The more we praise God for who He is, the more awesome He becomes in our understanding. Then we must ask the question: “Why should this holy, perfect, all-powerful, all-wise God care about me? Why should He care about any human being?”
David asked the question about man’s relationship to God this way: “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” (Ps. 8:4). If you don’t answer that question in light of God’s Word, the devil will ask you a question along these lines: “Who do you think you are? Why on earth would God want to save you? Just look at you! Why would God want anything to do with you?”
David doesn’t offer an explanation for God’s love. He simply offers the truth of our God-created position:
“You made him [mankind] a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas” (Ps. 8:5-8).
My friend, there is no explanation for why God desires to be in relationship with you other than His unconditional love for you. There isn’t anything you have done to warrant His love. It truly is a free and undeserved gift from God.
Love Given, Not Earned
So many people engage in countless good works to try to earn enough points to win God’s love. They strive to earn His affection, His attention and His salvation. And all the while, they don’t realize that they already have His love and His attention. They have the promise of His salvation held out to them with the open arms of Jesus on the cross.
As long as we live on this earth, none of us will ever know why God loves us. But the truth stands nonetheless. God loves us. And out of His great love for us, He crowned us with glory and honor (see Ps. 8:5). He made us ruler over all the works of our hands, and He put all the other creatures of the earth under our authority.
What motivated Jesus to come to earth to die an agonizing death so that you might be saved? Love. What motivated Jesus to die in your place so that you might be spared the eternal consequences of your unforgiven sin? Love. What motivated Jesus to send the Holy Spirit to seal your belief in Him? There is only one answer: love.
Everything that Jesus was, and all that He did, is a reflection of God’s love in terms that we can understand. Jesus hugged little children, tenderly dealt with those who confessed their sins, healed the sick, gave hope to the downtrodden, delivered those oppressed and possessed by demons and set free those who were trapped by shame and guilt. Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). The disciples who followed Jesus knew He was motivated by love.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 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 4:7- 10).
There is no explanation for God’s unconditional love. Neither is there any satisfactory explanation for the mercy, forgiveness and grace that flows from that love. Nevertheless, God loves us without limit.
Praise God for His infinite, unconditional, everlasting love! Praise God for the mercy and forgiveness that flow to all sinners who accept the sacrifice of His Son. Praise God for the grace that flows to you to enable you to live a godly life in an ungodly world. But don’t stop there. Praise God that His love for you will never falter and will never cease! {eoa}
This has been excerpted from Chapter 11 of Empowered by Praise: Experiencing God’s Presence and Power When You Give Him Glory (Charisma House).
Michael Youssef, Ph.D., founded The Church of The Apostles, which was the launching pad for Leading The Way’s international ministry. He has written more than 40 books, including Saving Christianity? and When the Crosses Are Gone.
