It’s tempting to think that God loves us because we’re special. After all, that’s what human love is like. We show love to our family, our friends, and the people who are nice to us. We assume God loves people in the same way. Of course, God does love us as his creation. Scripture tells us that we are created uniquely as his image bearers. But God’s love is different than human love. In fact, his love isn’t based entirely on us. So, why does God love us?
God’s love is not based on us
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2: 15-17 ESV)
Everything was perfect in the garden for Adam and Eve. Sadly, what started as a love story quickly became a tale of rebellion and death. Adam and Eve chose to disobey God’s one warning.
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'” (Genesis 3:2-3)
Their sin against God was so great that it set off a chain reaction of sin’s devastation affecting all mankind. From that point on, human sin separated them from God.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—(Romans 5:12 ESV)
Fortunately, God’s love for people went beyond the garden. Throughout the Old Testament, we read how people showed themselves to be rebellious sinners against God. Yet, God continued to show mercy. In his greatest display of mercy for mankind, God sent his Son, Jesus, to take on the penalty for sin and death upon himself.
And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him, we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. (Ephesians 2:17-18 ESV)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 ESV)
In the book of Genesis, we read that God created the heavens and the earth. He placed his image bearers in a beautiful garden to enjoy his company and tend the garden with only one rule: not to eat the fruit from a certain tree.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,...(Ephesians 2:4-6 ESV)
God’s love was poured out upon us, not because of anything we did, but because of Jesus.
Not Good Enough
Even as Christians, it’s sometimes tempting to feel that God loves those who do good things or seem more spiritual. It’s easy to think we’re not good enough to be a follower of Christ.
While other religions emphasize the importance of adhering to a list of rules to reach enlightenment or a certain level in heaven, Christianity is different.
It isn’t about being good enough. Followers of Christ are considered good enough only because of what Jesus did for us.
When we put our faith in Christ’s complete work-his, perfect life, death, and resurrection– our relationship with God is restored. Now we relate to him as our Father, our creator, and the one who knows more than anyone else in the world.
Of course, as Christ’s followers, it’s important to obey God. But we don’t obey to earn God’s approval. We obey God because, as his children, it’s our delight to do his will. We trust Him. When he asks us to do something, it’s for our best. We trust he will forgive us when we fail and give in to sin.
In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will (Ephesians 1: 5 ESV)
God loves us because He loves us
You may feel that God’s love isn’t really love because it isn’t about you. Maybe that makes you feel less significant to God. But God’s love is better and more loving because it’s not about you. God says that his love for us brings him glory.
Loving us because of his glory is the best love. Making himself the reason he loves us is greater than if God loved us for ourselves. It goes deeper than any love we know. His love is infinite, eternal, and without end.
He doesn’t want us to worship ourselves instead of him. He wants to be our God. And when we experience God’s love, we are changed into the best version of ourselves we could ever be.
God is love
It’s hard to wrap our heads around the idea that God is love. We may know loving people, but even the most loving person doesn’t come close to God. His very essence is love.
When we talk about God’s love, we aren’t talking about romantic love. Romantic love is a type of love between two people. It’s the type of love we see in marriages. Romantic love is a gift from God.
But Biblical love is anchored in God. His character is love. His love is forever. He can never be unloving. As we grow closer to God, we are drawn in by his love. God’s Holy Spirit changes us through God’s love. We begin to love others as God loves us.
In 1 John 4:7-10 reading from The Message, it says well.
My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.
For His glory
When we observe a magnificent sunset, we are in awe of the blending of brilliant colors. If the sunset could talk, it might say, “I am spectacular. Look at my glory.” We couldn’t argue because sunsets are truly glorious. It’s no different with God. When he says he’s glorious, it’s true. As Christians, we want to acknowledge and live to bring him glory.
We want to live for God’s glory rather than give ourselves glory. He gives us new desires and new ambitions. Of course, we still go to work every day or take care of our kids, but everything we do is for him. Our old desires for power or prestige from others are replaced with a desire to live for Christ’s glory.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 ESV)
for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:8-10 ESV)
God’s love is unconditional
Unconditional love isn’t God blindly accepting everything about us. God’s unconditional love is deeper and more intense than this. God loves you and me enough to work in our lives. He wants to help us grow and change to be the best version of ourselves for our good and for his glory.
God’s love never fails
Throughout scripture, God has repeatedly shown his love. He shows mercy to rebellious, angry sinners who challenge him. In the Old Testament, people craved wooden idols, calling them their gods, and bowed down to them. We don’t carve wooden images today but still have our idols. We worship people with
- Money
- Power
- Prestige
- Success
- Sex appeal
We still fight God’s rule of our lives. We think we can do a better job of controlling our lives. But God’s love never fails. There’s an old hymn, Come Thou Fount expresses God’s constant watch care over us.
Oh, to grace, how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be
Let Thy goodness like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, oh take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above
Here’s my heart
Oh, take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above
God has demonstrated His love
Of course, the most important demonstration of God’s love is sending his Son, Jesus, to pay for our sins. He took the punishment for the sin that we deserved. When Adam and Eve chose to sin against God’s command, they set sin’s devasting effects in motion. But Jesus’s death broke the power of sin and death once and for all. When we put our faith and trust in Jesus, we aren’t bound by sin.
You are forgiven
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 ESV)
Scripture tells us that as Christians, we’re forgiven for our past, present and future sins. This doesn’t mean we won’t sin, but Christ already pays for our sins. We don’t need to earn God’s favor. Our new life is hidden in Christ-he clothes us with his right living, his work on the cross. It’s like we’ve been given a new identity, but it doesn’t diminish who we are. In fact, as Christians, we are becoming our best selves. We become who God meant us to be.
The blessings of God’s love
God’s love for us is full of blessings. Here are a few.
- His forgiveness-God’s forgiveness allows us to draw near to him.
- His Son- Jesus, made it possible for us to have a relationship with God. His death on the cross paved the way for us. Because God loves us, Jesus came to give us eternal life. God took the initiative; it was his plan all along.
- Peace-We can have a sense of peace knowing God is for us.
- Hope-We have hope beyond this world. God promises eternal life to those who believe. We have hope that Jesus is with us every moment of the day.
- Purpose-Our lives have a purpose as we follow God. He gives us the desire to serve others. We can share the good news with those around us.
Conclusion
Why does God love us? He loves us because he made us. We are his image bearers. Even from the beginning of time, in the garden, God had a plan to bring us back into a relationship with him. We wandered around looking for love and identity in things that ultimately left us unsatisfied. As believers, we have forgiveness of sins and life everlasting through Jesus Christ, God’s son. You can enjoy the blessing of God’s love and care for you throughout your life and for eternity.
