The Love of God

The divine love of God is so profound that it defies human comprehension. This love is not a mere sentiment or an abstract concept; it is a force that shapes our existence, transforms lives, and offers hope beyond our earthly lives. 

I just want to highlight four key evidences that speaks of God's great love for each and every one of us.

1. Creation

Firstly, let us consider the incredible gift of creation. Look around you—at the majestic mountains, the vast oceans filled with fish, the intricate ecosystems teeming with animal life, and the uncountable stars and galaxies in the universe. 

Every intricate detail, and the way of everything works together bears the signature of a loving Creator. 

Why did he create this beautiful world? It's because it was created for us. He crafted this world as a dwelling place for humanity, a testament to His desire for us to experience the beauty, the joy, and the fullness of life.

The way he created the universe is by using His voice. He said let there be plants, let there be fish and birds, let there be animals - and all these were created. But for humans, the bible said this: "Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." (Gen 2:7)

He use His own hands to form our bodies, and he came close to us and breathed his life into us. He made us in His image, that is, we have a soul and spirit in us. Man is the only living thing on earth that is self-aware, and God-aware. No other creatures knows God exist and speak to God. We are very special to Him.

There was a man who didn't believe God exist. He worked hard and became very rich and he believes he doesn't need any god in his life. One day, he went to do rock climbing. Suddenly, he slipped and started falling down the cliff. He caught a tree branch and hung himself on it and he shouted "God, help me!"  His natural instinct tried to reach out to the creator, because the creator's image is inside him.

Deep inside, each of us know our origin is from God. 

God's love in not just for the mankind species, but for each one of us individually. The bible said that even before you were born, God already loved you. Psalms 139:13 says “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made...Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

2. Free Will

Secondly, we cannot overlook the remarkable gift of free will. God, in His infinite wisdom, granted us the freedom to make choices, and to shape our own destinies. He did not make us as robots that has no ability to make choices for themselves. 

Joshua told the Israelites, "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve."  Joshua 24:15. That is free will. You get to choose. 

There was one pastor who thought his class about free will. He said if you see a beautiful woman comes toward you, and you are given the ability to snap your finger and make her madly in love with you. That would be great right? Then the pastor ask them what would an even greater ability? When no one can answer, he said "she fell in love with you completely on her own accord."

The gift of free will is a reflection of His love, for true love cannot be forced or coerced. He won't force us to love him or to obey him.  Respecting the dignity of a human being is by giving that person the freedom to choose. 

However, the free will also allows us to choose to disobey God and do the wrong things. The bible says: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23. Everyone of us have sinned in our lives - we lie, we cheat, we lust, we get angry, we are greedy, and we love the world more than we love God. And overtime. when man forget what God has done and who God is, we started to worship idols, false gods, money, and our selves. 

Falling short of the glory of God means that we are unable to live a holy life by our own effort.  And because of that, we cannot go into heaven. Does that mean that God gives us a free will and doesn't care if we chose the wrong things, and we end up in hell? No! 

The Bible says:  "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23 

This leads us to the third evidence.

3. He Sacrifice Himself

 When we failed to recognize the true God, we create and worship other gods to find ways to save ourselves. Do you know how many gods we have created and worshipped? It is in the tens of millions! We are not just lost in our morality, we are also lost our way to God. We will never find a way into heaven ourselves.

However, God's love has not given up on us. He wants everyone to be with him in heaven. He wants to forgive us. However, he is also a just and holy God, and he cannot just forgive everyone without punishing the sin in us. So how can God save us? 

Once there was a drunk driver who crashed into a shop and damaged everything. He was brought to a judge to be sentenced. According to the law, the driver must pay $100,000 or else he will be sent to prison. The driver was broke and told the judge he did not have any money. Suddenly, the judge stood up, took of his robes, and step down from his bench. The judge then wrote a cheque of $100,000 and gave it to the court. The court let the offender go free. Why did the judge paid for the drunk driver? It's because he was his son. 

The only way God can forgive us our sin, is to pay for it himself. He sent his son, Jesus Christ, to come down from heaven and live as a man 2000 years ago. Jesus, the embodiment of love, taught us how to live with compassion, grace, and forgiveness. He healed the sick, comforted the brokenhearted, and befriended the outcasts. 

But God's love for us is so great that he sacrificed his son on the cross, in order to pay for the cost of our sins. We cannot pay for each other sins, because we are all sinners. Only Jesus, a man without sin, can pay for us, not with money, but with his own life. 

Since our sins have been paid, God is justified to forgive us of our sins - the past, the present, and the future.  "Justified" means being declared righteous in the sight of God . It's a legal term that signifies acquittal from guilt and sin.  Paul states, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."  Romans 5:1.

But how can we get this forgiveness of sin from God? Must we remove our sins and become a better persons first before we get the forgiveness? No! Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

The gift of forgiveness and salvation is free for us to accept. There is nothing we can do to earn it. This is the difference between religion and Christianity.  Religion is man trying to reach God; Christianity is God reaching out to man. However, we must accept his gift. If we don't then it doesn't belong to us. 

4. He Is Molding Us

What happens now after we are saved, and Jesus has returned to heaven? Does that mean He left us here alone to work out what to do next? No! Before Jesus left, he told the disciples that God will send the Holy Spirit to us, and will teach us all things and will remind you of everything Jesus has said. (John 14:26)

When you believe in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit comes into your heart. He teaches you what is right and what is wrong; he helps us understand the bible; he helps us understand God, how to pray to him and how to listen to Him; he helps us to forgive and to love other people. The fruit of the holy spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  (Galatians 5:22-23)  

After being justified to have eternal life, we are now being sanctified to be more like Christ. If a king has adopted you as his child and bring you into his palace, he doesn't leave you as you are. He will train you to have a conduct and character of a prince or princess.

When diamonds are mined, they are in the rough form. They have a lot of imperfections and irregularities. Skilled gem cutters carefully cut away these rough edges to shape the diamond into its final form. This process involves precise and strategic cuts to maximize the diamond's brilliance and fire. 

Similarly, God sees the true beauty and potential in each of you. By cutting away your rough edges, which may sometimes hurt, it allows God's light to enter you and reflect off your internal facets, creating the sparkle and shine for Him. 

The bible says: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"  (2 Corinthians 5:17) This verse emphasizes the transformative power of being in Christ, signifying a fresh start and a new identity. We no longer belong to the world, but we belong to God.  

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, the love of God for mankind is an unshakeable truth, evident in the very design and fabric of our existence. From the wonders of creation to the gift of free will, from the sacrifice of Jesus to the intimate moments of divine presence, and from the transformative power of love in the lives of individuals, God's love surrounds us, beckoning us to embrace it with open hearts. 

John 3:16 gives the final summary: "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."  

May we strive to reflect this divine love in our own lives, spreading compassion, kindness, and acceptance to all those we encounter.