TRANSCRIPT:
Does God really love everyone or not?
In a lot of churches these days, preachers tell us that God loves you and God loves everyone.
But is that true?
Welcome to the American Faith and Freedom Podcast.
I'm Jim McCraigh.
The current events in Israel have me thinking about Isaac's two sons, Jacob and Esau.
In Romans 9:13, Paul quotes the prophet Malachi when he wrote, “Just as it is written, Jacob I love, but Esau I hated.”
If God loves everyone, how could he hate anyone?
Why did God love Jacob and hate Esau?
It seems to be at odds with our understanding of who God is.
In those verses, Malachi and Paul used the name Esau to refer to the Edomites, who were descendants of Esau.
God renamed Jacob Israel, and his descendants were the Israelites.
Esau's descendants, the Edomites, hated Israel more than any other nation at the time, and throughout all of history, we have seen a great hatred by Edon of the Israelites.
The term Edomites in the Bible is often used as a description of any nation that comes against God and his people.
From Jacob's time, up until today...
Does God love everyone?
Yes, but that love is merciful love because he does not immediately punish people for their sins.
In Matthew chapter 5, verse 45, we read that “You may be children of your father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
God's love is extended to everyone, not just Christians.
So that seems like a contradiction, then, to say that God, who is love, can also hate.
Yet that's exactly what Scripture shows us.
God is love (1 John 4:8), and Hosea 9:15 tells us that God hates.
Hosea wrote, “All their evil is at Gilgal. Indeed, I have come to hate them there because of the wickedness of their deeds. I will drive them out of my house. I will no longer love them. All their leaders are rebels.”
We can take from this verse that God hates those things that are the opposite of love.
Proverbs 6:16-19 tells us what some of those things are, among others.
The six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to Him, are haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among his brothers.
When the Bible speaks about God's hatred, the object of His hatred is sin and wickedness, but it also includes people who unrepentantly continue to do them.
The reason is that sin cannot be separated from the sinner except by the forgiveness available in Christ alone.
God hates lying, and lying always involves a person who lies.
God cannot judge a lie without also eventually judging the liar.
So, does God love everyone?
Yes, He shows mercy and kindness to all.
Does God love Christians more than He loves non-Christians?
No, but based on His free gift of grace, He loves Christians in a different way because they have turned to Him from their sin and put their faith and trust in His Son, Jesus Christ.
God's merciful love gives people the opportunity to repent.
2 Peter 3:9 tells us, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish.”
God's love for everyone, however, doesn't mean that everyone will be saved.
God cannot ignore sin because He is a God of justice.
Sin cannot go unpunished forever.
Romans 3, verses 25 and 26 tell us that if God simply disregarded sin and allowed it to continue without consequence, He would not be a God of love.
When people reject God's merciful love by rejecting Christ, they open themselves up to His hatred of what they do.
Until next time, I'm Jim McCraigh
Does God Love Everyone?