Does God Love, Everyone? Does God, Love Me?
Disclaimer: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine: but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables”.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 KJV
Does God Love, Everyone?
This question is so often quickly followed by an emphatic, yes, absolutely! Without skipping a beat, we often pour on words of reassurance to the doubtful to comfort said asker in ignorance of what the Holy scriptures actually say.
I have fallen into that myself in the past. I mean, it’s what well-meaning people have taught us all our lives. That God loves everyone, and thus God must love you. But how do we know that for sure?
A Popular Myth
God has expressed clearly in His Word to whom His love belongs, which isn’t everybody. He doesn’t love sinners, reads Psalm 5:5, or the wicked and lovers of violence mentioned in Psalm 11:5, and you would have to agree that sinners and the wicked are people in the world, right?
Don’t get me wrong; God loving everybody has a sweet ring to the ear. I mean, that’s a God you can sell, right? A God palatable, to “win over” souls for Jesus. But these scriptures are not to be ignored, as they are also profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, which I will explain further down.
But on to the following question, you have to wonder, which, to be honest, so did I….what about John 3:16?
Scripture Doesn’t Contradict
My Holy Spirit-led understanding of John 3:16 has drastically changed from the one-liner meant to make God a lover of all mankind because He created humans in His image into a biblical understanding that is more in line with scripture.
The ‘world’ referenced here in this abused and misinterpreted scripture from the Word of God, in John 3:16, refers to Israel. Israel, which Isaiah 45:17 calls a “World without end.”
Throughout scripture, God has never deviated from His steadfast love for His people, the Israelite people. Not to be confused with the people in Israel now, who are called Jewish.
The JEW, as referenced in the Holy bible, refers to the descendants of Judah (This is also who I am referring to as Jews throughout this article); they are of the Israelite people.
God has never changed His mind on who His chosen people are, which is Israel. Apostle Paul describes who the brethren are in Romans 9:3-4. He refers to brethren as his kinsmen according to the flesh and Israelites. By flesh, he means circumcised. Apostle Paul is a Jew, which means his kinsmen, according to the flesh, would be likewise.
No God NEVER deviates from his love of Israel or His promises or His Covenants with His chosen people.
However, as previously mentioned, God has expressed multiple places in His Word of His hate for sinners and also of His hate for Esau, as stated in Romans 9:13. I found it important to point out that God doesn’t just hate the sin; he said the sinner.
Who Are The Sinners Then?
Make no mistake; all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God, Romans 3:23. All. That verse includes Israelites as well.
In Psalm 5:5, this sinner refers to a heart not predestined for adoption into the kingdom of God as a beloved child of the Most High. That the adoption and Glory are reserved by God’s purpose of election, which His Word explains in Romans 9:1-18 as only for those of the promised seed, through the descendants of Jacob, the Israelites.
Scriptures Do Not Contradict Each Other
Okay, I am sure this was a lot to take in if you have read thus far. So to be clearer, the “world” as read in John 3:16, is speaking solely of Israelites, who are called a World without end in Isaiah 45:17.
Furthermore, the same scripture continues to read ‘that who so ever believeth”. As mentioned above, those elected to believe have been predestined to; these are God’s elect, which is according to his election, Jacob he loved but Esau he hated.
More on the predestination of the “whosoever believeth” is found in Ephesians1:4-5. A people chosen and predestined before the foundation of the world. No need to slice and dice and put something here and there; it’s in Romans 9 what God has elected for His will and Glory.
So, according to God, he designed a purpose of election according to His Glory and will, and He has chosen a nation of people out of which there will be believers. The ‘whosoever’ that WILL believe must be of that nation so that His process of election might stand; those people are the Israelites.
Of course, as scripture states that not all of the Israelites will believe, John 1:10-13 tells us that. Belief is not guaranteed to every Israelite; it is also not something an Israelite can will for themselves, but it is based on who God has chosen to believe; this choice is not ours but God's.
But those who do receive Him, they will be of His chosen race, will be of His promise, in accordance with His covenants, will be of His elect, will be of the people He has always loved, and will be of the people who he is Jealous for, these are His people. The descendants of Jacob.
You may not agree with this interpretation, but the truth still stands. No scripture states that God loves everyone, especially not one that doesn’t contradict, His blatant expression of Hate for sinners, the wicked, and lovers of violence.
Does God Ever Change His Mind?
God sent His son, the good shepherd, to gather his lost sheep. What sheep? Everyone? Again, no. Let the truth reveal itself to you and be free. Matthew 15: 24, “But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” God’s mission is to get the scattered of His people among the nations and reconcile them to himself through His son Jesus Christ. His people are the Israelites.
Furthermore, Matthew 10:5-6, “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”. His lost sheep are of the people of Israel.
While the dispersed Israelites had given themselves over to the pagan customs of other nations, had not kept the law or the Jewish customs so much so that the bible refers to them as gentiles in certain places! John 7:35, “ Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? Will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the gentiles”. The gentiles that are being described here are called the dispersed; since Jesus was only sent to the Jews, the dispersed among the gentiles must themselves also be Jews, who have become so immersed in the gentile nation that they are seen as gentiles now.
Since Gentile does not always mean a non-Israelite nation, although it usually does, we must use all scriptures, context, and the Holy Spirit for revelation. Jesus, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever more, does not change. And he made it clear that He was only sent for the lost sheep of the House of Israel. All interpretations of scripture should keep this truth in mind.
Jesus was sent but only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, which also explains the parable of The lost Sheep more plainly. Again, the audiences are the Pharisees and the Scribes; Jews, who believe they are righteous by the keeping of the law and reject the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who comes bearing forgiveness of sins. So he leaves them….
