Does God Really Love Me
"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them" (1 John 4:16).
When we have a revelation of God's love it makes trusting God, His Word and our prayers being answered much easier. Knowledge that Almighty God, the Creator of the universe loves us allows us to heal from past hurts and rid ourselves of wrong self-concepts. We won't need to seek after others approval because God's love is sufficient to validate our worth. A realization of God's love brings assurance He is for us and has our best interests at heart. We become secure, assured, confident because we know God has our back. God's love brings liberation from a host of debilitating insecurities and doubts.
In the Gospel of John chapter 14, Jesus spoke many things to His disciples during His Last Supper. He knew He would be arrested soon and die on the Cross for the sins of the world. He reassured His disciples by telling them He would prepare a place for them in heaven and come back again. It appears Phillip, an apostle, needed more reassurance and asks Jesus, “...Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us. "Jesus said to him,... He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father?'" (John 14:8-9).
This scripture reveals an amazing truth. Jesus and the Father are unified. Jesus said, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." If we want to know what God is like and His character then study the character of Jesus. If we wonder whether God cares about people, observe how Jesus ministered through His actions and words. In conjunction with what Jesus said above, the writer of Hebrews 1:3 reports Jesus as, "...the express image of His Person..." the Father. The Amplified Bible tells us Jesus is "...the perfect imprint and very image of God's nature." This should be reassuring news, Jesus came and revealed God is not malevolent towards anyone!
Most people are unsure of the nature of God. Some fear Him and see God as a demanding, harsh taskmaster who keeps tabs on whether they are good or bad. I know, for a long time I use to think this way about God. I came out of a church where the fear of God was put in everybody. I believed I could never know just how God was going to respond, or whether He liked me or not. There was an uncertainty regarding whether God would send disaster or sickness.
God knew man would be tempted to think this way and had a perfect plan of how He would reveal Himself to mankind. He revealed Himself through Jesus. Jesus exemplified the special love the Father has for humanity which in the Greek language is called agape.
We are familiar with eros and philos love. Eros is a romantic love based on personal passion or strong desire towards another. Philos is based on self-centered motives and concerns another satisfying our personal desires. When our needs are met it leads us to have good feelings towards the other person. It is ultimately self-serving. We love the other person because their ways make us feel good. These two types of love stop though when we no longer feel passion or our desires are no longer met. For example, this is when a spouse may hear from their mate, "I don't love you anymore. I want out." Eros and philos are not based on commitment. So long as there are good feelings, whether physical or psychological from the other, we love them. Once our feelings change we lose our "love." Since we are most familiar with philos love we tend to transfer our understanding of this same love style onto God and assume this is how God loves us. That is, we think we need to satisfy God in order to gain His love. God does not love us with philos love. He loves us with agape love.
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The God-Kind of Love
Agape love is not self-centered or self-serving. It is not motivated by another meeting needs. Agape says I will always love the other person, I will always be doing things for their best interest and benefit. Agape is selfless and sacrificial at times. It does not depend on a self-serving benefit from the other. Rather, it is love that is always active towards the other not expecting anything in return.
Agape is awakened because of the value a person holds which causes one to prize that individual. It esteems the other person as precious and valuable. God's love for us is not established on anything we do. His love is not based on our achievements, performance or whether we are obedient. If you were never to read your Bible again, God would love you the same. God won't love you more later when you become a better or more mature Christian. In God's estimation you are always precious and valuable.
God sees every person as a precious treasure with intrinsic value. God holds us in high esteem because we were created as spiritual beings in His image and likeness (Genesis. 1:26). God cannot make anything inferior. No matter who you are or how much you have failed your value in God's eyes stays constant. God's agape love applies to every human being including witchdoctors, criminals, members of terrorist groups, alcoholics, and prostitutes. God values every individual in highest regard without reservations.
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How Valuable Are You to God
Interestingly, the value of something is determined by price paid. For example, if you have a "used car" listed for sale for $4000 but people only offer you $3000 for the car, what is the car worth? The car is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Worth or value is determined by the purchaser not the seller. In this case the value of the car is worth about $3000.
We were so valuable to God after Adam's fall that God wanted us back in His family. God willingly paid a high price for us--the life of His Son Jesus Christ. Even as fallen creatures, separated from God and full of sin, God values us as worth the life of His Son, Jesus. If you had been the only person on earth who needed deliverance from sin, your value to God would have warranted God sending His Son to the Cross to die for you alone.
That's how valuable you are to God. We are told in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." God demonstrates the immensity of His love towards humanity by sending His Son, Jesus, to die for mankind's sin and open the way to heaven. We know the highest display of love is for someone to die in place of another. Christ died for us while we were "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:11). Jesus went to hell for us and paid the penalty for our sins so we wouldn't have to. By doing so, He made the way for us to go instead upon death to heaven. The high price God paid through His Son for our salvation is convincing evidence of the magnitude of His love.
God could have allowed man upon death to be eternally tortured in the flames of hell and justice would have been served. When Adam committed high treason against God, God was not obligated to do anything to restore man's relationship with Him. God could have left man in his lost condition on earth. Yet, we are told in Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Think about it. Suppose I handed you a crisp $100 bill. Would you want it? Yes, of course! Suppose I crumple up the $100 bill into a little scrunched ball. Now, it is full of creases. Would you want it still? Sure! But wait, what if I put the scrunched up $100 bill in the back pocket of a pair of blue jeans and wash those jeans on a hot full cycle, then stick the jeans in a clothes dryer until they were bone dry? Now the scrunched-up $100 bill is in an even tighter ball, the edges are tattered. the wrinkles are deeper and the ink has slightly faded. Would you still want the $100 bill? Yes! Why? Because it still has value.
Bills do not lose their value because they are wrinkled and worn. In the same way, a person may be full of sin, lie, cheat, hate but they did not lose their precious value to God. Even when a Christian struggles with sin, messes up or just can't seem to get life right, God's love never changes as He sees our value. God is love. Love is His essence, His love is eternal.
Unfortunately, people cannot receive the full extent of the benefits of God's love until they accept the work Christ performed on their behalf. Jesus made the way when He died on the Cross and rose again three days later. He went to hell, defeated our enemy Satan and won back access into the kingdom of God. This is called salvation. Receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior is the way to enter into eternal life in God's kingdom and at the same time enjoy God as your loving Father.
To accept God's agape love and offer to eternal life is as simple as saying a prayer for Salvation:
Heavenly Father, You said in Your Word that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13). Father, I am calling on Jesus right now. I believe He died on the cross for my sins, He was raised from the dead on the third day, and He is alive right now. Lord Jesus, I am asking You to now come into my life and heart and be my Lord and Savior. Father, I repent of my sins and ask for Your forgiveness. I thank you Father that I am now saved, in the Name of Your Son Jesus Christ I pray.