God’s Love

Background Scripture: Jeremiah 29; 31
Lesson Scripture: Jeremiah 29:10-14; 31:1-3, 31-34

Introduction

Poets have penned elegant verse portraying the love of God, authors have written many books describing God’s love in human terms, and we sing songs that have been set to delightful music expressing his love. Yet nothing brings God’s love into reality like personal experience. These phrases from the hymn “The Love of God” 1 draw a striking picture:

The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell;

It goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell. . . .

Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made;

Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade;

To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry;

Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.

Truly, all we can do is scratch the surface with our thoughts and words. Only in experiencing God’s love do we begin to understand its depth.

Key Verse

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him (1 John 4:16).

Lesson Scripture

Studying the Lesson

The Jews had strayed from the Lord by serving other gods and were carried into Babylon as captives. There they lost their song and felt they had no reason for living; they became discouraged and hopeless. They said, “We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof” (Ps. 137:2).

Jeremiah received a beautiful message of love and encouragement from God to give to his people, who found it difficult to accept their undesirable circumstances. God advised them that instead of chafing, complaining, and creating trouble, they should accept their circumstances, settle down, build houses, and raise families. He encouraged them to be at peace with their current situation by being peaceable. He promised to visit them again after seventy years and bring them back to their homeland. God’s love reaches out to draw rebellious people back to Him. Though they have strayed, He does not forsake them. It could seem that He had left them; however, they were the ones who had strayed and forsaken the Lord. In his love and mercy, the Lord reaches out to those who are suffering because of their rebellion. He promises them deliverance if they will seek Him with their whole heart. He promises to hear their pleas and bring them back home because his thoughts are thoughts of peace. Although man may stray and rebel, God’s love does not come and go—his love is an everlasting love.

The Lord promised to make a new covenant with his people in a time when He would become a personal presence. God’s love would be written in the heart; all believers could have the witness of the Holy Spirit abiding within.

Practical Truths for Today

The promises God made to the children of Israel through Jeremiah were ultimately fulfilled when Jesus, through his death on the cross, broke down the wall separating God and man. Individually, each one approaches the mercy seat and experiences the love of God as He receives forgiveness and deliverance.

God not only loves, He is love. Love is the reason all mankind can have hope of eternal life. In his everlasting love, God created a plan for the time when man would choose sin. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command, sin entered the world, and they were banished from the garden of Eden. God saw the utter hopelessness of man and sent his only begotten Son to this world to make a way of salvation. Christ came, not to kind, obedient people, but to sinful, cruel people without salvation. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). He was sent, not because we loved Him, but because God first loved us. We are born in sin and have nothing worthy to offer that can possibly pay for our sin. We deserve punishment, yet God reaches down to us and simply asks for our heart.

His love toward us was not actuated by our response. It is everlasting and just as strong today as it was in the past. As unlovable as we are, God reaches down and calls us. He loves us so much that, as we give ourselves to Him, He calls us his children, a part of his family. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God” (1 John 3:1).

God’s love is alive, and when He sees the misery of mankind, He reaches out in compassion to the downtrodden, destitute, and sick. “He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment” (Deut. 10:18). When Jesus walked on this earth, He had special compassion for the less fortunate, and it is through God’s children that his love is still reaching out to the unlovable. When God fills our heart with his love, we are active, and our love overflows to our brethren, our neighbors, and the stranger in the street.

“Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16). By sacrificing his Son, God has shown the pattern for unselfishness. We must be willing to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of our brethren. We must be willing to sacrifice our time for someone who is in trouble or to give ourselves to work or duty even though we feel others are more accomplished than we are. We refrain from an activity if we realize it may cause a brother or sister to stumble. A true sacrifice is doing or giving something when we would rather not do so. God blesses those who cheerfully deny themselves and unselfishly minister to the needs of others.

God’s love is tender, yet constraining, drawing man’s heart gently to Himself. He said, “I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love” (Hos. 11:4). As we yield to Him, He embraces us in the safety of his arms. He wants our whole heart, our obedience, and loyalty. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3). To follow God, we must obey his commandments—this is not complicated or ritualistic. He leads us by his Holy Spirit, and as we humbly follow his promptings, we experience God’s peace.

When God’s love settles in our heart, it turns a hard heart of stone into a heart that is soft, tender, and sensitive. His love surrounds us with warmth and radiance. When we enter the closet of prayer and lift our devotion to Him, we are comforted by his loving Presence. It is a wonderful experience to live within God’s love.

There is no power on earth, no circumstance, or event that can come between God’s love and our heart. “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God” (Rom. 8:39). Though we can never comprehend the depth of God’s love, we can experience his nearness as we open the Bible and allow the message of his Word to soak into our heart. When experiencing difficulties such as ill health, disappointment, trauma, or tragedy, there is nothing as calming and fulfilling as opening the Scriptures, reading the promises of God, and allowing his love to flow into our soul. With a prayer of submission to God’s will, we find comfort beyond human understanding.

God’s love draws his followers together. We have a desire to gather with our brethren and fellowship, sharing our hearts and our experiences and being a part of God’s family. We anticipate hearing God’s Word and finding nourishment for our soul. When our faith wavers and we need reassurance of God’s presence, we can draw courage from our brothers and sisters as we see them standing firm.

God loves us enough to chastise us. Although at first we may fail to recognize God’s hand in an admonition, He is reaching out to us in love for the salvation of our soul (Heb. 12:6). Events we experience in life are meant to bring us closer to the Lord. When we realize this, we see God’s love drawing us nearer to Him.

Just as the Lord told the captives in Babylon that his thoughts toward them were good, so He thinks of us today. If we are in captivity, let us realize that, because of his love, we can choose to be free. If we are guilty of sin, we can repent, and He will forgive us. Instead of death we can have eternal life. It is immeasurable love! Let us accept God’s love in our heart and live for Him with fullness of joy.

Illustration

During times of world unrest, turmoil, and distress, the hearts of many people are gripped with fear and panic. However, those who place their confidence in God can rest in his love. Though what the world calls love proves to be like shifting sand in the uncertainties of life, making God our first love is a rock of security. As Christians, we know that resting in the love of our heavenly Father is a sure foundation—we need not fear.

Questions

1. What are ways to differentiate between God’s love and the emotion the world calls love?
2. How does God express his love to us in the adversities of life?
3. How do we understand and feel the providence of God’s love amid catastrophe, such as a tragic death?
4. 1 Frederick M. Lehman (1869-1953), “The Love of God,” Christian Hymnal
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Source: COGICM Daily Bible Readings (Daily Bible Readings, PO Box 124, Glenn, CA 95943).