God's Unconditional Love - a bit more

The previous post discussed the character and eventual result of God's unconditional love for us.
Although the unconditional nature of God's love was mentioned and illustrated by verses like -

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
[1 John 2 : 2  NIV]

- it probably didn't get the attention it deserved. Hence this "a bit more".

Unconditional means with no conditions or no strings attached.
So it is safe to say that God loves His entire creation without imposing any limits or requiring anything in return. It is a choice He has made.

Jesus, in His famous Sermon on the Mount, was teaching His disciples they should treat their enemies as God treats His.

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.
He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
[Matthew 5 : 44, 45  NIV]

Similarly, St Paul reminds us of Christ's focus in His sacrifice on the cross.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 
[Romans 5 : 6 - 8  NIV]

So it was the sin of the ungodly and sinners that Jesus paid for - that's mine and everyone else's that I know.

And, of course, the entire world is also in focus when God's love is mentioned in the most famous verse in the Bible, although you might not easily recognise it from this literal translation.

For God so loved the cosmos as to give the Son, the only one, so that everyone having faith in him might not perish, but have the life of the Age.
For God sent the Son into the cosmos not that he might pass judgement on the cosmos, but that the cosmos might be saved through him.
[John 3 : 16, 17  DBH]

Let's finish with a reminder from St Paul about just how extensive and universal God's love is.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[Romans 8 : 38, 39  NIV]

Appreciating God's unconditional love for His creation is the backbone of my understanding of the achievement of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

Blessings, Barry

God's Unconditional Love

Yesterday I attended a baby dedication service for the son of a lovely young couple who are Youth Ministers in Melbourne.
It was the first time we have been to a gathering of so many people (suitably spaced and wearing masks) for many months.

The minister leading the service offered some excellent thoughts and prayers.
The first line of his opening prayer thanked God for His unconditional love.
What a great affirmation to start the afternoon!

God's unconditional love is the key to God's involvement with His creation.
God's unconditional love describes who He is. God is fundamentally and essentially love.

God is love.
[1 John 4 : 8b  NIV]

God's unconditional love is described this way:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
[1 Corinthians 13 : 4 - 8  NIV]

God's unconditional love compels Him to be the Saviour of all.

That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.
[1 Timothy 4 : 10  NIV]

God's unconditional love sent Jesus to earth to take the death penalty for the sins of the world.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
[1 John 4 : 10  NIV]
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
[1 John 2 : 2  NIV]
But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
[Hebrews 2 : 9  NIV]

God's unconditional love requires Him to keep no record of our wrongs.

God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them.
[2 Corinthians 5 : 19a  NIV]

God's unconditional love has a plan involving the whole creation.

He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,
to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
[Ephesians 1 : 9 - 10  NIV]

God's unconditional love, expressed by Jesus, will ensure all people are in this final gathering.

"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."
[John 12 : 32  NIV]

Although the phrase "God's unconditional love" just rolls off the tongue of institutionally-trained ministers, I wonder how many really believe it.
Indeed, so many in the Christian religion, and their ministers, not only miss all of these wonderful promises, but are hostile to them.

I just don't understand how people who acknowledge God as having unconditional love can then describe their god as one who will willingly oversee the eternal torture of the majority of His creation.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is really good news for all - because of God's unconditional love which "never fails".

(It is clearly not just for believers, although believers do have a special calling as the advance party.)

Blessings, Barry