Narrative Themes: The Love Of God Lesson 2

                                                  Why Did God Create People?  

Before diving into bible narratives that paint such a beautiful portrait of the love of God, I feel like I need to first answer this simple question: why did God create people? There are two events in the bible that reveal people were created to be loved by God. These two events are creation and redemption. 

Creation: Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and earth 

In Genesis 1, God created the universe and everything that is in it.                He created the sun, moon and stars. He created the oceans, seas and rivers. He created trees, plants and flowers. He created everything! 

God created everything with such excellence! When the bible says He looked at something He made and declared, It is good, it literally means, It is perfect. There is not anything I can do to make it better. It is absolutely flawless.

If we could sum up creation in one word, what would it be? Beautiful. Breathtaking.

Okay, that is two words. My point being, if we had been standing alongside the Lord at creation, we would have been absolutely mesmerized by its breathtaking beauty. 

Yet, here is the question: What was the purpose of creation? Preparation. 

When I look at creation, do you know what it reminds me of? A baby nursery, God-sized!

In other words, when a husband and wife are expecting a baby, before its arrival, they prepare a little nursery and decorate it. They paint it with elaborate pastel colors. They put up wallpaper with colorful rainbows and unicorns. They hang a little mobile over the crib, strung with stars and planets. They scatter stuffed animals around the room like tigers, zebras and giraffes. They set up a little floor lamp with soft lighting. And they do all this in preparation for what is coming: a baby!

So when God created the heavens and the earth; when He decorated it with beautiful colors; when He created created the sun, moon and stars; when He created the animals on the earth and the fish in the sea; it was all in preparation for what was coming next: people. 

Everything about creation speaks one word: love. Creation was created with love at the very core. Creation was created in preparation for the people God would create. Now that we are here, without any exaggeration, we can go outside, look up at the stars and say, God created that because He loves me. We can go on a nature walk and point to the flowers and the trees and say, That was created with me in mind. God created that because He loves me. Everything God created was motived by His love for people. 

Redemption: John 3:16 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. 

God, the Father, sent His Son Jesus into this world to die for our sins. When we receive Him by faith into our lives, His blood washes our sins away and we are so mercifully forgiven. It is then we are robed in the beautiful righteousness of Christ, becoming the sons and daughters of God. What a great gospel God has given to the world!

There are two things I want us to realize from John 3:16.

First, Forgiveness is motivated by the love of God. Why does God forgive? Because He loves us. If I have learned anything in my walk with the Lord, I have learned only love can give birth to grace. Grace can only come from love. This is why the fallen world cannot offer us any grace, because it is sinful and broken. So from His heart, God pours out His grace to us and saves us from our sins and also from this perishing world. 

Secondly, God's love includes everyone! When Jesus said, For God so loved the world, He made God's salvation BIG enough for everyone to be included!

In John 3:16, do you know what amazes me about the word, world? It tell me Jesus did not come to die just for the bad; He came to die for the worst-of-the-worst. 

I am reminded of a testimony I heard Anne Graham Lotz once share. There was a woman in Texas who was a serial-killer. She had brutally murdered a few people. Before taking many lives, thank God she was caught. She was then sentenced to be executed in the electric chair.

One day Anne went into the prison where she was confined and led a woman's ministry. This woman who was a convicted murderer was gloriously saved. The evidence was there. She loved Jesus with all her heart. She loved to study His Word. She grew in her faith. She was marvelously living the transformed life. She was indeed a new creation.

However, just days before her execution a fear came creeping into her heart. She began asking the Lord, Are you sure I'm saved, Lord? Are you sure all my sins have been washed away? When they put me in the electric chair and pull the switch. are you sure I am going to heaven? I wasn't convicted for knocking mailboxes over with a baseball bat; I murdered people. Are you sure, Lord? 

That night she had a dream. She was standing on a vast beach watching the waves roll in. Suddenly she noticed there were many holes in the sand. Some where small holes; some were bigger holes; some where even six feet deep. She wondered, what does all these holes mean? Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a gigantic wave. She looked up and saw a wall of water rushing toward the beach. Immediately she ran to high ground. She turned just in time to see this huge wave smash into the beach and then wash right back out to sea. She wondered, What's that about? She then noticed, from the smallest to the deepest, all the holes in the beach were filled with water. Then the Lord spoke to her, It doesn't matter how deep you think your sin is, my blood has the power to cover it. When they put you in the chair and pull the switch, I will see you in heaven. 

The blood of Christ is able to save to the uttermost! To quote the precious Corrie Ten Boom, no pit is too deep where God's love is not deeper still.