#lovedunconditionally

When I was a child growing up in church, I remember learning a scripture that probably almost every other Christian child learned as well: "For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."  The scripture is John 3:16 and it is one of the foundations to the Christian Church and faith.  Since I learned it at such a young age, I think I have taken it for granted.  Today--I mean literally today--I realize that scripture means so much more, especially as a person who has experienced all of the struggles as a growing Christian and has often felt beyond God's love.

What does it mean to love us?  The link to this blog is "Breathe Life From Dust" and that is taken from Genesis 2:7.  Most people at some point questions where they come from, and Genesis 2:7 provides the answer for a believing Christian.  Genesis 1:27 tells us that God made man in his own image, and that's a beautiful concept!  To be made in the image of the only thing that will ever be perfect and good--what more could you ask for?  It is, in fact, so great, that if you aren't careful, you might miss how that came to be--Genesis 2:7 tells us that we were formed from the dust of the ground and endowed with life from God's breath.  Again, it is a beautiful concept to think that we are filled with the breath of God, but don't miss that other part!  We came from dirt.  He loved us--the very creature he made from the stuff that we walk on each day without even a cursory thought or glance.  Most people (except for people who have a pet rock or maybe an astronaut) will never love nor appreciate dirt in their lives.  God made us from it, though, and he made us so much more.

But what about our sin?  How does that factor in?  God does consider time like we do.  I've always had my own beliefs of how God views time. A scholar named A.W. Tozer perhaps says it best:

"[God] is eternal, which means that he antedates time and is wholly independent of it.  Time began in him and will end in Him.  To it he pays no tribute and from it He Suffers no change...He knows in one free and effortless act all matter, all spirit, all relationships, all events." (The Pursuit of God)

What does that mean for us?  It means that when he sent his son to die for the sins of the World, he genuinely did it for you (and me).  When he sent his son, he knew about us before we were born.  When we cease to exist on this earth, he will still know about us and love us in just the same way.  It's great that he loves you before you were born and after you die, but what's even more impressive is that he loves you just as you are right now--even if you are in your lowest valley or highest mountain; even if you have been distanced by sin or speak boldly before the throne of grace; and he loves you just as you are whether you feel deserving (which we cannot be) or not.

My last point may be kind of apparent from the second point, but I want to say it anyway, so I will: when Paul said "nothing can separate us from the love of God," it was a divine, truthful revelation.  When "God so loved" you, it was not conditional, because conditions would imply that something might change.  God does not change (he said so himself--Malachi 3:6), and because of that, there is nothing you can do to change even one bit how much he loves you.  God's love for you isn't like man's--he appreciates you as a whole masterpiece (or what feels like a train wreck sometimes) and looks on you with eternal love.