Biblical Scriptures / Christian / Encouragement

His Unending Love for Sinful People

God's Warrior27 Comments

Sorry, for not posting last week. As the month of February comes to a close, I can’t help but be amazed at how much God’s love for humanity is never-changing and He still waits for us to come back to Him. God’s love for humanity and its people is more than we can imagine and we should all feel grateful that we have a God that loves us and is always ready to receive us in our times of need.

What does God’s Unending Love look like for us as sinners?

Well, God’s unending love for sinful people is beyond imagination, so much so that nothing on Earth can keep us from His love as described in Romans 8:38-39. As the Apostle Paul said there is nothing, even the sins that we committed in the past, are committing or will commit in the future that can separate us as fallen people from God’s marvelous love.

To me, the fact that there is nothing physical or even death itself that can separate us from God’s love is amazing because that should show us as Christians and as people how much we mean to the Creator.

Romans 8:38-39

“38. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39. nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

This verse should always be a reminder to us as Christians and as sinners that nothing spiritual or physical can separate us from the Creator’s love. The Apostle Paul can’t even find the words to describe the absolute certainty of God’s Love.

God’s love is such that in His loving-kindness towards us, He is willing to build us back up and make us new as stated in Jeremiah 31:3-4 which says, “3. The Lord appeared of old to me saying, ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. 4. Again, I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt…” The fact that God’s love is everlasting is enough that He is willing to build us back up again despite the sinful practices we as human beings perform that dishonors God.

“The fact that God’s love is everlasting is enough that He is willing to build us back up again despite the sinful practices we as human beings perform that dishonors God.”

Efua of Grace Over Pain wrote a blog post entitled, “Loving the Unlovable” where she stated, “God’s kind of love isn’t something we can accomplish by our ability. Without the help of the Holy Spirit there is no way our love can be as pure as the one defined above.”

I like this quote because it’s only through God’s kind of love that we will then be able to show others the same type of love; because if we don’t begin to recognize and know God’s kind of love, we will be doing more harm than good for others. Throughout the Old and New Testaments, God’s has consistently shown His love towards His people the Israelites whether they were in the desert and need food or were being attacked by neighboring tribes.

However, God’s love for us as sinners is such that sometimes, like a caring Father, God has to discipline us because He loves us. We see in the book of Numbers 21:5-6 and later in verses 8-9 that God’s love for His people sometimes comes with discipline. In verse 5, the Israelites were once again complaining to Moses about him leading them into the wilderness.

Sometimes, God has to discipline us because He loves us.

In verse 5 it says, “5. And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness…” and then in verse 6, God responds with His punishment “6. So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and many of the people of Israel died.” As we see in verses 5 and 6, because of the Israelites continuous complaining, God’s anger was aroused and as such, He sent the fiery serpents to discipline them. Nevertheless, because of His love, the Father provided a way out.

Later, in verses 8 and 9, the Lord provided the way as in verse 8, it says, “8. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that anyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live. 9. So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if the serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.”

The bronze serpent represented healing and anyone who was bitten by the snakes lived. I feel that the bronze serpent can also be used as a way to reference the coming Messianic King Jesus Christ as the Healer and Redeemer of the world when Jesus hung on that cross and died for the sins of humanity. 

The story of the bronze serpent should be a welcome reminder to us as sinful people and even as Christians that when we are “bitten” by sin and we are lost, we can always look up the Healer and Redeemer Jesus Christ because He chose to bear all the sins of this world onto Himself because of His immense love for us.

The late Billy Graham said, “God proved His love on the Cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, “I love you.”

Rebekah Leigh of Grace Abounds wrote a blog post that speaks on this subject called, “You Are Loved” and in the blog post, she said a quote that I feel we all whether as Christian or as people have forgotten.

Rebekah Leigh said, “Jesus literally went through hell to save you. All because he loves you. Not only does he love you, he cares about your life. He cares about your school, your friendships, and the things that bring you joy. All that Jesus is asking for in return is for you to love him by your actions and your life.”

In the blog post, Rebekah has a quote that I feel we as Christians and as people can remember whenever we feel that because of our sins, we are unworthy of His love.

  • “There is no reason to be sad when the Lord God loves you more than any human could possibly love.”

