The Love of God

John 3:16-17
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

God loved the world, his creation and its people, so much that although mankind was full of sin and guilty of many faults before God, God had compassion and thoughts of mercy for those, who otherwise in God’s eyes, were worthy of his wrath and destruction for their rebellion to God’s righteous laws and ways.

God made a plan to help man and save mankind from an otherwise impeding destruction, by giving his only Son, Jesus, to be a holy sacrifice to free mankind of his burden of sin, and bring in a new hope, of a new life with righteousness.

You see God really loves you. He loves his creation.

God does not want to destroy mankind, but seeks to save his creation, as many as will hear his voice calling them to be saved and become righteous before him. He sent his only Son, Jesus, to save that which was lost; those who otherwise would perish in the wrath of God for their sins or iniquity against the one true living Holy God.

Jesus said:

Matthew 18:11
For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.

Jesus was speaking about little children when he made this statement, but it applies to all of us who are as children before God.

Matthew 18:10-14
Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. 11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. 12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

It’s not the will of God that all of mankind should perish for his faults and sins against God. God wants a relationship with man. God seeks a righteous relationship with mankind.

Peter, the chief apostle of Jesus, wrote of the longsuffering of God:

2nd Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

The Lord wishes that man would seek God, and repent of his sins done in his life before God. God promises mercy on those who repent and believe in the testimony of his Son Jesus.

The Old Testament prophet Isaiah wrote of God’s mercy on those who repented:

Isaiah 55:6-8
¶ Seek ye YHWH while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto YHWH, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith YHWH.

Jesus taught his disciples, and all men, to love one another. Read what his disciple John wrote about the love of God.

1st John 4:7-19
¶ Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. 14 ¶ And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 17 ¶ Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19 We love him, because he first loved us.

Through this letter by Jesus’ disciple John, we learn that God is Love, and that the Love of God is evident in God sending his only begotten Son, Jesus the Christ to be a holy sacrifice (a propitiation) for our sins.

Another apostle of Christ, the apostle Paul, wrote of the love of Christ.

1st Timothy 1:12-14
¶ And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; 13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

Jesus came into the world to save sinners, or those who were lost in their sins against God.

Paul wrote of this love of God toward mankind through the sacrifice of Jesus the Christ.

Romans 5:6-10
¶ For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Paul teaches that Jesus died for the ungodly. That while we were lost sinners, or enemies toward God, Christ died for us.

Paul describes the love of Christ in his letters to the churches of Ephesus and Rome.

Ephesians 3:14-20
¶ For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

Romans 8:35-39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul states, essentially, nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ Jesus towards those of his children who love God, those baptized believers in Jesus the Christ.

Jesus came to save sinners, or those who were enemies to God, who were doomed to die in their sins against a holy righteous God. Jesus taught his disciples to not only love one another, but to love their enemies as well.

Read of the radical love of God that Jesus was trying teach mankind.

Mathew 5:43-48
¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Truly, before we all come to know Jesus the Christ, we were enemies and contrary to God, for sin separates one from God. God cannot tolerate sin. All men are born into a life of sin since all men came from Adam and Eve who sinned against God in the garden of Eden and were thus cursed to the curse of sin and death by sin. Those born in sin also can sin more, committing more sins before God and therefore have a double portion of sin.

Therefore, we are enemies to God before we reconcile by repenting of our sins to God through the faith of Jesus the Christ.

Jesus came to bring life, the life of God, everlasting life to free mankind from the burden of God’s curse on man of sin, and death by sin.

Jesus accomplished this holy sacrificial act, of atonement for sins, when he died on the cross in 33 AD and bled his holy blood for the sins of Israel and all men and women -- all people worldwide.

Jesus died for your sins, but Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day after his burial by the power of God, whom he fully committed his life and spirit to, in righteous obedience to God.

Our Lord, Jesus, was resurrected from the dead!

Jesus Lives!

If you would only believe in Jesus the Christ, who God raised up Christ to everlasting life from the dead to now sit at the right hand of God in the heavens, he can raise you up as being righteous before God, forgiven and free of your sins before God, and give you everlasting life!

If you would only seek the one true living God with all your heart and repent to him of your sins, and believe in His only Son, Jesus the Christ, you too can be saved of your sins, and free from the curse of death--free from the wrath of God.

Let’s look again at promise of Jesus:

John 3:14-21
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Won’t you believe in Jesus the Christ?

Do you want to have everlasting life?

Do you want to be free of your sins before God and free from the wrath of God?

Then believe in the name of Jesus the Christ of Almighty God and you too can be saved!

What a wonderful God we serve, who gave his only begotten Son to die for our sins, to save the ungodly, that we might be free and receive everlasting life!

Praise God that he loved us, and loved us even when we were enemies against his holy ways and righteous laws. Praise God for his Son Jesus the Christ, who sacrificed his life for you and I, and everyone, for our sins, and who conquered death and the grave, and make it possible for us to have life--everlasting life before God!

So, I ask you, do you know Jesus?

Have you repented of your sins to God?

Will you believe and be baptized in Jesus’ sacrifice?

Are you covered by the blood of Jesus?

What should you do to be saved?