John 3: 16-17

John 3:16-17 (NIV) “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

In this verse, John explains in the Greek language that God loved the world with “agape” love. Agape is the Greek word used for unconditional love. God’s love is unconditional, as a matter of fact God is love, and His love is very different from human love. God's unconditional love is not based on feelings or emotions. He doesn't love us because we're lovable or because we make Him feel good; He loves us because He is love. He created us to have a loving relationship with Him, and He sacrificed His own Son (who also willingly died for us) to restore that relationship. Additionally, God’s love was not just for a select few, or for the saved. God’s unconditional love is for the “world” and all of us who have ever lived in it. Again in 2 Cor 5:19, the Bible tells us that “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ” He reconciled everyone to God by his death. Not just the elect, nobody was to be left out, the entire world is included. But not everyone in the world understands they are included or chooses to receive the reconciliation with God that belongs to them if they choose to embrace it.

Can anyone really comprehend "unconditional" love? It seems that the love parents have for their children is a close comparison to God’s unconditional love, or as close as we can get to it without the help of God's love in our lives. Parents continue to love our children through good times and bad times, and we don't stop loving them if they don't meet our expectations that we put on them. We choose to love our children even when they are pretty much unlovable. Our love doesn't stop when we don't "feel" love for them. In this way a parent’s love is similar to God's love for us, but actually God's love transcends our human definition of love to a point that is nearly impossible for us to comprehend. In Romans 5:8, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." In this verse and in John 3:16, we find no conditions placed on God's love for us. God doesn't say, "as soon as you clean up your act, I'll love you" nor does He say, "I'll sacrifice my Son if you promise to love Me." In fact, in Romans 5:8, we find just the opposite. God wants us to know that His love is unconditional, so He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us while we were still unlovable sinners.

Give some examples of God's unconditional love that you have experienced in your own life? Compare your examples of God's love and the differences between them and human love?