God Loves Us Eternally
Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash
This is the final devotion taken from our 2025 Lent in a Box resource, Unbroken: A Living Faith created in partnership with The Lutheran Center at St. Olaf and grounded in the work of the Living Catechism Project. Each week's theme is based around one of the teachings of the Living Catechism. View the weekly videos and download the daily spiritual practices and reflections on this website.
Week 6 Theme: God loves us eternally
Through the resurrection of Jesus, God shows us that death does not have the final word. God promises to be with us not only in this life but also in the life to come. God promises a new heaven and a new earth where there’s no more crying, no more dying, only life, only love. God’s promises to love us eternally are not just about the future but compel us to live as if love extends beyond the bounds of death.
Day Five: God promises to be with us in the life to come
Unlike our ancestors, today, we can pick up our phones and instantly have access to information about war, disaster, violence, famine, death, pain and heartache all over the world. Our bodies and minds are not structured to manage that much information that fast. Some days we focus on the death, we let fear loom and grow, and we lose hope. Other days we escape or numb out to get through the day. Neither feel dignifying or sustainable.
During Holy Week, God invites us to move through our ancient story of fear and hope, death and life, hatred and love in community. God reminds our community that hope, life, and love have the last word. Our faith asks us to trust in God’s promise.
Jesus’ friends fell asleep on him when he most needed companionship. Peter denied knowing him when he most needed to be known. On the cross, Jesus took on the shape of a slave and was emptied of his worldly power. His last words before he died expressed feeling abandoned even by God. Then he was dead for three days. During Holy Week, we don’t rush through the pain and heartache. We don’t gloss over the death. We don’t jump to the good news. And if we really dwell in the fact that Jesus suffered and died and stayed dead, and let that take our own breath away, then God’s promises land differently. God, who knows abandonment, promises to be with us. God, who knows betrayal, promises no more tears. God, who knows hatred, promises only love. God, who knows death, promises only life. Forever. It is all too much for our human brains and hearts to fully comprehend. It is just ours to trust that God’s love is bigger, wider, deeper, and remains longer than our comprehension.
Today, despite all the evidence to the contrary, can you believe that hope, life, and love will have the final word? Even if it feels wildly irrational and beyond your mind’s reason, can you dwell in God’s promise? Beyond the grip of death, God’s love is wrapping itself around you.
