that, as the swallow simply skims the water without diving into its depths, so all descriptive words merely touch the surface, while immeasurable depths lie below.”- C.H. Spurgeon

As a child, I read about the great naval battles that were fought on Lake Erie during the War of 1812… and scratched my head. The largest such encounter was the Battle of Lake Erie, also know as the Battle of Put-in-Bay. It took place on September 10, 1813, and involved 15 different ships. By the battle’s end, the nine American vessels had defeated and captured the six British ones.

How could 15 ships engage in battle on a single lake, I wondered, having grown up in South Jersey where lakes covered a few acres at best. And then, I visited a friend in northwest New York State, and he took me to see Lake Erie.

To say that I was amazed at its enormity would be a massive understatement. Not only were there large wind-driven waves breaking along the shoreline just like the Atlantic Ocean, but I couldn’t come close to seeing across the lake. For the first time, I could close my eyes and imagine a full-scale naval battle taking place on such a mammoth body of water.

In the same way, God’s love – especially as demonstrated through the Lord Jesus Christ – is deeper and wider than we can possibly comprehend. But Charles Spurgeon, the “Prince of Preachers,” does a good job describing it.

“For this love of Christ is indeed measureless and fathomless; no one can fully comprehend it. Before we can have any right idea of the love of Jesus, we must understand His previous glory in its height of majesty, and His incarnation upon the earth in all its depths of shame. But who can tell us the majesty of Christ? When He was enthroned in the highest heavens, He was very God of very God. By Him the heavens were made, and all its inhabitants. His own almighty arm upheld the spheres; the praises of cherubim and seraphim perpetually surrounded Him; the full chorus of the hallelujahs of the universe flowed without ceasing to the foot of his throne. He reigned supreme above all His creatures, God over all, blessed forever. Who can tell His height of glory then? And who, on the other hand, can tell how low He descended? To be a man was something; to be a man of sorrows was far more. To bleed and die and suffer—these were much for Him who was the Son of God; but to suffer such unparalleled agony—to endure a death of shame and desertion by His Father—this is a depth of condescending love that the most inspired mind must utterly fail to fathom. Herein is love! And truly it is love that ‘surpasses knowledge.’”

And the Apostle Paul put it this way…

“…so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17-19 (NASB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President