The Unconditional Love of God for People – John 3:16

For God so loved the World that He gave His only son

The key verse of the Bible is John 3:16 because it defines who the God of the Bible is. From the book of Genesis to Revelations, the common theme is the love of God for people.In the Old Testament, God’s love is demonstrated in many sections. One example is detailed in the book of Jonah where God send Jonah to the evil people of Nineveh to preach the message of repentance because of the love He had for this nation. People from this city were known for perversity and therefore God expressed His love by sending Jonah to preach repentance. Unfortunately, Jonah decided to take the direct opposite by going Tarshish. The reason Jonah did not go where God sent him is because he hated the Ninevites.  The Ninetives were enemies to Israel and they would ill-treat them by any chance. However, God still loved the Ninevites.

This is a lesson to all people, especially the believers. No matter the feelings you have for your enemies, you must know that the love of God extends even to them. The love of God is shown to all in that Jesus Christ died for every living person (Romans 5:8, 1 John 3:1-3). It is worth noting that God did not love us because we were good but He just chose to love us.

The Bible tells us that Jonah went to the basement of the ship and fell asleep. Jonah was mistaken to disrespect God and follow his heart, forgetting this one thing that you cannot go against God’s will and still prosper. Jonah can be likened to Christians that are spiritually asleep when the call to pray stands. Jesus is calling for Christians from everywhere to make prayer their habit (1 Thessalonians 5:17), but many Christians are fast asleep.

God then made a plan to redirect Jonah to Nineveh. Eventually Jonah passed on the message of repentance to the Ninevites. The Ninevites fortunately heard the message and repented from their sins. God then forgave the Ninevites and withdraw his plan to destroy them. Sadly, Jonah was not happy with God for changing His mind. Yet God still showed His forgiving love for Nineveh.

This is clear indication that God loves us unconditionally. God loves the person but hates sin. The only requirement for people is to draw closer to God by all means. This includes daily personal introspection and repentance. God wants us to imitate Him and adopt His attitude of loving every person, even those that have wronged us. One way of showing love for people is praying for them.