Chapter 7 ~ There is Hope

In chapter 3 we discovered several characteristics of the Creator. God is not only a creative and reliable Creator. He is also the Creator of love and relationships. Love could not exist if He did not love.

Love also has an opposite: the absence of love. Just as you see light only in the dark. There is also lovelessness, hatred and selfishness.

God made us to express His love

God is love and He loves us. God wants to share His love with us. He even loves us so much that He is still patient with humanity, even after centuries of stubbornness, unfaithfulness and rebellion. Despite our behaviour, He is patient and wants to give everyone the chance to respond to His love.

God made us, because He loves us. Not because He needed helpers to serve Him as slaves. Why would He need those? He loves His creatures and wants to share His love with us. More than we can ever realise.

But we are rebellious and dishonor God

First, you need to understand your situation. Do you realise you live in darkness? That God cannot love you just like that, because He cannot overlook your mistakes? He has been dishonoured and our deeds demand that justice be done. The distance between us and Gods love increases every time we do wrong.

But there is hope! God is ready to forgive those who realise they have done wrong and repent of their mistakes.

But if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can trust God to do this. He always does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrong things we have done. 1 John 1:9

God wants to restore the relationship. But He does not force us. He is ready for everyone who wants to receive His love.

You must realise you can never earn God’s love. You cannot make up for what you did wrong by repenting and doing good deeds. We have seen that He cannot forgive just like that, because God is not only loving, but also just.

Repenting of your bad deeds and your lack of respect for Him is not enough. Something will have to be done with your bad deeds, with which you harmed others, and with your bad behaviour, with which you hurt and dishonoured your Creator. Something will have to be done with the fact that we can never live the way God wants us to live, not even one day. We have seen that He cannot leave our mistakes unpunished. That would make Him unjust and unreliable.

Because of your rebellious behaviour, you cannot appear before God. You get further away from God and become like an orphan. You may experience this as an empty and pointless life. You miss the connection with your Creator.

But ultimately, that is not what God wants.

God’s wonderful solution

Without help you will live an aimless life without God, which will end in death. God knows you will never be able to live a perfect life, as He intended. Even before He made man, He had a plan. He planned to restore His honour and free you from your guilt and shame. It was no simple act of forgiveness or mercy. That would have been unjust and have undermined His respect. He planned an act of boundless love.

God Himself took the punishment you deserve! He paid your debt and can therefore forgive without compromising His justice, honour and trustworthiness.

Do you want to know about this wonderful plan?

.