Understanding God's love

 

A thought has been swirling in my mind for a while. 

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

God decreed that Christ should visit the earth in human form, and His sacrifice will unite us once again with God ... provided we believe that He is the Son of God.

Jesus taught time and again that we should love one another ... even our enemies.

The devil is the enemy of God. Does this mean that God loves the devil?

“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” Luke 10:18

By referring to Satan’s fall from heaven, Jesus is most likely quoting Isaiah 14:12 - “How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!” 

Lucifer had lifted himself up to be like God. God cast him down out of his original place as an Angel. Jesus saw all this when He was a Spirit before He was born as a baby on earth. Jesus has always existed as a Spirit. He did not begin to exist when He was born on earth. This is when He took human form.  

The question still remains: Does God love the devil?

God could have destroyed Lucifer for ever. Can you imagine? No Satan, no demons, no evil. A perfect world as God intended.

But God gifted us, and the devil, free will. He allowed the devil to rebel against Him and let him go. Just like He allows us to disobey Him, turn our backs against Him and rebel.

This is true love. Reminiscent of John Chapter 6. When Jesus says He is "the Bread of life" and later when He says that unless people eat His flesh or drink His blood they will not have life.

As you can imagine, this was very upsetting to His listeners; even His followers and disciples. Some of them got up and left. So what did Jesus do?

He let them go. He didn't try to justify Himself or what He had just said. He forgave them and let them go.

Then He turned to His disciples and asked, "How about you? Do you want to go as well?"

Peter replied, "To whom shall we go?" Signifying that he trusted Jesus without question; albeit no doubt he had many questions in his mind.

So in a similar way, God let the devil go. He gave him the freedom to roam the world and cause havoc amongst many souls as he tries to lead them astray. God let him go; but still retains overall control.

And God continues to care for His lost Angels. Just like in Christ's parable of the Prodigal Son. In that story a son asks his father for his inheritance now. He did not want to wait until the father dies. The father gives him the money and sees him walk away and squander the fortune on good living. 

The father must have been very hurt at the action of his son. But he continued loving him and caring for his lost son. And when the son eventually returned, his father welcomed him back with open arms and joy.

I believe God is hurt at the rebellion of Lucifer. He let him go. But I believe God still cares and as a loving parent He still loves the one who went astray.

What do you think?

God's Love

 

Sometimes we need glasses in order to see clearly. Without them our sight is blurred and we see what we think we see rather than what is out there to see.

Someone said to me the other day: God’s love is conditional. If you don’t love Him back He’ll send you to hell.

I suppose, without glasses, you can see it this way. Let’s look at it another way.

God's love is available to everyone. I say available - not forced upon. As our Creator, He loves us and invites us to love Him back. It is an invitation, not a request or an order.

Forgive me if I put it another way: It’s like you buying a dog and loving him and caring for him. The dog can return this affection or he can bite you. If he does bite you the chances are you’ll forgive him and continue to love him. Unless he does it again and again incorrigibly.

The decision to return God’s love by accepting Him and accepting His Son Jesus rests entirely with us. So, to that extent therefore - yes, His love is conditional. It is conditional on us loving Him back and obeying His commandments.

For God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not die but have eternal life. John 3:16.

God's love

 

Sometimes we need glasses in order to see clearly. Without them our sight is blurred and we see what we think we see rather than what is out there to see.

Someone said to me the other day: God’s love is conditional. If you don’t love Him back He’ll send you to hell.

I suppose, without glasses, you can see it this way. Let’s look at it another way.

God's love is available to everyone. I say available - not forced upon. As our Creator, He loves us and invites us to love Him back. It is an invitation, not a request or an order.

Forgive me if I put it another way: It’s like you buying a dog and loving him and caring for him. The dog can return this affection or he can bite you. If he does bite you the chances are you’ll forgive him and continue to love him. Unless he does it again and again incorrigibly.

The decision to return God’s love by accepting Him and accepting His Son Jesus rests entirely with us. So, to that extent therefore - yes, His love is conditional. It is conditional on us loving Him back and obeying His commandments.

For God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not die but have eternal life. John 3:16.

God's Love

Sometimes we need glasses in order to see clearly. Without them our sight is blurred and we see what we think we see rather than what is out there to see.

Someone said to me the other day: God’s love is conditional. If you don’t love Him back He’ll send you to hell.

I suppose, without glasses, you can see it this way. Let’s look at it another way.

God's love is available to everyone. I say available - not forced upon. As our Creator, He loves us and invites us to love Him back. It is an invitation, not a request or an order.

Forgive me if I put it another way: It’s like you buying a dog and loving him and caring for him. The dog can return this affection or he can bite you. If he does bite you the chances are you’ll forgive him and continue to love him. Unless he does it again and again incorrigibly.

The decision to return God’s love by accepting Him and accepting His Son Jesus rests entirely with us. So, to that extent therefore - yes, His love is conditional. It is conditional on us loving Him back and obeying His commandments.

For God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not die but have eternal life. John 3:16.