Rebekah Leigh stated, “Jesus literally went through hell to save you. All because he loves you. Not only does he love you, he cares about your life.”

God’s love is so wonderful that in John 3:14, the Apostle John makes a reference back the bronze serpent used by Moses in the wilderness to reference back to Jesus Christ. In John 3:14-16, it says, “14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15. that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish that but have everlasting life.”

Billy Graham also said, “God does not change – and neither does His love. He loved you before you were born… He loves you now… and He will love you forever.”

SpaniardVIII of Spiritual Minefield wrote a blog post entitled, “The Love of Christ For All” and in the blog post he speaks of John 3:16 saying, “God is about to disclose His plan that He had before the foundation of the world to show how much He really loves us.” I like this quote because that is so true about God’s own love for humanity ever since the first sin on the Earth was committed.

Also, in the blog post, SpaniardVIII has a quote that should be a reminder to us as Christians about how much God loved us when He sent His Son to die on the Cross for our sins and the sins of humanity.

  • “The Father sends His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ whom He loves very much to punish Him for what we did…”

Another aspect of God’s love that I found in the Bible was that even when we were sinners, God’s love is so powerful that anyone who plans to curse God’s people is met with resistance and failure because God won’t allow it to come to pass. I found this to be quite evident with the pagan worshipper named Balaam who we see in Numbers 21:6 and later in chapters 23 and 24 was tasked by the King of Moab Balak to curse the Israelites.

In Numbers 21:6, it says, “6. Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed and he whom you curse is cursed.”

However, we see in chapters 23 and 24 that each time Balaam attempted to curse the people of Israel, all he could utter was blessings. This to me shows me that despite our sinful natures, God’s love for me and for us as people is more than enough to continue to provide blessings for us even though we don’t deserve the blessings.

In the first oracle (curse), Balaam describes the purpose for which he was called, to curse Israel, however, he was unable to curse Israel because God would not allow it.

“God’s love for us is more than we can imagine; enough that anyone that attempts to curse us won’t be able to.”

God’s continuous love for us as sinful people is like a burning flame that never goes out which leads me to a devotional by Sharon Johnson of Paradigm Shift called, “The Consuming Fire of Love”. In the devotional, Sharon said, “… We can see and feel God’s love through the way He communicates openly with us through His Word and through prayer.  We can see it by the way He carries us through our difficult trials and tribulations.”

I like this quote because we as Christians are able to feel God’s love for us if we only just read His Word and what the Bible says about God’s love for His wayward people. Despite the tribulations and trials we often go through in life, God’s love is there for us when we are in need in order to comfort or push us through the trial.

In the devotional, Sharon Johnson has several quotes that I think we as Christians and as a wayward people could remember when we want to feel and experience God’s love for ourselves.

  • “He treats us with a consuming love, giving of His time, His treasures and ultimately His life.”
  • “… God’s love as all-consuming. We are His passion. He is jealous for us, for our love. God IS love, and so it is He that is the passionate, all-consuming fire that overtakes us.”
    • “If we continue in that strong and burning love, it will eventually overtake all the negative in our lives–the hurts, the disappointments, the anger, the grief, the sadness.”
    • “God’s love conquers all. He has an ongoing passion to win our souls with his undying, unconditional and unending love.”

This goes right into a podcast by the Paradigm Shift team entitled, “Does God Really Love Me?” where they are interviewing another member of the team Sean Kernohan. In the podcast, Alex Sanfillipo asked a question: “We often view God as our King and Judge; which is true but He is also our Savior and King. What are your thoughts on this?”

What Sean’s answer was is an amazing reflection of what God is to us saying, “He is a father, not looking to discipline you, He is looking to love you. God sent Jesus to die for us for this very reason.” I like this answer because while God is our Father, His love for us is abundant that He doesn’t want to discipline us but will when we need it, just like our Earthly parents.

Podcast: Does God Really Love Me?

In the podcast, Sean has some great quotes about God’s love and I think we as Christians should remember this when we or someone we know starts to question whether God loves us.

