God Loves You

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God loves you



      In the first issue of this journal we saw that the Bible is the book that God gave to learn about Him. To learn for someone the best way to go is to arrange a meeting with him where you will examine him, through a kind of discussion, provided of course that the answers that you will get will be honest. Similarly, to learn about God the only way to go is to read His personal "interview": the Bible.
      In this "interview", one of the things that God mentions very frequently is to trust Him. For example Proverbs 3:5-6 tell us:

Proverbs 3:5-6
"TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths"

      In this verse God calls us not to trust Him (i.e. to put our confidence in Him) just a bit, but to trust Him with all our heart i.e. to trust Him a hundred percent. However, I believe that most of us will agree that to trust someone or to have a good relationship with someone you need to know him well. The better that you know someone the better the relationship that you have with him and the easier to trust him.
      In the above passage God calls us to trust Him with all our heart. However, how is this possible if we do not know Him? And how can we know Him? There is only one valid way: to go to the Bible, where God reveals Himself.
      So today we will go to the Bible and what will endeavour to find out is what motivates God. I believe that this will give us a better understanding of the character of God and it will help us to trust Him more, since we will know Him better. So let’s start with I John 4:8 :

I John 4:8
"...God is LOVE"

      These three words are probably enough to give answers to many questions that we may have regarding God and, at the same time, they are able to overthrow all the opinions that we may have heard about God. These three words tell us that God is LOVE and love is something that is manifested in actions. If I say "I love you, I love you" and behind your back I do nasty things is there any love in me? No. The love has to be manifested in actions. The same is true for other things by which one can be motivated. If one is motivated by fear this will be manifested in his actions which will be fearful, without boldness etc. If one is motivated by hate this will also be manifested in his actions: wickedness, deceitfulness etc. God is also motivated by something and this is LOVE. However, it remains to see how God manifested His love in actions. To see that we must go to His Word to see some of His actions.

1. God loves us - He gave His one and only Son for us

      To start seeing the actions of God, that were done as a result of His love for us, let’s go to I John 4:9. There it says:

I John 4:9
"This is how God showed his love among us..."

      As it was said above, love has to be manifested in actions. Here the Word of God tells us that indeed God loves us and that His love was shown. So let’s continue to see how it was shown:

I John 4:9
"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him."

      God showed His love by sending His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, into the world that we might live through him. Also let’s see a passage in the gospel of John:

John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave........"

      Love is manifested in actions and here again the Word of God is ready to tell us what God GAVE as a result of His love for us. So let’s continue in the same passage:

John 3:16-17
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but the world through him might be saved."

      We should not pass these words quickly, but we must take time to understand the significance of what is said by them. So, according to what we read, God loved us and for this reason He have His one and only Son to die for us, so that by believing in Him to have eternal life. Now, let’s suppose that you had one child. Would you give him to die for any purpose? The most probable is that you wouldn’t. However, God decided to give His one and only Son for me and you. If He hadn't done that, then me and you still couldn’t be saved. It is because HE decided to give His one and only Son that this was made possible. The question is why He decided to do that. What was His motive? What do the above verses tell us? It was LOVE. God is love, and because of His love for us He gave His one and only Son. That was His action by which He proved His love. God paid for me and you with a price that is impossible to be valued. Why? Because HE LOVED US. Everyone is motivated by something. God is motivated by LOVE and here is the proof of His love. He paid very very expensive for us. However, it is not only that He loved us and for this reason He paid that very high price. For you may love someone and do something for him because he is very kind and good to you. But it didn’t happen that way with God. Let’s see:

Romans 5:6-10
"For, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him. For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having being reconciled, shall we be saved through his life."

      According to this passage, it wasn’t that we loved God first and then, after we decided that we like Him, God decided to love us and for this reason to pay the price that He paid. As the above verses say "for a good man" some would probably decide to die. However, God didn’t give His Son when we were "good" men. On the contrary, God demonstrates His love for us by the fact that "while we were still sinners Christ died for us". Today, after believing in Jesus Christ, we are no more sinners. This does not mean that we do not make mistakes or we don't sin. However, the fact that we make mistakes does not make us sinners in nature. The reason is that Christ died for me and you and he got our sins in himself so that by believing in him we are cleansed of any sin and we are justified. Sinner and righteous are alternatives that are opposites to each other. You cannot be both at the same time. The Word of God teaches us that we were sinners and because we believed in Jesus Christ we were justified ("we have now been justified by his blood", see also Romans 3:21-28). Nevertheless, all these didn’t happen automatically. It took God to sacrifice His Son for me and you. It took Him to pay for me and you very very expensive. And He didn’t pay this price when we were "good" men and worthy for this but when we were, by our very nature, sinners, ungodly. It was then, where the love of God for me and you was manifested. Because if it takes love to give the most valuable thing that you have, your one and only son, it takes much more love to do so for ungodly and sinners i.e. unworthy. However, God did that. Today we are no more ungodly and sinners and this is not because of our works but because God paid with the blood of His Son so that by believing in him, to be saved and righteous. And do you know why He did that? Because He loved us. Let’s see another point on this.

