God’s Love B (Listen or Read)
God Loves All People
The love of God is evident in the Scriptural references of God as “Father of all,” and in countless other passages. In fact, the evidence of God’s love for all is so abundant in Scripture, it is beyond my comprehension that a whole system of Christian theology has been built around the denial of that Fatherhood. Consider just these few:
¨ He is good to all. His tender mercies are over all
(Ps. 145:9).
¨ Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth!
(Is. 45:22).
¨ God so loved the world (Jn. 3:16).
¨ I came…to save the world (Jn. 12:47).
¨ God gives to all life.…He has made from one blood every nation of men (Ac. 17:25-27).
¨ I was sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by My name (Is. 65:1).
His will is for all people to find Him, even those who are not presently seeking Him. A time will come when they will, for God can orchestrate whatever circumstances are needed to change their hearts; for love never fails (1Co. 13:8).
¨ His goodness and longsuffering…leads to repentance (Ro. 2:4).
¨ God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Ro. 5:8). “Us” here includes all people. (See Jn 1:29; 6:51).
¨ God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (2Co. 5:19).
¨ God our Savior…will have all men to be saved (1Ti. 2:4 KJV).
¨ The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men (Tit. 2:11 NAS).
¨ And this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1Jn. 4:10).
¨ He…is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world (1Jn. 2:2).
¨ The Lord is…longsuffering…not willing that any perish (2Pe. 3:9).
¨ The longsuffering of our Lord is salvation (2Pe. 3:15).
The longsuffering of our Lord “is” salvation. What a thought! When does the longsuffering of our heavenly Father for His children ever end? Does it end sooner than yours toward your children? The love of God expressed in His longsuffering will do what His brute power could never do—win the hearts of His enemies (Ps. 66: 3-4) and make them His friends (Jer. 31:34; Jn. 15:15; Ro. 5:10).
His Love Is Not Partial
Some people receive many chances to get saved, others receive a few, but billions have never received one! If the opportunity to receive Christ were given in this life only, then God could be accused of being partial. The only way He would not be partial is if He lacked the power to give all the opportunity. But God is neither weak nor partial. All have the same access to salvation, for God’s will, power, and love guarantee it. And furthermore, Jesus paid the price for all. If all did not have equal access, it would especially be unfair to Him. Scriptural support abounds for God’s impartiality. God loves all men equally. For example:
¨ He is good to all (Ps. 145:9).
¨ In truth…God shows no partiality (Ac. 10:34).
¨ There is no partiality with God (Ro. 2:11).
¨ There is no distinction between Jew and Greek (Ro. 10:12).
¨ God shows personal favoritism to no man (Ga. 2:6).
¨ There is no partiality with Him (Ep. 6:9; Col. 3:25).
¨ God…wills [KJV] all men to be saved (1Ti. 2:3-4).
¨ Wisdom…from above…is without partiality and without hypocrisy (Ja. 3:17).
¨ The Father…without partiality judges… (1Pe. 1:17).
But, you may ask, “Why was Esau hated and Jacob loved? (Mal. 1:2), Was not this showing favoritism?” This was a play on words similar to Christ’s command to hate our family (Lu. 14:26). Jesus wants us to love our families, but in our heart of hearts our deepest love should be for God. This is hyperbole—something very common in ancient eastern writings. God’s hate regarding Esau relates to something about Esau that God disliked in a greater way than what God disliked about Jacob the “deceiver.” When God elects someone over another, it does not mean He loves him or her more. Rather, He is delegating to them a greater responsibility in His service.
The same goes for God’s chosen people, the Israelites. He did not choose them because He was impartial to the rest of humanity. On the contrary, He wanted a nation through which He could bless all peoples of the earth! “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” Ge. 12:3. (See also Ge. 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14; Ac.3:25, 26; Ga. 3:8).
References: See Bibliography page.
