What do Christians always tell nonbelievers about the love of God?

They tell them that God loves them for who they are and nothing that they could do would ever change that, but how often do you hear believers telling other believers that?

Well, I’m here to tell you that God loves you, Christian! And nothing that you’ve done in the past, even after becoming a Christian, and nothing that you are going to do will change how much God loves you.

Romans 8:38-39 says:
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

But why is this so important? Don’t Christians already know that they are loved by God?

Maybe some do but if you look at the vast majority of Christians their lives (their actions, speech, and thoughts) do not reveal that they believe God loves them. In fact, I think their lives prove that they believe God is out to get them. (But that’s for another discussion.)

Just like it’s vitally important that nonbelievers know that God loves them, it’s just as important that Christians know the same thing. Let’s put Romans 8:38-39 in context and find out why.

Romans 8:28-39 says:
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

 31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
    "For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Many people are familiar with the part that says, “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” but that’s only part of what Paul was saying. The part that people often leave off is, “who have been called according to his purpose.” When left together, verse 28 becomes Paul’s introduction to the topic that we are loved for a purpose!

Paul starts his teaching by using words like: foreknew, predestined, conformed, called, justified, and glorified. These are words that people avoid because of the confusion they can cause, but I believe when kept within the context of the Bible they make perfect sense and will help us to understand why we are loved for a purpose.

The Bible teaches that God is omniscient (all-knowing) so it would make logical sense to say that he knew us before time began, before we physically existed. God foreknew us but he also predestined us.

Predestined in the Greek language is proorizo {pro-or-id’-zo} which simply means to predetermine, to decide beforehand. The confusion that surrounds this word, I believe, comes from two different understandings of destiny. One understanding says that destiny is the hidden power believed to control what will happen in the future; fate. The other understanding is that there is a perfect plan and order of events for each of our lives but we don’t have to choose it because we have free wills.

The Bible teaches that all of us are born as free moral agents, meaning, that we can choose to accept or reject God’s perfect plan for our lives. So keeping this in mind and also knowing that God knew us before we physically existed, Paul is telling us that while we were still just thoughts in God’s mind, he decided what his perfect plan for us was, even if we wouldn’t accept it.

And that perfect plan is for each of us to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, Jesus Christ. Why? So that we would be part of God’s family, Jesus being the first brother, according to verse 29.

Paul expounds on this even more for us in verse 30 by saying, “And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

God wanted to make sure that we knew about his perfect destiny for our lives so he “called” us. And this makes perfect sense. When you have good news that will benefit somebody else you will typically do everything you can to tell them. You wouldn’t keep it from them; you’d let them know as soon as you could so that they can respond to it. In the same way, God has decided on a perfect plan for us and after telling us about it though his Bible he wants us to respond to his call!

Paul continues by saying when we accept God’s call he then justifies us which, in the original language, means that he has publicly declared us as righteous. Then after he declares us as righteous he glorifies us. God “causes the dignity and worth of us to be made manifest and acknowledged”! And those aren’t my words. That’s taken straight from the Greek meaning of the word “glorifies” in verse 30.

Pause for a moment and allow this to sink in. Christian, when you responded to God’s call and said yes to his perfect destiny for your life, it was at that moment that you were made the righteousness of God and your value in God’s eyes was made known. It is no wonder then why Paul says, “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?” and “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?”

God loves you, Christian! He is not out to get you nor is he “up there” just waiting for you to make a mistake so he can rain down his wrath. No! Instead he has made us “more than conquerors through him who loved us” (verse 37). Not only is God’s love so strong that nothing can separate us from it, but he has chosen to love us so that his righteousness would work in us, and so that his glory would shine through us. This is God’s perfect plan for us as we allow ourselves to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus.

You are loved, Christian! You are loved for a purpose!