  • “Jesus didn’t die for the sins you already committed; He died for the sins that you would one day commit. He died for your future sins. God isn’t surprised by your sins. If we can remind ourselves of this and remember what God did for us, we’ll remember how much He loves us.”
  • “You also have a choice, you don’t have to love others, you don’t have to serve others. But, that is exactly what Jesus has called us to do. We need to follow Jesus’ example that He displayed while on earth.”
    • “Jesus loves you. When you finally understand and realize this, it will 100% change your life.”
  • “Know that you will never deserve God’s love, but He loves you anyway.”
    • “When you fall in love with Jesus, you’re life has to look different”
    • “The most important thing you can do with your life is understand that God truly loves you more than anyone else every can or will.”

Sean Kernohan said, “… If we can remind ourselves of this and remember what God did for us, we’ll remember how much He loves us.”

Despite the sinful practices we as Christians and as people practice, like turning our backs to the Father; God is so loving that He continues to see us as wayward children. This reminds me of the Bible verse in 1 John 3:1 that says, “1. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God.”

God’s unending and unconditional love is expressed to human beings when His Son Jesus Christ came to die as the ransomed sacrifice for the world. I feel that as children of God, it is also our duty to tell others of how much Christ loved them and let them take whatever they want from that.

Billy Graham said, “I am convinced the greatest act of love we can ever perform for people is to tell them about God’s love for them in Christ.”

In the end, though, God’s love for us as sinful people is awe-inspiring to then go and spread the message of God’s love throughout the world. God’s form of love is in stark contrast to the love of the world. While the world loves those who love them, God loves even those who disobey Him.

I love the thought of knowing that we have such a God and Father who loves us so much that despite our mistakes, He continues to love on us and waits for us to return to Him; just like the Prodigal Son.

So, what does God’s love mean to you?

I would love to hear what you think. Comment below and join the discussion.

I pray that this post spoke to you as it did to me.

 

God’s Blessings,

Joshua Reid

 

References

“Does God Really Love Me?”. YouTube, uploaded by DailyPS, 1 year ago, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBg0631AFi0 . Accessed 23 Feb 2018.

Graham, Billy. AZQuotes.com. Wind and Fly LTD, 2018. 24 February 2018. http://www.azquotes.com/quote/845428

 

Efua. “Loving the Unlovable”, 31 Jan 2018, graceoverpain.com, https://graceoverpain.com/2018/01/31/loving-the-unlovable/ . Accessed 16 Feb 2018.

Leigh, Rebekah “You Are Loved”, 14 Feb 2018, graceabounds734.wordpress.com, https://graceabounds734.wordpress.com/2018/02/14/you-are-loved/ . Accessed 15 Feb 2018.

Paradigm Shift Team. “Does God Really Love Me [Podcast]”, 7 months ago, dailyps.com, https://dailyps.com/does-god-really-love-me/ . Accessed 22 Feb 2018.

Sharon Johnson. “The Consuming Fire of Love”, 6 months ago, dailyps.com, https://dailyps.com/the-consuming-fire-of-love/ . Accessed 22 Feb 2018.

SpaniardVIII. “The Love of Christ For All”, 14 Feb 2018, spiritualminefield.wordpress.com, https://spiritualminefield.wordpress.com/2018/02/14/the-love-of-christ-for-all/ . Accessed 16 Feb 2018.

 

Picture References

Author Unknown. “He Knows He Loves He Cares (devotional) – Jeremiah 31:3”, https://images.knowing-jesus.com/i/he-knows-he-loves-he-cares-devotional-jeremiah-31-3-6660 . Accessed 15 Feb 2018.

Author Unknown. “Romans 8:38-39”, 16 Aug 2017, https://dailyverses.net/2017/8/16 . Accessed 16 Feb 2018.

Bronze Serpent by Wikimedia Commons. Accessed 24 Feb 2018.

Denby, Martha. “Numbers 22:21-31”, modified over 2 years ago, http://slideplayer.com/slide/3886890/ . Accessed 24 Feb 2018.

Gerber, Jacob. “May 12th: Bible Meditation for Numbers 21”, 12 May 2017, https://freedailybiblestudy.com/may-12th-bible-meditation-for-numbers-21/ . Accessed 22 Feb 2018.

Goyer, Tricia. “Lavished | 1 John 3:1”, 24 Sep 2016, triciagoyer.com, http://www.triciagoyer.com/lavished-1-john-31/ . Accessed 24 Feb 2018.

Photograph by Ali Yahya by Unsplash.