Luke 15:1:-7, the parable of the lost sheep. With the understanding that sin is not only anything not done in faith but also a transgression of the law. The Pharisees and scribes who believe they keep all the laws would not feel they need to repent. According to their self-righteousness, they have not transgressed the law; therefore, they have not sinned.
But those other Israelites, His lost sheep, the ones Jesus was sent only to seek and to find, have been sinning up a storm! Following other customs and pagan religions and not keeping the law, they would be considered here as sinners. Transgressors of the law.
Important to point out here that the only people given the commandments, the law to follow, were Israelites.
Thus, verse 7 in Luke 15 said there would be more rejoicing, for the sinner who repents, than over the ninety-nine righteous persons, keepers of the law, who feel they need no repentance. The sinner, the lost, and the non-keeper of the law are being made aware that they are rebellious and in need of a savior, and they are believing and receiving the good news of the Messiah, who comes to forgive them of their transgressions.
Let’s also keep in mind that all one hundred of these animals are sheep. The text does not say he left ninety-nine sheep to go and bring in a goat. Logically they are all the same; they are all Jews.
This explains the parable of the prodigal son so much. Perfect reflection of the situation. The Pharisees and the scribes, Jews, did not want those scattered Israelites through the diaspora to receive the grace and salvation they didn’t feel they deserved.
Because the Pharisees and scribes had been law keepers, they were obedient; they never left or turned away from the father. They had been faithful and diligent in keeping his commandments and thus deserved their inheritance and favor. They would deny their kinsmen, their brethren according to the flesh, the forgiveness that Jesus Christ was come to give. Same as the brother, to His brother in the prodigal son, after the son returned to the father after going the way of the world.
God Never Changes His Mind
Thank you, Lord; all Glory be to God. He tells us in Malachi 3:6, “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” God doesn’t change; His mission doesn’t change; His purpose doesn’t change; what may be a mystery to us is not a mystery to Him. His plan to establish His kingdom, for His people, for His Glory.
Why Does it Matter?
Because the truth matters to God, it is by the truth that we are set free. Because if it didn’t matter to God for us to know who he says He is, He wouldn’t have divinely inspired that it be written in His Word to us to penetrate our souls and equip us.
Because, when you tell a sinner that hates God that God loves him, you have not only told a lie on God, but you have told His enemy, yes His enemy, that God loves them! Our audacity sometimes doles out whatever we feel; God wants us to say or do to “win” souls that already belong to Him. God doesn’t need, nor did He ask you to lie for Him.
Because God is not pleased with the slander of His character as being perpetuated by so many in an attempt to make Him more acceptable, palatable, or what? What does it mean when you need to change the character of who GOD tells us that He is to lead people to Him? What does that say about how you view God?
AND Because it’s important that, His people, His Holy nation, His Children, His elect, His chosen race, His own possession, know just how much God's love for us blesses us. Too much to begin even to try to comprehend as we can never grasp just how much. God’s love for us extends past and far beyond, His mercy, His grace, and forgiveness of sins through His only son, Jesus Christ’s, death and resurrection on the cross on our behalf. His love for His people is immeasurable. All Glory be to God.
Does God Love Me?
Let us go back to the only source of truth that can set you free and look at Colossians 3:12 . God loves His elect; His elect is those of His People who have placed their faith in His Son Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of all their sins. They are both holy, meaning set apart, and they are beloved. I hope this answers your question. Have you repented of your sins, confessed with your mouth, and believed in your heart that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead after dying on the cross as the payment for your sins, and then has God’s Holy Spirit confirmed with your spirit that you are His child?
If the answer is yes, then my dear, you are the beloved he has shed His son's blood for, has promised to protect you, to be your shield, He is your God, He is your father, you are His called, His elected, His chosen, His workmanship, the recipient of an eternal inheritance to come.
It is immeasurable the vast amount of love our father has for you.
Spend no more wasted time trying to figure out if God loves you. He loves you. Bask in that precious and gracious love, because unlike the sinner, the wicked, and the lovers of violence whom He hates….. you will be with Him forever. He will never leave you nor forsake you.
The next time you need the motivation to worship, praise, bless and glorify His Holy name, remember that by His grace, He chose you to be His, whom He cherishes and loves deeply. AND THAT IS NOT EVERYONE. Glorify His holy name. All Glory be to God!
Do You Love GOD?
If you are His Child, God loves you unconditionally, a depth you cannot measure, a provision of grace reserved only for His people that you share in, an eternity of peace and joy without sin enjoying Him always, awaits you.
But do you love Him? If so, how do you show it? How do you appreciate with thanksgiving our God, who chose you to be a vessel of mercy rather than wrath? How do you glorify and please our Father that did not prepare beforehand for you to be a vessel of destruction?
If you are unsure if you love God or how to love Him, let us turn to John 14:15 because God tells us in His Word what He considers loving Him. It reads plainly, “ If you love me, keep my commandments.” God’s people should fear Him and love Him and keep His commandments. How is that going? Love you. His Glory.
Reference Video Scriptures
Jeremiah 1:5
Lamentations 3:22-23
Isaiah 45:17
Hebrews 12:5-8
Ephesians 1:1-14
Ephesians 2
Romans 5:8
Romans 8:16
Romans 8: 34-35
John 1:10-13
John 3:16
John 7: 35
John 14:12-24
Psalm 5:4-5
Psalm 11:5
Malachi 3:6
Matthew 10:5-6
Matthew 15:24
