Homilist Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love… I. UNCREATED MEN ARE THE OBJECTS OF DIVINE LOVE. Men in actual existence are not everlasting; they are only creatures of a day, mere shadows passing upon the earth. But in the mind of the Infinite they are eternal. 1. Because He loved them He created them. 2. Because He loved them He created them what they are. He made them capable of enjoying every kind of happiness of which we have any conception. II. CREATED MEN ARE THE SUBJECTS OF DIVINE LOVE. 1. God's love in nature has a power to draw men to Him. His love in nature appears in two forms. (1) In the form of utility. Nature ministers to man's necessities and gratifications. (2) In the form of beauty. What is beauty, but the costume of love, the pictures and statues of love, nay the voice, the winning music of love? 2. God s love in mediation has a power to draw men to Him. The incarnation of Christ is at once the effect, the channel, and the instrument of Divine love, and the Divine love that draws with a moral magnetism of the highest measure. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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