“Set Your Eyes on Jesus!”. YouTube, uploaded by selflessfaithsite, 8 years ago, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMtAfk8O1Zg . Accessed 24 Feb 2018.

 

 

27 thoughts on “His Unending Love for Sinful People”

  1. Excellent post, Joshua.
    So, what does God’s love mean to you?
    To answer your question about how much God’s love means to me, I gave below 4 quickly examples.
    1. It gives me hope that I will never be forgotten by the Lord.
    2. It gives me hope that my salvation is secure in Christ because He doesn’t go back on His Word.
    3. It gives me hope because He will one day come for me so that I may be where He is at forever.
    4. And it gives me hope that no matter what, He will always love me because of what Psalms 136 declares, “His love is eternal.”

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    • Thank you so much for the comment, SpaniardVIII. God’s love is beyond imagine and there’s no human feeling that can compare to God’s love for us.

      I really like when you stated your 4 examples because each builds off of each other in giving you and I hope that there will be a day where He will come for us.

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  2. I feel the reason why some people find it difficult to grasp God’s love is because it really doesn’t make sense. It’s something that beats human imagination. Mere words of man can never do justice to describing God’s love. It’s something the Holy Spirit opens our hearts to understand. I remember thinking about this topic a while back and I wrote the post
    https://graceoverpain.com/2017/05/18/gods-love-doesnt-make-sense/

    I love everything you wrote here Josh. Of a truth, God doesn’t love us any less when we sin. That is how pure and constant His love is. It doesn’t fluctuate like mans hence He is reliable. His chastisement is also as a result of His love. “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”
    ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:6‬ ‭KJV‬‬

    Thanks for shedding light into this topic and as always I find it humbling whenever you refer to my post.

    “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”
    ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3:14-19‬ ‭KJV‬‬
    Amen!

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    • Thank you so much for the long comment, Sis. I like when you said, “I feel the reason why some people find it difficult to grasp God’s love is because it really doesn’t make sense. It’s something that beats human imagination. Mere words of man can never do justice to describing God’s love. It’s something the Holy Spirit opens our hearts to understand…”

      I agree with you in the fact that because we as human beings use only have a limited understanding of God’s love, we can’t fully grasp the magnitude of God’s love for us as sinful human beings. I also like when you stated, “God doesn’t love us any less when we sin. That is how pure and constant His love is. It doesn’t fluctuate like mans hence He is reliable. His chastisement is also as a result of His love.” Because we sin, we feel as human beings that God doesn’t love us because of our sin.

      His love for us is overpowering and is a consuming fire that despite our sins, His love never fails and never gives up on us. It’s not a problem with the referencing the blog post, I find that by incorporating other blog posts about the topic, I give my readers a lot of perspectives on the same topic. Also, I wanted to thank you for allowing me to reference your blog, they are really good.

      I can’t wait to read the blog post and thank you for the Bible verse, Efua.

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  3. I am so very thankful for “ that we have a God that loves us and is always ready to receive us in our times of need.”

    Great post!

    I agree that as we learn Biblical truth, we apply it and we demonstrate change. Then, yes, we show Christ’s love to others as we should and as the world indefinitely needs to see.

    God bless!

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    • Thank you for the comment, Rumi. I really like when you said, “… as we learn Biblical truth, we apply it and we demonstrate change. Then, yes, we show Christ’s love to others as we should and as the world indefinitely needs to see.”

      I think that when we learn to not only study God’s Word and its truth but we do apply it to our lives, we will then be able to have a better outlook on the various situations in our lives. Once we learn to apply God’s teachings of love to our own lives, I feel that we will then be able to show God’s love to those around us.

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  5. “To me, the fact that there is nothing physical or even death itself that can separate us from God’s love is amazing because that should show us as Christians and as people how much we mean to the Creator.” I like what you wrote here cause its a reminder of how much we mean to him. Gotta get past our own junk sometimes, our false ideas of his love.( The love wins mentality if you know what I mean.

    The Prodigal’s Father ran towards him when he returned home like he had forgotten everything his boy did, even wishing him to his grave early by wanting the inheritance right there and then. Wow. So what I really dig about God’s love, and I am still learning, is that there is no way we can escape it really as w are reminded in so many ways. I mean sure we can close our eyes and pretend but he knows our hearts. I reckon Romans 6, that we were buried with him in the death of Christ and were given new life is his love turned right up. He no longer sees hi children as sinners, he sees us as new creations.

