1. God’s Love for You is Based on His Character (Not Your Current State)
When we think about God’s love, it’s vital to remember that His love is not like human love.
In other words, we need to view God’s love through the lens of His true character versus the lens of the human love we’ve experienced.
Now, it’s natural to initially view God through the lens of our human experiences, especially when we’re just getting to know Him.
But even if you’ve been blessed with a very loving family, one that other people envy, their love (amazing as it is) is still nothing like God’s love.
Why? Because God’s holy character vastly is different from our fallen human nature.
We’re sinful, imperfect humans living among other sinful, imperfect humans in a fallen world.
Meanwhile, God is:
Love
God doesn’t just feel love as an emotion. He actually is love!
1 John 4:16 (NLT) states it clearly: “God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.”
God and love are inseparable! Plus, God’s love is different from human love because He is different.
Holy
To be holy is to be, among other things, 100% set apart from evil (which includes sin). This means that God isn’t capable of being wicked, cruel, etc. (despite how we may interpret His actions or lack thereof).
1 John 1:5 (NLT) says: “This is the message we heard from and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.”
Immutable (aka Unchanging)
God’s character doesn’t change–ever. This means He is always holy–as well as the other traits that are part of His character.
Malachi 3:6 (NLT) says: “I am the Lord, and I do not change.”
And in 1 Samuel 15:29 (NLT), we read: “And he who is the Glory of Israel will not lie, nor will he change his mind, for he is not human that he should change his mind!”
Good
Because (in part) God is holy and His character never changes (and this neither does His holiness), God is always good.
Mark 10:18 (NLT) says, “Only God is truly good.”
And in Psalm 25:8 (NLT), we read: “The Lord is good and does what is right.”
These are just four of God’s character traits. (If you’d like to learn about more of His traits, visit RelateEscape.com and click on “Courses & Community” to access my mini course on this topic.)
But even in these four character traits, can you see the difference already?
Even though God created us in His image, God is not nearly the same as man–in a good way!
And because God is love and loves us unconditionally–and because He is holy and all of His other character traits–He didn’t abandon us to our fate after the Fall in the Garden of Eden.
In other words, He didn’t abandon us to forever being chained to sin–and all the havoc and pain that it causes–and separated from His presence. Because as sinners, we can’t be in His holy presence without atonement.
Nor did He cruelly give us an unrealistic, unachievable list of items that we need to complete in order to earn His love. Such as being perfect or without sin.
Instead, He sent Jesus to die in our place, for our sins, taking on God’s holy wrath in the process, so that (a) we could be fully reconciled with Him, and (b) it would happen without further suffering on our part.
Because of God’s character, we received a loving gift–not an absent heavenly father or a list of demands.
Now, even as I say all of this, you may be thinking, “My sins are too big.” Or, “I’ve sinned too much.” Or, “Considering what I’ve done, and how long I’ve failed, there’s still no way God could love me.”
But here’s the thing, friend….
2. God Knew What He Was Buying on the Cross
One of God’s other character traits is that He’s omniscient.
This simply means that, in addition to being eternal, God exists in (and therefore sees) the past, present, and future all at once.
In other words, there isn’t anything that God doesn’t see or know.
Therefore, when God decided to send Jesus into human history and die on the cross for our sins, He already knew exactly:
What sins you’ve committed and are currently wrestling with
What effects the sins of others have had on your life
How broken, wounded, or unworthy you feel
What struggles you’re going through–including trying to live up to ideas that center around having to be perfect, sinless, or earning God’s love in other ways that aren’t actually biblical
Friend, God didn’t send Jesus to the cross despite the state you’re currently in (as if you are an exception to the rule, beyond His help). He sent Jesus to the cross because of the state you’re currently in.
God wants to lovingly snatch you away from the clutches of sin and eternal separation from Him and pull you towards Himself.
Romans 5:8 (NLT) says, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
John 3:16-17 (NLT) says, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”
Remember what we discussed a few minutes ago? It’s primarily about God’s character–not our own state.
He knows we’re all inherently sinful and wicked. That’s been the reality since the Fall in the Garden of Eden.
And since He’s all-knowing, He’s always known exactly what each person would be struggling with.
But God’s desire, because of His character, is one of hope. His desire is that we have a safe, loving, and intimate relationship with Him by learning about who He truly is and accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior who died in our place, for our sins.
Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NLT) says: “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.”
Romans 15:13 (NLT) says, “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT) says, “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
