We live in a world that knows nothing about the nature and character of God and the love He has for us. When most people think about God, they conjure up images of a frightening deity who either hates them or is angry with them; this is heartbreaking and just plain wrong. He’s not a vengeful God waiting for us to make a mistake so He can have a reason to condemn and punish us. He’s the essence of love and wants very much to enfold us in His arms and embrace us.
We all share the same basic needs for love and happiness, but most people don’t know where to find them. The world only offers substitutes that leave a person feeling empty and unfulfilled inside. By contrast, God stands ready to offer us what the world can’t. He wants only good things for us. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11, NKJV).
God’s kind of love goes much further, wider, and deeper than human love. Humans love cautiously, conditionally, and with reservations; God’s love is unconditional, eternal, and has no boundaries. God loves us so much, He sacrificed His own Son on our behalf so that He could have a relationship with us. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:16, 17).
Jesus, who is the perfect image of His Father, died a painful death on a cross for us; He then rose from the dead with the promise that we can have access to the same eternal life in heaven that He has. Out of love for us, He sealed the promises He made with His own blood; we have His Word that He’ll be faithful and true, unlike any fair-weather friend. “For though a thousand generations may pass away, he is still true to his word. He has kept every promise he made to Abraham and to Isaac. His promises have become an everlasting covenant to Jacob, as a decree to Jacob” (Psalm 105:8-10, TPT). God is exceedingly, abundantly good. Believers can be confident that they will inherit the same loving promises that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob received.
God wants to be with us, just like earthly parents enjoy being with their children. Our acceptance by faith of what Jesus did for us on the cross to save us from our sins makes us God’s children. “…But ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ…” (Romans 8:15-17). As His sons and daughters, we also receive peace, joy, prosperity, safety, forgiveness, wisdom, and victory in life. These are things the world can’t receive because it doesn’t know God.
When we accept the love God has for us, He’ll fill us with it until it runs over, spills out, and splashes onto others. In this way, we’ll experience—perhaps for the first time in our lives—what it’s like to receive and give His love. When we’re embraced by Him, we’ll definitely know it. Our heavenly Father is simply waiting for us to reach out to Him.