This grim book speaks not only of the righteous anger of an offended God but also the faithfulness and mercy of our covenant Lord. At the end of the prophecy, the Lord declares of his repenting people, “I will love them freely.” We considered the nature of God's love – that it is both free (a spontaneous act of his holy will, the voluntary inclination and affection of his heart apart from issues of apparent worthiness and unworthiness) and full (not only everflowing but overflowing). Then there are the people whom God loves – self-destructive, God-rejecting, hell-bent rebels. No love other than one freely bestowed would reach such sinners as we have been. That contrast leads us to consider the glory of God's love: it springs forth unbidden to redeem those both repugnant to holiness and resistant to goodness; it answers the need of such sinners absolutely, dealing with the abundance of sin, absence of righteousness and antagonism to God that characterises us; it is irresistible, nothing and no-one can prevent, resist, or undo the love of God; and, it is demonstrated at Calvary. The death of Jesus is the fruit and not the cause of God's love. He dies because God loves; God does not love because he dies. Finally, consider the effects of God's love: a reason to hope, an anchor for faith, a spur to humility, a ground for comfort, a reason for joy, and the spring of our own thankful love to him who loved us first.
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