Everlasting Love
“’At that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.’ Thus says the LORD, the people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness- Israel, when it went to find its rest.’ The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness’.” Jeremiah 31:1-3
What a beautiful depiction of the Gospel in Jeremiah 31.
Initially, we take note that the nation of Israel is God’s chosen nation. “’At that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people’.” Consider John 15:16, in which Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit…”. As the nation of Israel was chosen by God, you too are chosen. Ephesians 1:4 and 2:10 says, “For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence…. And we are “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
Next, we see in Jeremiah 31:2 that Israel “went to find rest”. This shows a deliberate act of free-will to seek God. We are chosen, but we must seek. Consider Deuteronomy 4:29 which says, ‘If from there you seek Me with your whole heart, you will find me’. Also consider Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” But don’t delay; now is the time. “Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near” (Isaiah 55:6).
Continuing in Jeremiah 31:3, we see three very important considerations. One, God allows Himself to be found. Two, His love is everlasting. Three, He draws us to Himself. Jeremiah 31:3 says, ‘The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have drawn you with lovingkindness’.”
Consider Jesus.
He’s always available: “Because He lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood; therefore, He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).
His love is everlasting: “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8), and ‘nothing’ “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
He draws us to Himself with lovingkindness. John 12:32 says, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw everyone to Myself.” Consider the healing effect of the lifting of the serpent in the wilderness as recorded in Numbers 21:9. “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live’."
We hear the prophet Isaiah reinforcing again the saving power of God through the ‘looking’ or ‘turning’ to Him. “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:22).
“The only basis on which God can forgive us is the tremendous tragedy of the Cross of Christ. To base our forgiveness on any other ground is unconscious blasphemy. The only ground on which God can forgive our sin and reinstate us to His favor is through the Cross of Christ. There is no other way” (Oswald Chambers).
Lovingkindness is covenantal love. It’s non-circumstantial and is rooted in the unfailing love of God found in the Cross of Christ. To see the cruel and immeasurable cost of sin as compared to the undeserving grace and immeasurable love of God, leads us to surrender all in repentance and trust, turning to Him who is lifted up for our salvation.
“All men – I (Jesus) will incline all kinds of men; or will make the way open by the Cross, so that all men may come. I (Jesus) will provide a way which shall present a strong motive or inducement – the strongest that can be presented to all men to come” (Barnes’ commentary).
