Does God have a message for us today? If he had one thing to say what would it be?
"The Lord appeared to us in the past saying, 'I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.'" Jeremiah 31:3, NIV.
There is only one place to start and this verse starts with the Lord, a reminder that the Sovereign Ruler of the universe, our creator, and sustainer who has all power speaks. We should listen to what he says, for it will be right and just.
LOVE
This verse references love three times. A triangle is the strongest structure in engineering and the threefold love of God for us can't be bent or broken.
He had already given us his love we do not need to earn it or merit it- it is already given. We might ask who will love me, God answers, "I have loved you..." It is like he is saying, "I have been loving you all along."This grammar is in the past tense but this love is not only in the past.
His love is an everlasting love, one that will never end. God will never change and his love for us will never change. God controls time, therefore, his love is outside of time; though seasons and calendars may change God's love for us will never change.
DRAW
To draw someone is to bring them close. In this verse is the sense of God holding out his hands to us and beckoning us to come to him. He has given us blessings of life, and mind, a conscience, and a soul. He could have drawn us to himself with thunder, lightning, earthquakes, angels of flame, or by declarations of "Obey me or else," but instead he draws us to himself with loving-kindness.
God has been merciful to humanity. His justice demands a payment for sin and he could have brought angry wrath for the many evils we each have done, but in his loving-kindness, he is calling us to come to him. The greatest act of loving-kindness was in His Son Jesus who died to pay for the penalty of our sins.
The Lord appeared to us in the ultimate communication in the person of Jesus. His message is the same today as in the distant past, he loves you with an everlasting love, you can receive Him or reject Him and His love for you is the same.
Do you feel him drawing you? Another prophet echoes God's invitation when he said, "Come let us reason together says the Lord. Though your sins are as scarlet they will be as snow, though they are red as crimson they shall be as wool." Isaiah 1:17.
"The Lord appeared to us in the past saying, 'I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.'" Jeremiah 31:3, NIV.
There is only one place to start and this verse starts with the Lord, a reminder that the Sovereign Ruler of the universe, our creator, and sustainer who has all power speaks. We should listen to what he says, for it will be right and just.
LOVE
 |
| An everlasting love |
He had already given us his love we do not need to earn it or merit it- it is already given. We might ask who will love me, God answers, "I have loved you..." It is like he is saying, "I have been loving you all along."This grammar is in the past tense but this love is not only in the past.
His love is an everlasting love, one that will never end. God will never change and his love for us will never change. God controls time, therefore, his love is outside of time; though seasons and calendars may change God's love for us will never change.
DRAW
To draw someone is to bring them close. In this verse is the sense of God holding out his hands to us and beckoning us to come to him. He has given us blessings of life, and mind, a conscience, and a soul. He could have drawn us to himself with thunder, lightning, earthquakes, angels of flame, or by declarations of "Obey me or else," but instead he draws us to himself with loving-kindness.
God has been merciful to humanity. His justice demands a payment for sin and he could have brought angry wrath for the many evils we each have done, but in his loving-kindness, he is calling us to come to him. The greatest act of loving-kindness was in His Son Jesus who died to pay for the penalty of our sins.
The Lord appeared to us in the ultimate communication in the person of Jesus. His message is the same today as in the distant past, he loves you with an everlasting love, you can receive Him or reject Him and His love for you is the same.
Do you feel him drawing you? Another prophet echoes God's invitation when he said, "Come let us reason together says the Lord. Though your sins are as scarlet they will be as snow, though they are red as crimson they shall be as wool." Isaiah 1:17.
(c) Adron 5/3/12
