Loved!

Loved! 

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 31:3 KJV

In context, this also reflects yesterday's focus. Sin has always been a great barrier between God and man. It doesn't matter how gifted, talented and outspoken that man is; as long as sin was in the camp, that man was destined for punishment. If God could pay such a huge price for sin, whereby He gave up his One and Only Son, and then turned His eyes away as he bore the sins of the whole world on himself, how then do we think that we will fare better if we sin? This is the warning: just as God dealt with His own people Israel, so will He deal with all men: God will punish sin no matter in whom it is found. Now that you know, there is no excuse for sin.

And in context also, God had punished His people for their sins. They had been scattered all over the face of the earth, and nations that could not even stand up to them in the past had now become their masters and oppressors. That is what sin does: reduces you to a piece of bread, to be consumed by all who come across you or who are simply hungry. Yet in the midst of all these troubles, we see God again reaching out in love to His people. 

And that is the mystery about God: He HATES sin but LOVES the sinner. He can do anything to save the soul of the sinner, but He cannot excuse the sin. It is this love that is a mystery to man, where a man like Saul, with murder in His heart, can have an encounter and his life is changed forever. It is still the same God; different dispensations, but the same heart of love. He still extends that heart to all men, and all who dare to come receive all that He offers.

God has always been a God of love. It was love that led to man's creation, and it we love that laid out the plan of redemption right at the very scene of rebellion by man. God's love has been from old, and there is NOTHING a man can do to reduce or render it invalid until the end of that man's physical stay on earth. As long as I have breath in me, God's love cannot be denied. As long as I breathe, I am never too far away from God's love. When I consider all that He does for all of man, including those who claim to be agnostics or atheists, you have to wonder at the heart of a God who still loves all who reject or deny Him. That is what love means. 

And that is His message again today: I am still that same God from old, from ancient times. I am the One who appeared to Abraham in love, and called Him to follow me. I am the One who called mortal broken men like Samson, David, Cyrus and even revealed myself to Nebuchadnezzar and Ahab. Who would have given these types of kings any chance at all, but this is a God of love. His love isn't transactional, where I have to do something first to earn it; in fact, at the time I received it, I didn't even know what it was, who it was from and what it meant. I was in sin when His love was fully manifested at the cross. 

His love is presented here at everlasting, because He is also eternal and everlasting. It is that same nature that He offers us all, so that as He draws us to Himself, we come into that love and enjoy all that He offers. In that is this warning: you only get the eternal when you have accepted his love. He offers it for free and for all of eternity, but it will only be true for those who accept the person of His love, who is Jesus Christ. 

It doesn't matter what else you have or who else you know; if the love of God does not live in you, you don't get what He has offered. It is this warning that must rest with you at all times: I am not promised forever down here, at least not this present physical earth as we know it. A new heaven and earth are promised, and only those who have accepted the free call of love from God will experience them. Are you one of them? Does God know you as His own? Have you responded to His love and does He live inside you? These questions have eternal consequences; you need to be sure where you will spend the rest of your life. His time of favour is here.