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John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Because God is good, He is also love (James 1:16–17; 1 John 4:8). Consequently, knowing the Lord rightly requires us to have an accurate understanding of what divine love actually is. Although God is Himself love, He does not express His love in the same way toward every object of His love. He necessarily shows love only within Himself, in the eternal communion of the three Trinitarian persons. By necessity, the Father loves the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Son loves the Father and the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit loves the Father and the Son. On the other hand, God’s love for that which is not Himself is not a necessary love but a free choice on His part. Nothing requires Him to love any aspect of creation, but in His goodness He chooses to love what He has made.
When it comes to God’s free love for creation, we must make a further distinction between what we can call God’s universal love and God’s saving love. Today we will consider God’s universal love, which is also known as God’s love of benevolence. In Everyone’s a Theologian, Dr. R.C. Sproul helpfully defines this love for us: “God’s love of benevolence has to do with His general concern for the welfare of human beings. In that sense, it can rightly be said that God loves everyone, in that He is benevolent toward everyone.”
Several passages of Scripture teach this universal or benevolent love of God toward all creation. For instance, Matthew 5:44–45 tells us that we are to love our enemies in imitation of the Lord, who sends rain on the just and the unjust. God cares for even His enemies, meeting their needs, and we are to share that kind of love. This universal love for all creation as seen in our Creator’s provision to all people, Christian or not, of what they need to sustain life is sometimes called God’s common grace.
We can also see something of God’s universal love or love of benevolence in today’s passage. John 3:16 tells us that God so loved the world that He made a way of salvation by sending His Son to die for sinners. This text explains that whoever believes in Jesus will be saved, but it does not tell us who will believe or why they will believe. That is a function of God’s saving love, which we will consider in our next study. Nevertheless, the Lord had such a rich concern for the world as a whole that He chose to provide for its salvation. If He did not have any kind of general love for creation, He would have no desire to redeem it.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
God provides for the needs of creation, sustains creation’s existence, and gives His Son to rescue creation, though not every individual human being. We should be grateful for this benevolent love, and reminding people of it can be a good way of laying the groundwork for presenting the gospel. Helping people understand that God freely loves creation when it is most unlovable can assist them in realizing their need of salvation.
For further study
- Genesis 8:20–22
- Jeremiah 33:19–22
- Matthew 6:25–34
- Acts 17:26–27
The bible in a year
- 2 Samuel 19–20
- Luke 21:20–38