    I think there are many believers who don’t understand the love of God because they are 2 focused on the crap that the father of lies throws our way. I’m going to stop cause I don’t want to turn this into an essay lol. Hopefully you get the gist?

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts Joshua.

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    • Thank you so much for your comment, Evad. I like when you said in the comment, “… there is no way we can escape it really as w are reminded in so many ways. I mean sure we can close our eyes and pretend but he knows our hearts. I reckon Romans 6, that we were buried with him in the death of Christ and were given new life is his love turned right up. He no longer sees hi children as sinners, he sees us as new creations.”

      I like this quote because we children of God, no matter what sin we may have committed, are committing, or will commit; God still loves us and like you said when we were buried with Christ our sin went with Him to the grave and we are restored and renewed in Him when He was resurrected.

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  6. Amen! There are some powerful truths in this post. Christ has gone through so much because of His deep love, and God is stronger than anyone and anything. I’ve been rebuking fear and reminding myself of this same thing. The Lord can handle my problems and me. I just need to turn to Him.

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    • Thank you so much T.R. for your kind words. I like when you stated, “Christ has gone through so much because of His deep love, and God is stronger than anyone and anything.”
      I agree, and it’s because of His deep love for us as sinners, He was willing to come down to Earth and become the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
      I agree when you said, “The Lord can handle my problems and me. I just need to turn to Him.” When we turn to Him and ask Him for help in any area of our life, He is there waiting with open arms.

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  7. Joshua,
    God’s love means that before creation, He thought of you and me and prepared works for us to do in His perfect timing. God’s love knew that we would turn from Him, and yet, He created us anyway. God’s love sent Jesus into the world to walk this earth, get dirty with us, heal the sick, give sight to the blind, give hearing to the deaf, touch the leper, raise the dead, calm the storm, feed the 5,000, proclaim the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and to die on the cross to pay the price for our sins. He even conquered death when He rose from the dead. This amazing love abides with those who love Jesus. This amazing love is free to anyone who will believe. This amazing love is costly—it cost Jesus everything, and it costs His followers everything—complete and absolute surrender. Surrender to freedom to live a radical life of possibility in Jesus. For nothing is impossible for those who abide in Jesus. May you live this radical freedom in Jesus. Karen

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    • Thank you so much, Karen, for the thoughtful and kind words. I like when you said, “He thought of you and me and prepared works for us to do in His perfect timing. God’s love knew that we would turn from Him, and yet, He created us anyway. That is so true before we were even created, God loved us and knew exactly the plan He placed in our lives.

      “This amazing love is costly—it cost Jesus everything, and it costs His followers everything—complete and absolute surrender. Surrender to freedom to live a radical life of possibility in Jesus. For nothing is impossible for those who abide in Jesus.” This is once again true, I love that the cost for our freedom was Jesus dying in our place and thus when we become followers and disciples of Christ; we too have to surrender to the freedom of Christ and know that nothing is impossible for those of us who are in Christ Jesus.

      This reminds me of Jeremiah 29:11 which says, “11. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Thank you so much Karen for the comment and I pray that you as well live in the radical freedom that comes from Jesus Christ.

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  8. Wonderful post! God’s love leaves me speechless; I can’t seem to find a word to describe it. I am very thankful that He loves me enough to always welcome me back every time I go astray.

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  9. “God’s form of love is in stark contrast to the love of the world. While the world loves those who love them, God loves even those who disobey Him.”—I love this, Joshua!! So simple and yet incredibly profound!! Thank you for this amazingly wonderful reminder of God’s perfect love. God bless you greatly!!

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    • Thank you so much Lynn for the comment. I agree with you in that God’s form of love is a stark contrast to the world’s view on love.

      The world’s view on love focuses on the external while God’s love focuses on the spiritual and physical parts of who we are.

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  10. So, what does God’s love mean to you?
    That’s exactly what I’m doing in my blog – amazinggodstories.blog – writing about the ways God has and is showing His love to me. I’m doing it in third person, as if they are fiction stories, but every story is true and speaks of the countless little and sometimes not so little ways God has shown His love to me in spite of myself. He truly is amazing! Thank you for writing this blog. You have lots of great information!

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Any Thoughts?