Today we are asking an interesting question, how does “the Lord love with an everlasting love?” How do we make sense of such a statement? What does that mean to me? How can I live my life in response to this kind of statement? Or do I have to do anything to earn this kind of love?
As much as I want to jump right in with two feet and define this statement, it wouldn’t be wise to start there. Without context behind our definition, it would be empty and meaningless. Context in our Bible study is vital.
Plants are gorgeous in pots, but when you see them in their rightful place they are even more so, and the same is true for Scripture. Let me take a few seconds of your time to explain the Book of Jeremiah.
What Is God’s Love in the Bible?
The Book of Jeremiah was written by a prophet of the same name. He was the son of Hilkiah and a priest, from the line of Benjamin. He lived in a small village called Anathoth, Judah.
Likely due to his lineage, he was raised as a prophet, but we have no biblical history to connect this. Jeremiah began prophesying around the age of 20, in 627 BC and continued until 582 BC.
Have you ever had someone say something to you and your first response was to grimace at the words? This was the response to Jeremiah’s messages, they were simple, but packed a punch.
The Israelites had turned from God once again and were now worshipping Baal and sacrificing to the stone gods. They lived in wicked ways and were socially unjust.
In Deuteronomy 28, we read about a promise of protection from God if the Israelites follow His ways but we also read about a curse from God if they strayed from His laws.
Due to this straying from God in the sixth century, Jeremiah tells the Israelite people they would face the curse, and experience famine, and captivity in another land due to being overthrown by a foreign nation.
The powerful messages shared by Jeremiah often held no weight with the people as others were speaking a false prophecy contradicting him. But the false prophecy is sweeter to the ear and so it is those words the people are drawn to.
As a result, Jeremiah is found weeping or lamenting and has therefore been named by some scholars the “weeping prophet.”
With all of this in mind, how do we go from being exiled to being loved? Or is it possible to be both? How do we answer our questions listed above, including the main question of “what does it mean when we say, “The Lord loved with an everlasting love?”
Using phrases like “I have loved you with an everlasting love,” does not mean, I will let you live as you please. So I believe that being exiled was God’s love for His glory.
My son is four, he is a loving little rascal, but, boy, does he love to have life his own way, even if it is dangerous. However, my job as his mother is to hone those quirks, to teach him the right way to live, and to act and love him deeply.
Every time I discipline his bad behavior in age-appropriate ways, I am showing him that I love him too much to let him disobey the rules we have in place for his safety. If I didn’t love him, I would go about my day and ignore his ways. I wouldn’t take the time to teach him.
In the same manner, God loves us so deeply that He won’t leave us to wreck and ruin, but rather, just as I take the time to teach my children, He will take the time to teach his.
It is so important that we do not see discipline from God as a harsh hand but as a loving one trying to show us the right way and protect us from what could happen if we go the wrong way.
So often, we, even as adults, find ourselves in the position of my four-year-old, wanting our own way and turning from God’s.
But remember, because God is omnipresent He can see the end of time from the beginning in one glance, His holy perspective is different than ours and sometimes, his discipline is something we will only realize in hindsight was for our benefit.
Oh, how often do I wish I could see all of life in hindsight! If only I could see the places God was showing me His everlasting love, yet I confused it for a harsh hand at the time. What a difference it would make.
But friend, we know God is loving and kind, that He is good and holy, that He is righteous and just and so, even when we have to say it out loud to remind ourselves, we know that God is always looking out for our best interests.
So, if we take those words, “I have loved you with an everlasting love,” we see a few things.
God Loves Us
This is such an important takeaway; we are loved by the Creator of the heavens and the earth. We were never an accident no matter your birth story or a by-product of a circumstance left here just to look after God’s creation, but we were part of the master plan.
Jeremiah 29 tells us that God has a plan for each and every one of us, and this plan is to prosper, to give us hope and a future. We are loved and chosen, created, and designed by God the Father. That’s a truth to grab a hold of today, friend, and never let go of.
Secondly, we see quite clearly that this love that God has for us is not one of love that we can wriggle our way out of, expire, drain, or use up. Rather just as God is infinite, so is His love for us.
We will always, always, be loved. We cannot take God’s love and push it aside. For some of us, that is such a lovely thought — a gentle reminder that makes us smile and feel warm inside. God loves me and I am so glad there are people reading this article who are sure of God’s love for them.
But for others, those words feel like a stab in the heart. You may not feel like you deserve that love, you may feel like you don’t want that love. But trust me when I say, God’s love is not like anything you have experienced before.
His love is not manipulative, it won’t hurt you, it won’t let you down. God’s love can be trusted, held on to, and accepted. 1 Corinthians tells us that God’s love is patient, kind, and forgiving — and He won’t ever treat you like a commodity.
This verse is a perfect example, that even when in exile, even after we have sinned and fallen short, even when disciplined, God still loves us and will continue to love us, even until the end of days. God's everlasting love is open and available to each one of us.
Again to remind you that this love is not going to run out, but will always be, from before you were born until long after you have gone into eternity, you will be loved by the Lord.
But as if these words were not incredible enough, I also love the next verse in this chapter, which reads: “I have drawn you with unfailing kindness” (Jeremiah 31:4). God’s love is not trying to push us aside but to draw us in with his kindness.
Unfailing kindness can also be stated as enduring, and trustworthy, but my favorite is unshakable kindness. I cannot turn God against me because He loves me so much that He is unshakably kind in pulling me toward Him so that He can show me His everlasting and enduring love for me.
What Does This Mean?
So, the answer is this, even in exile, you are loved — even tomorrow, next year and in 50 years from now, you will still be loved, deeply and eternally. You do not even have to do anything to earn this kind of love except believe in Jesus as we are told in John 3:16.
The question God would have for you is simple, will you let Him draw you in with His kindness to experience His love and His big plans for your life? Do you wish to experience this great eternal and everlasting love from God the Father?
For further reading:
Is God's Love Conditional or Unconditional?
Does God’s Love Really Endure Forever?
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Kharoll Mendoza
