Have you ever experienced such pain and sorrow that you felt that God abandoned you? Has God’s love ever seemed distant, far away? Such feelings of abandonment are common to God’s people, especially in times of grief and tragedy. In such times, it is important to remember the fact that, regardless of our feelings and our perceptions, the love of God is an inherent part of His eternal nature. His love is described in Scripture as “an everlasting love.”
The prophet Jeremiah lived during some of the darkest days in Israel’s history. The city of Jerusalem was destroyed by the cruel Babylonian army. The Temple built by Solomon was looted and burned. The sons of Zedekiah, the princes of the kingdom, were slaughtered in the sight of their father, the king. After witnessing the death of his sons, the Babylonian soldiers “put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to [captivity in] Babylon” (II Kings 25:7).
The mournful people of Judah who had watched the fall of Jerusalem with tears and groanings now prayed for the day that the Lord would turn back their captivity. God raised up Jeremiah to deliver a message of warning to the people, reminding them that Jerusalem had fallen and the Temple had been destroyed because of their sins against the God of their fathers. But the prophet also delivered a message of hope and consolation. He reminded the men and women of Judah of the covenant promises and unending love of faithful God Who would yet send redemption through His promised Messiah.
In Jeremiah Chapter 31, the prophet gives the nation of Israel a message of hope and comfort in the midst of their desolation. “At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:1–3).
We have been considering the essential attribute of God’s love. We have already recognized that God’s love is unmerited, meaning that it is not based upon any virtue in the object of His love. He loves us not because we are loveable, but simply because He is love. Now, we will examine the equally important Biblical truth that God’s love is eternal.
In the vast stretches of eternity past, before God spoke the universe into existence, love was already a part of His nature. This love of God was not merely an undefined force, a deep well of love without an object, an obscure feeling that knows not what it loves. No, God’s everlasting love had an eternal object—and that was and is you and me!
The Apostle Paul described this love in his letter to the believers in Ephesus: “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (Ephesians 1:4). Paul stated further that this love was extended to us in spite of our sinful and wretched condition of rebellion towards the Lord. As recorded in Romans 5:8, Paul wrote, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
There are many wondrous mysteries in these Bible passages that our human minds can never completely comprehend. How can God be fully sovereign in His redeeming love and yet man also be fully responsible to repent and believe? Although we cannot fully understand the answer to this question, we can believe what the Bible has revealed. Even before sin entered the world, God already had both planned and provided a perfect redemption for sinful man! The Book of Revelation describes our Lord Jesus as “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). Out of the many mysteries connected with our redemption, we can be sure of one thing: God loves us with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah recorded God’s proclamation to Israel: “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3). God’s eternal and unmerited love has been manifested in a way that can be experienced in time and space. God’s love is the fountain that springs from His very nature, and that everlasting love is extended to man through God’s lovingkindness—His unmerited favor that reaches down to us in our lost condition. The greatest manifestation of the everlasting love of God was, and is, and ever shall be the gift of His Own beloved Son, Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
When circumstances seemingly are falling apart, and evil is growing increasingly wicked, remember the love of God toward you. Like the men and women of Judah in Jeremiah’s day, whenever you are tempted to doubt God’s love for you, remember that His love is unmerited and it is eternal. His love is not dependent upon human circumstance or affected by your unworthiness. God’s love is an everlasting love. It is true, whether you feel it or not. It is true, whether you believe it or not. God’s everlasting love is manifested perfectly and eternally in the redeeming love extended to you in the person of Jesus Christ.