Ephesians 2:1-3
"As for you, you were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you used to walk when you followed the ways of this world, and of the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient; among whom all of us also lived at one time, in the cravings of our flesh, following the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath."

   The above passage tells us what our situation was. Added emphasis is given to the fact that past tense is used throughout these three verses. The reason for the added emphasis is because many people teach that today, even after you believe in Jesus Christ, you continue to be a sinner, dead in sins. However, this is not what the Word says. The Word says that we were (past tense) sinners. We "were dead in sins and trespasses". It is significant to understand that point. The Word also says that we were by nature objects of wrath. Before one believes, the description is "dead in sins and trespasses", "by nature object of wrath". All these before believing. Now tell me, if one is dead in sins and trespasses what is the good thing that he can do? I don’ believe that there is anything good coming from a dead. Is there? Also see that the Word says that all of us, irrespective of our good or bad works, we were at that stage. Now if you are dead, to live again requires someone else to give you life. And the only one that can do that is God. So, having seen what was the situation, let’s continue to see if there was any change to it. Fortunately there was and verses 4 to 9 of the same chapter introduce the change, the One Who brought the change, and the motives of bringing that change.

Ephesians 2:4-9
"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - by grace you are saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us up with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved through faith [believing] - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no-one can boast."

      I have added emphasis in many points. I don’t feel well in doing so because ALL this passage has to be in our minds and hearts with deep emphasis. Having seen in verses 1-3 the horrible situation in which we were (dead in sins), we see here the change in the situation. The word “BUT” that introduces the change, is there to contrast what was said in verses 1-3 to what is going to be said now. So it tells us that it was GOD (not me and you, but God) Who made us alive with Christ. In verses 1-3 we saw that we were dead. Now in verses 4-5 we see that God changed this situation and made us alive. Also we see that not only He made us alive but also He “raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus”. See that again past tense is used. Why? Are you seated now in heavens? No. However, from God’s point of view, after one believes in Jesus Christ, all these are considered as a finished job. For God, you are not seated in your chair or office reading this article, but you are seated there, in heavens. It hasn’t been materialised yet (it will be materialised with the return of Jesus Christ). However, because you believed in Jesus Christ, God considers all these as a finished job. It didn’t take your works for all these wonderful things to become available. If except for believing in Jesus Christ, you needed to have something more (some works for example) then God would not have used past tense, since past tense signifies something that is past, finished. It is because the only that is needed to obtain all these is to believe in Jesus Christ that all these are considered as a finished job and therefore past tense is used. For it says: "For by grace you are saved (present tense - you are saved NOW) through faith (believing) .......not by works" Now you are no more a sinner (you WERE a sinner). From God’s point of view, you ARE saved. From God’s point of view, you ARE already seated in heavens. From God’s point of view, YOU HAVE BEEN MADE ALIVE AND YOU HAVE BEEN RAISED UP. That’s God's viewpoint and if the viewpoint that we have for ourselves is different, it is a good time to change our thinking and think for ourselves as God thinks for us.
      Now, having seen that we didn't deserve such treatment (we were dead in sins) the question is why then God did all these. What was His motive? We saw it previously in Romans 5 and we see it here again: "BECAUSE OF HIS GREAT LOVE FOR US......EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN TRANSGRESSIONS" The reason that God made all these wonderful things available is because He loved us. He loved us when we were dead in sins. And His love for us is described as GREAT. God loved us with great love, and this love was manifested in giving His one and only Son for us so that by believing in him to be saved, seated in the heavens, righteous, raised up together with Christ and some other things which we will probably have the opportunity to cover in future issues. But what I want to point out here is the motive of God, the reason that He did all these things, the reason that He paid this very very high price (the life of His one and only Son). This reason was not my worth or your worth but the love that God had and has for us. God loves us and He manifested His love in this great action : to give His one and only Son so that, by just believing in him, to have access to all these wonderful things that we saw above.       Many Christians spend most of their time wondering if God really loves them. Let’s assume that you have (probably you may do have) a TV in your room for which you probably paid £250, and you go holidays. Also let’s suppose that the only thing in your room is this TV. Would you leave your home unlocked? I don't think so. Why? Because there is a TV there, for which YOU PAID. GOD PAID for you and me not in pounds but with the blood of His one and only Son i.e. with a very very high price. The reason that He did that is because He loved us when we were dead in sins. Is it possible for Him not to love us for even just a second? It is impossible and the reason is that He paid very very expensive and He did that when we were dead in sins. God loves us 24 hours a day, and there is nothing that could decrease His love for us.
      To conclude: if we wonder why God made all these wonderful things available to us, by just believing in Jesus Christ, the answer is because HE LOVED US.

