Our loving God

“God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.”

Of all the religions, creeds, faiths, belief systems and theological structures that exist, or have ever existed in our world, Christianity is the only one that professes that God loved us so much that he sent his Son into the world so that we could have eternal life with him. Jesus wasn’t a mythological character, he was a flesh and blood person who was born, lived among us, was crucified, died and was entombed. He rose again from the dead, and has ascended. He lives. This is the central foundation and the strength of our faith and our beliefs. Our God is a loving God; and we know this wholeheartedly because this is what he did for us.

Often our beliefs are challenged by those who question whether or not God is loving and compassionate. How can a loving God create a world that contains suffering? That is the biggest question that challenges our beliefs, and one that causes many of us to stumble. Christians that have been faithful to Jesus, can fall down before this question, especially when suffering impacts them personally. Death, pain and anguish can do one of two things: draw us nearer to our Lord, or isolate us from him. But we need to remember that we do not suffer in isolation because Jesus feels what we feel. He is there with us, his Holy Spirit comforting us, and holding us close to him. When he was on earth he suffered too. He became man, he went through torments we can only imagine. Why? Because he loves us.