Week Four - Love

“...I HAVE LOVED YOU WITH AN EVERLASTING LOVE...”

JEREMIAH 31:2-4

At the center of the Christmas story is God’s heart of faithful love. In spite of the wandering hearts of his people, God never lost sight of his promise to be with them and make them his own. Jeremiah prophesied at a time when it was easy to question God’s love. Jerusalem had been destroyed and God’s temple was looted and burned.

Jeremiah himself probably lived through the siege of Jerusalem, only to witness further chaos when he was taken against his will to Egypt after a disastrous assassination plot. He died in Egypt, still waiting to see God’s love showered on his people.

The New Testament book of John says that Jesus was sent into the world because of God’s love. Jesus personified and lived out God’s everlasting love by welcoming strangers, embracing the untouchable, and ultimately laying down his life in exchange for the world’s. He will return one day to bring all who believe in him into his perfect kingdom of love. At Christmas, we celebrate the first coming of God’s love into the world, even as we wait for Jesus to return again to make our experience of love complete.