Some people think God only wants to punish them when they do wrong. People outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ do not learn from the Bible that God wants to send them to hell and punish them. In fact, the opposite is true. God loves everyone and wants everyone to be saved from their sins and have a lasting friendship with Him.
This is what Jesus says in John 3:16-17:
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him."
God is not interested in judgment and condemnation as much as He is in salvation. People matter to God!
We see in John 4 in the story of the woman at the well in Samaria that Jesus is interested in people who have made life-altering choices and find themselves in situations that seem beyond hope of salvation. When His disciples returned and saw Him talking to this woman who was an outcast in her own village He was not concerned with what anyone thought of Him. His concern was for this lonely woman who was caught up in sin.
In Matthew 9:9-13, Jesus is criticized by the Scribes and Pharisees (who were the religious leaders of the time) for eating with sinful people. His response when he heard this criticism was: "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners".
- Jesus went to sinners.
- Jesus dined with sinners.
- Jesus humbled himself.
The apostle Paul writes these words in Romans 5:6-8:
"For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for a good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
You matter to God. He loves you and He wants a forever friendship with you.
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