Sunday, April 10, 2011

"God Loves People"


by David J. Stewart


       There is no greater truth in all the world — God Loves People! We read from the Word of God in John 3:16 the following precious words:

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not
perish, but have everlasting life.”
What a wonderful truth!!! The verse doesn't say that the great heart of God only loves Christians or religious people. The verse doesn't say that God only loves righteous people or churchgoers. The verse doesn't say that God only loves Bible-thumpers. The Word of God is clear that God loves “the world” (and that includes everyone). No matter who you are, God truly loves you.

“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” —1st John 2:2
Jesus died on the cross for all humanity, because God loves the whole world. This means that God loves the murderer. This means that God loves the adulterer. This means that God loves the homosexual. This means that God loves the crooked politician and the corrupt banker. This means that God loves the vilest sinner and the worst criminal. This means God even loves you. This means that God loves the
Pope. Yes, God loves people! God loves all people, of all faiths, and all backgrounds. 
I've learned over the years to view people as objects of God's love. If I start to think critical about someone, I'll catch myself and say to my self, “That's a man that God loves” or “That's a woman that Jesus died for.” Oh, listen my friend, we're all created by the same divine Creator, and God knows what He is doing, even though we oftentimes cannot understand why things are the way they are, and at times
one's life may seem so messed up. 


"God knows the things that would have happened, if the things that did happen, hadn't happened!"

Pastor Max D. Younce, from the
article
Is God Unfair to the Heathen?
But God, who is rich in mercy, for Even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ [i.e., made us
alive in Christ], (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace
are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.

—Ephesians 2:4-8
What a precious passage of Scripture. I cannot stress the truth enough that God loves people; all shapes and sizes, all different temperaments and personalities, all varying levels of intelligence and character, every race, every tongue, every nation, every family, etc, etc.  God loves people!

 
God's Love, Holiness and Demand for
Justice
God loves the vilest sinner! Howbeit, God does not approve of anyone's sins nor a wicked lifestyle. We find over one hundred references in the Bible to God's love; however, we find a startling seven-hundred references in the Bible to God's holiness. God's holiness
demands justice. God is the divine Law-giver. Mankind has broken God's Laws. The Word of God indicts mankind. We are all guilty! Sin must be paid for. God the Father is the Prosecutor. Jesus is our defense Attorney. The scales of justice MUST be balanced. God
offers us a plea-agreement through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. If a man will acknowledge his guilt of sin, and come to God the Father for forgiveness by way of the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, then God will abundantly pardon that sinner. Eternal life is a gift, freely offered and freely received from God.
Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him
shall receive remission of sins.”
Now, those who reject Jesus as the Christ and die in their sins will be cast into the Lake of Fire forever. Though one may not understand the severity of God sentencing a person to burn in Hell for all eternity,
as punishment for sin, we must realize that God is far more holy and fair than we could ever imagine. We've all seen the hypocritical injustice of mankind. While the crooks at Enron and Arthur Anderson stole hundreds-of-millions of dollars from their victims and went virtually unpunished; a mother in Kansas was sentenced to life in prison for getting busted with $40 worth of cocaine. There is so much injustice in this world. I cannot speak for God, I simply do not know (nor even claim to comprehend) how He will sort out all the injustices throughout history. But I do know that we shall all give account to God for our own personal words and actions throughout our earthly life. God is a fair God.
Romans 14:12, “So then every one of us shall give account to God.”
Romans 12:19,
“Dearly beloved, avenge not
yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is
mine;
I will repay, saith the L.”
God WILL avenge us of those who have wronged us in this life and vise-versa. God's judgment will be a thorough judgment. Not one stone will go unturned. 
Matthew 12:36, “But I say unto you, Thatevery idle word
that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”
So please understand that even though God loves people, His holiness demands justice, which requires accountability for our words and actions in this life. Even Christians will stand trial before God for their sins in this life, but it will be likened to Civil Court for the believer verses Criminal Court for the unsaved.I have no doubt but that God's eyes will be filled with tears, as divine Judge, when He sentences people to the fires of Hell forever. God in His great love will not allow anyone to enter into Heaven apart from faith alone in Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 10:35 that “the Scripture cannot be broken.” God is bound by His Word to do as He has said. We have such a hard
time understanding this because we are not holy like God is holy. There
is no way that finite men, made from the dirt of the earth, can comprehend the workings and divine wisdom of an omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing) and omnipresent (all present) God. 

God Looked Beyond Our Faults and Saw Our
Need for Redemption
God loves people! The very God Who created you from the dust of the earth, loves you so much, that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to die for your sins. Jesus shed His precious blood for you and me. We are not worthy of such unconditional love. Even though God knew in His foreknowledge all the horrible sins that mankind would commit, He looked beyond our faults and saw our need because He loved us . . .

Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that,while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
God knew who you would become, and exactly what sins you would commit, before He created you in your mother's womb. God knew that David would commit adultery and murder before He ever chose David as king over Israel. Thankfully, Jesus looked beyond our sinfulness and saw our need for redemption, because He loved us so much. What a wonderful God and Savior, our Lord Jesus. Jesus paid a debt that He did not owe, because we owed a debt that we could not pay.
God does not love us because of who we are, but because of Who He is. Likewise, we ought not love people because of who they are, but because of who we are. This is unconditional love.

Beware of the Self-righteous Crowd
God loves people, sinners included, and a good thing, for if God didn't love sinners then none of us could be loved, because we are all dirty, rotten sinners in God's eyes. God loves us and has made a way of escape through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ. God wants to abundantly pardon our iniquities and set us free from the curse of the
Law . . .
Isaiah 55:7, “Let the
wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let
him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our
God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
Notice that the Bible says “way,” not sin. The Bible doesn't tell us to give up our sins to be saved. It is one's way of unbelief that must be forsaken.  There's a group of self-righteous people in our churches today, going around lying, telling lost sinners that they cannot be saved unless they give up their sinful lifestyle and stop sinning. Nothing could be further from the truth of God's Word. Who can stop sinning? Who can cease from committing sin? All that God requires is that a man acknowledge his guilt of sin and deserved penalty in hellfire, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be forgiven. The change that genuine repentance brings is God's department. Our part is simply to
BELIEVE.

Love is Often Mistaken for Hate
It's easy for people to mistake love for hatred when a preacher preaches against sin. I don't enjoy exposing the wicked Catholic religion, but I am trying to warn people out of genuine love and concern for their souls. The Apostle Paul was hated for
telling the truth . . .
Galatians 4:16,
“Am I therefore become your enemy,

because I tell you the truth?
If you believe that something bad is going to happen to another person, like going to Hell, and you don't even try to warn them, then you obviously don't care about them. I care.  On a website such as
this, where so many things are exposed and refuted, it would be very easy for someone to erroneously conclude that I am a hateful person. Not at all. I don't hate anyone. I don't hate people who perform or receive abortions. I do hate the murdering of little babies. 
I don't hate people who make, sell or drink beer. I do hate booze. The
problem is that too many people have been careless AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE CARELESS. Millions will die in the years to come because of liquor-related deaths. 
I don't hate Catholic priests or church members. I do hate the
idolatrous sin of bowing down to a statue of Mary. No such teaching is
found in the Bible. No one ever bowed down to Mary in the Bible. I
believe that trying to keep the Sacraments to enter Heaven is a damnable heresy and a sure road to Hell. The Word of God is very clear...
Not
by works
of righteousness which we
have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” —Titus 3:5
The only Door into Heaven is Jesus Christ (John 10:9); NOT the
Catholic church or any other church. Do not be deceived, only through
Christ ALONE can you be saved. I say this in love, not hate or unkindness. So many people today are confused about which way to get to Heaven. The Bible says Jesus is the way, and you can rest assure that the Bible is correct, which history has evidenced again and again.
Please understand friend that I do not hate anyone. On the contrary, I love people VERY MUCH; hence, this website. We may agree to disagree, but we are both loved of God more than we can possibly imagine. 

God Loves People
It is easy to look at the condition this horrible world is in and wonder if God really loves anyone. He does! God told us that the world
is a wicked place. 1st John 5:19, "And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness." Herod killed thousands of children in an attempt to destroy the baby Jesus. Why did God allow John the Baptist (the greatest man born amongst women) to get his head cut off? So even in the Bible, horrible things happened and people suffered. It is not our place to put God on trial; but rather, to trust in His Word as He has told us.
I preach against those who only teach
about God's love and fail to mention sin, judgment and hellfire. To preach
only the love of God is a false gospel. There can be no salvation without God's Law and the knowledge of sin, which makes the world guilty before God and shows mankind his need for a Savior. However, I also preach against those who only preach the judgment of God and claim that God hates sinners.
The truth is that God loves every human being ever conceived. Whether a man trusts Jesus as his Savior or not has no bearing on God's unconditional love. Yes, God is angry with the wicked every day and God's wrath rests upon those who reject Christ; but that does not change the fact that God still loves them and desires for people to come to repentance and get saved. You are loved, whoever you may be. Jesus has paid your sin debt, but you must appropriate that gift by receiving Jesus as your personal Savior, trusting upon His work of redemption to wash away your sins.
Please read,Divine Justice.

God Loves Sinners

Be Saved!

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