We have such a wonderful God, who is so loving and yet so many times human beings have distorted His real image. There is no one more loving than God, for He is pure love itself, and He radiates love to the fullest, and He wants what is best for us.
God created the world and everything in it for our pleasure, but due to Adam and Eve’s disobedience of God, and their reluctance to repent, they blamed each other and God. They therefore brought sin into the world and caused us to die and to be separated from God.
God tested Abraham and told him to make a sacrifice of his son, and just as he was about to sacrifice his son, God stopped him. Yet what God did was even harder still. He sacrificed His only perfect son Jesus Christ, to take full punishment for our sins, so that we would be reconciled to God after we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. What parent on earth would sacrifice their only child for others? Can you imagine what agony God went through? That shows clearly how much God loves us.
Jesus went through torture because He loved His Father and us. I believe that the worst suffering Jesus had, was when He bore all our sins in His body that He felt cut off from His father because He felt like a worm due to all our sins. Jesus reconciled both men and women to God to make atonement for the sins of Adam and Eve as well as our sins. Jesus bridged the conflict between husband and wife to restore marriages based on Him, and also restore the domination of husbands over wives, by enabling a husband and wife to have a partnership again to be one and deeply in love with each other and God. Jesus took all our sins, illnesses and sufferings on the Cross and He has set everyone free who believes in Him and who has given Him their lives. Jesus was so loving that He healed the sick, cast out demons, and He didn’t even judge the adulteress but forgave her sins. See Luke 4:18 and John 8:1-11.
We know what God is like through Jesus who said,” Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me”. We have a God who is so in love with us that He went to such extremes to save us from hell, yet He knew from the beginning of time how He would suffer. Jesus could have changed His mind at any moment and called a legion of angels to help Him, but He didn’t do that, and went ahead and died for us.
Whenever you have any fears or doubts, remember what it cost both God the Father and His Son Jesus to make that sacrifice, and always trust the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Jesus doesn’t judge us when we sin, but it breaks his heart, and yet He carries on loving us. Don’t ever believe anyone who distorts the picture of God to a punishing, brutal God, who is watching your every move, ready to have a go at you. That is not the God of the New Testament because Jesus showed us what the real God is like. Jesus said “I am” which means that He never changes, and He is always the same God throughout all time. However people before Jesus came into the world didn’t see Him that way because they didn’t truly know God because they were afraid of Him. It is only when our relationship has been restored through Christ and when we have a deep personal, intimate relationship with Him that we can really know the true God, and it makes all the difference in the world. When you truly love God, you don’t misjudge Him or fear Him as seen in 1 John 4:18 (KJV): 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.
Some people believe that you have to merit God’s love and are forever trying to climb an impossible ladder and so put a heavy burden on themselves. The only thing that you have to do is believe in Jesus Christ to be forgiven as seen in John 6:29(KJV): Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
Other people believe that it is enough to know that you are loved by God and that you don’t need to do anything in return. Jesus told us about God’s love and how to act by bearing fruit to prove that we are a God’s children. John 15:10 16(KJV)10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Other passages on God’s love as seen in 3:16 (KJV) 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.
Isaiah 49:15-16(KJV)15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. 16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
Numbers 6:25, Psalm 46:1, Psalm 36:5-7, Isaiah 41:10, Jeremiah 33:3, Jeremiah 29:11
It is clear that Jesus wants to be loved in return too. It has to be a give and take relationship with love being the motivating factor and not an obligation. Otherwise if we just take from God and don’t give something in return, it is abusing His love, and if we think we merit his love we are trying to manipulate God which we can’t do.
We have such a romantic God, who offers us pure love, and the only way to have it is to have a personal, intimate relationship with Him by giving Him our lives and allowing ourselves to become spiritually married to Christ and it doesn’t matter whether we are male or female. If you want to be closer to Jesus and behave as a bride of Christ, see the marriage of the lamb Revelation 19:7-9. If you really believe that is who you are, you will behave differently because you will know that your body no longer belongs to you but to Jesus, and you will let the Holy Spirit reign supremely within your heart 24 hours a day and you will be molded by God into a new person.. That is what Jesus must have meant when He said to be one with God, the way He was one with His Father. When that happens you will no longer try to merit God’s love, but you will do everything out of love for God to glorify him by desiring to do His will in all things because you love Him, as seen in the following scripture:- 1 Peter 4:11
First of all when you love each other it is a two way relationship and what you want to do is to return love. When a husband and wife are devoted to each other their marriage is a great success, but when it is one-sided it collapses. It is the same with God. See how we were created to give God pleasure as seen in Revelation 4:11 (KJV): Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
When we soak in God’s unconditional love, we desire to have a give and take relationship with Him as we want to make Him happy, and Jesus draws us away from what is evil as in 1 John 5:18.
We are so filled with the Holy Spirit that we are just bursting to do things for God, like evangelizing and making others happy, for we have become a new transformation and we just do these things spontaneously without effort. It is therefore impossible to sit back and do nothing because if that is the case you don’t truly belong to God. Jesus shows us that God has an unconditional love for us and that He isn’t a punishing God like a lot of people believe, but on the contrary, He is a merciful God as seen in Luke 15:11-32 (KJV).
In the prodigal son Jesus shows us that God the Father was so loving that He wanted His son to be free, and He didn’t even stop His son from taking his inheritance and leading a bad life. He didn’t even punish His son, but the son punished himself by his dreadful behavior, which lead to his own downfall. What the father wanted was repentance from the Son, and so when the son repented and came back to Him, the Father didn’t reproach him, but instead ran to meet him, hugged him, had him dressed up in a robe and gave him a ring and shoes, and had a fatted calf killed to have a feast and celebrate. That is the real picture of the merciful God that we have. When you sin, instead of fearing punishment, repent and turn away from your sins, and let God hug you in His arms of love again.
Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross represents the best love story ever told, but there is only one condition, that you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Only when you do that will you have assurance of salvation and become a child of God. There is no other way to be saved but only through Jesus, otherwise there is no remission of your sins as seen in John 8:24 (KJV): I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
If you wish to repent of your sins, and give your life to Jesus Christ and live the rest of your life to do His will out of love for Him, then please say the following prayer.
Dear Jesus,
I repent of all my sins, and accept you as my Lord, God and Saviour. From this day onwards I want to put you in first place, and live to do your will. I therefore give you my soul, mind and body to be used for your glory. Please transform me into your image and likeness and reign supremely in my heart.
Amen.
When you realize just how much Jesus loves you, your life is transformed and you have a very close, intimate relationship with Jesus, and you don’t compromise with what is wrong, but you get closer and closer to the Lord. You experience Heaven on earth because despite the ups and downs of life, love, joy and peace fills your heart.
Written by Marie-Helene and Dominic Bradshaw