Steadfast Love

Oct 27, 2021

This morning was the start of a different day. My wife was scheduled for a medical procedure, and I took the day off to assist her. It was a fairly standard procedure, although it was new to us. She is doing fine and resting at home as I write.

Sitting in the waiting room gave me a moment to reflect. For many of us, the past few years have been very difficult. There has been loss, pain, isolation, and uncertainty. Our family is no different. We have experienced these things as well. However, as I sat in the waiting room, I considered how richly blessed we are.

In (Exodus 34), the Lord meets with Moses on Mount Sinai. Moses takes two tablets of stone, and as the Lord descended in the cloud, He stands with Moses on the mountain. The Lord proclaims:

Exodus 34:6–7 (NKJV)

“And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”

This is the first time God’s attributes are described in the Bible. Among His attributes, Yahweh describes Himself as “abounding in goodness.” The Hebrew word expresses the lovingkindness of God, often translated as “steadfast love.” In (Exodus 34), “His chesed is associated with His covenant love for Israel.”2 His love toward Israel was merciful, compassionate, and loyal.

The attributes of Yahweh are fully seen in Jesus. As the letter of Hebrews opens, it opens with these words:

Hebrews 1:1–4 (NKJV)

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”

Jesus is the “brightness of His glory and the express image of His person….” There is no more remarkable example of God’s steadfast love, faithfulness, mercy, and loyalty than His Son. Jesus is God’s loyal love demonstrated.

John 3:16 (NKJV)

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

In Jesus, Yahweh's faithfulness, mercy, loyalty, and goodness are fulfilled. The promise of God's Messiah through the Old Testament is realized in Jesus. And in Jesus, God is working to restore all of creation (ref. Acts 3:21; Rom. 8:21).

How often has God expressed His steadfast love? Reflecting on the last few years, even longer, God has shown His steadfast love and continues to do so. He is faithful. He is loyal, and His mercies are new every morning.

Lamentations 3:22–24 (NKJV)

“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

“Therefore I hope in Him!”