2. God loves us - He made us His children

      Another field where God showed His love is described in I John 3:1-2

I John 3:1-2
"How GREAT is the LOVE the Father has given to us that we should be called the CHILDREN OF GOD and THAT IS WHAT WE ARE. The reason that the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved NOW we are the children of God..."

      According to this verse, God loved us so much that when we believed in Jesus Christ, He made us His children. So if we wonder why God made us His children, the answer is because He loved us. You see, people try to make good relations with those that have some kind of power, and here God, Who has not just some kind of power but ALL the power, has made freely available to people to become His children. When someone believes in Jesus Christ he becomes a son or a daughter of God (see Galatians 3:26). But why all these? Again, because of the great love that God has for us. Also let’s go to Romans 5:5:

Romans 5:5
"God has poured out HIS LOVE into our hearts by the HOLY SPIRIT, whom he has given us"

      We saw previously that when we believed we became the children of God, and we also saw that this was made available because of the great love that God has for us. Here, in Romans 5:5, we see the same thing. God, because of His love, gave us holy spirit. If we want a proof that we are God’s children, this is the proof. As our earthly parents gave us the blood that is in our bodies and this is the proof that we are their children, so God, when we believed in Jesus Christ, gave us what He Himself is i.e. spirit. And what does the above verse tell us that this is? It tells us that it is a token of the love that God has for us. God loves us and another proof of His love is that when one believes in Jesus Christ, he gets holy spirit.

3. God loves us - He trains us

      Another place where the love of God is manifested is in training and correction. I believe that most of us will agree that although training and correction are not very pleasant many times, they are done only by those that love us and, when they are done honestly, they are proofs of the love that they have for us. Imagine a family where the parents didn’t correct their children. How then will the children learn that what they do sometimes is not the best? If for example a child would like to take the dangerous medicine that is on the table, what should his parents do, if they love him? They should tell him that this is not good for him i.e. they should correct him. The other alternative is to leave the child to do whatever he likes, right or wrong. However, I do not believe that many of us would call this alternative love. So another field where love can be manifested is in correction and training and God as a loving Father manifest His love in this field as well i.e. He corrects us, He trains us. So let’s go to Hebrews 12.

Hebrews 12:6
"the Lord DISCIPLINES those he LOVES..."

      God trains, disciplines His children as our earthly parents disciplined us. And why He does that? Because He does not like us? NO. If He didn’t like us then He would never train us, He would never correct us. The parents that do not love their children they abandon them, they do not care if what they are doing is right or wrong. But our Father LOVES us and for this reason He corrects us, He trains us, He disciplines us.

4. God loves us - We are not afraid of Him; We revere Him

      Having seen how much love God has for us the question is how are we going to go Him? Are we going to go to Him like going to a ...monster or to someone who is really bad and he may harm us? If we go like this it seems that we haven’t understood or we haven't accepted that God loves us. God does not want us to be afraid of Him. What He wants us is to love Him, to revere Him, to respect Him like our Father Who loved us thousands years ago and He paid by the blood of His one and only Son and Who loves us now and for this He made us His children, He put holy spirit in us, He saved us, He seated us in heavens etc. It is a different thing to be afraid of someone and a different thing to revere, to respect someone. I John tell us about it:

I John 4:18-19
"THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE; BUT PERFECT LOVE DRIVES OUT FEAR , because fear has punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love , because he first loved us."

      God wants us to respect Him, not to be afraid of Him. You are afraid of someone that may harm you and you don't know how to face him, or of someone that you don't know his intentions and motives. On the contrary, you are not afraid but you revere, you respect someone that loves you, and he has proved it in practice. God declares in His Word that He loves us and He has proved it with all these actions that we saw, though there are many others to find for yourself working the Word of God. So will we be afraid of God? No, because this would mean that we do not love Him perfectly since "perfect loves drives out fear” and “the one who fears is not made perfect in love". In contrast, we revere, we respect God because He loves us and He loves us not in words (as many others may have... "loved" us) but in actions.

5. God loves us - Nothing can separate us from His love

      Having seen some of the multiple ways by which the love of God was manifested and having seen that it is because of this love that God has for us that we are not afraid of Him but we love Him and we revere Him, it is now time to see that God not only loves us now, but also that there is nothing able to separate us from His love. This means that God loved us, loves us and He will love us for ever. Let’s go to Romans 8: 38-39 to see it:

Romans 8:38 - 39
"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels [what kind of angels? evil angels, devils], nor principalities, nor powers, nor present things, nor future things, nor height, not depth, NOR ANY OTHER CREATED THING, SHALL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD, WHICH IS IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD."

      God loves us and THERE IS NOTHING THAT COULD POSSIBLY MAKE HIM NOT TO LOVE US ANY MORE. It is this love that motivated Him to do all these wonderful things when "we were still sinners". It is the same love that motivates Him today when He deals with us, His children. And it is the same love that will motivate Him every day, for ever.

Tassos Kioulachoglou

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