Throughout Psalm 136, the psalmist repeats the phrase “His love endures forever” after each praise. The Psalmist is referring to God’s love in this Psalm as he states in Psalm 136:1, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.”
"His love endures forever." Is it true that God’s love truly endures forever?
God’s love truly does endure forever. God’s love is different from the love humankind possesses. God’s love is not based on what we do. His love is known as agape love. Agape love refers to an unconditional love. Nothing a person could do would ever cause God to love them less. The unconditional love that God has endures forever.
Jeremiah also knew this fact of God’s eternal love as it is written, “the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord, saying, ‘Give thanks to the Lord Almighty, for the Lord is good; his love endures forever.’ For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,” says the Lord” (Jeremiah 33:11).
In this passage of Jeremiah 33:11, Psalm 136 is directly being quoted. This is because Jeremiah is emphasizing the importance of God’s eternal love. Jeremiah went through difficult times in his life and saw horrible events befall on Israel.
Jeremiah could have simply believed the lie that God has forgotten His chosen people; however, Jeremiah instead reminds the people that God’s love endures forever.
God’s love never ends. His love endures forever.
God’s love could have stopped the moment of the fall of man in Genesis; however, His love did not end toward mankind.
Adam and Eve were the first people God ever created and He gave them only one command: to not eat from the tree of good and evil (Genesis 3:2). Despite God’s command, Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. God could have been angry and completely eradicated the human race at that moment, but God’s love covered Adam and Eve’s sin. He banished them from the garden; however, His love was still with them.
Throughout the Bible mankind has given hundreds of reasons for God to stop loving us, but He never does. This is because God’s love truly endures forever.
Nothing a believer could do could ever separate them from the love of God. Paul tells us in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Nothing can separate believers from the enduring love of God.
The most extensive form of God’s love is shown to us in the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Father sent His Son to die for the sins of the world (John 3:16-17). God did this because He loves mankind with an enduring love. His love will not change, waver, or fade.
God’s character, nature, and love will never change (Hebrews 13:8). God is the exact representation of love as the Bible tells us God is love (1 John 4:8). Since God is love and He is the creator of love, His love will endure forever because He does not change. In future eternity, His love will remain forever.
We can know this to be true because when a person places faith in Jesus, the individual is given eternal life in addition to forgiveness of sins. The fact of a person receiving the gift of eternal life gives support for the truth that God’s love does indeed endure forever.
Eternity with God will be paradise, amazing, and full of worship and love for God. His love for us will not weaken overtime as His love is constant and strong. Enduring love does not have any time restraints.
Jeremiah 31:3: "The Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you."
Zephaniah 3:17: "The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."
John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
1 John 3:1: "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him."
Anybody can experience God’s eternal love. God loves all people; however, eternal love and life is only given to those who have placed faith in Jesus. If an individual never trusts in Jesus for their salvation, they will not be able to experience God’s enduring eternal love. God does love all people; however, the Bible tells us we are enemies of God until we place faith in Christ.
Romans 5:10 states, “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” Thus, God’s love does endure forever for believers. If a person fails to accept Jesus during their earthly life, there are no second chances.
If an individual never believes in Jesus and trusts in Him, they will be eternally separated from God forever in hell at the moment of death (John 3:36). However, for believers, God’s love does endure forever and will never diminish.
For believers at the moment of death, they are taken to be with the Lord in Heaven. In Heaven, believers will be able to worship God all the time and give God the praise due to His Name. For all eternity, believers will be able to experience God’s love.
Everyone can experience God’s love today by believing in Jesus and accepting Him as your Savior and Lord. If you have already accepted Christ as your Savior, you can still feel God’s enduring love. It is important to remember that God’s love is more than a feeling. You do not have to feel God’s enduring love to actually know it is there.
God’s enduring love can be shown in Jesus’ death on the cross to save mankind from our sins as well as God’s daily provisions and help. If God did not have enduring love, we would not be here today. This is because God’s love for us triumphs over everything as He wants everyone to come to know Him (1 Timothy 2:4).
May we always say “Your love endures forever” for all eternity in the presence of the one and only God.
For further reading:
What Does Agape Love Really Mean in the Bible?
What Is Hesed Love, and What Does it Tell Us about God's Love for Us?
Can Nothing Really Separate Us from the Love of God?
Reflecting on God’s Consistent Love (Psalm 80)
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