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Beloved of God<br />
Today many people also ask the question about<br />
God, His love, and the suffering in this world.<br />
How do we answer? Isn’t it true that, long before<br />
bad times befell us, all of us, time and again,<br />
knew God’s kindness? Did not the soldiers suffering<br />
the horrors of Stalingrad previously enjoy<br />
many happy days? Were they led to repentance<br />
during those good days? How many of them<br />
were converted before the horrors? How many<br />
people today repent during good times? Should<br />
not those who are “contented, satisfied, and<br />
happy” in Beckmann’s words, come to God in<br />
their droves? God is calling all of us: “Save yourselves<br />
from this corrupt generation” (Acts 2:40).<br />
Although the expression “dear God” is widespread<br />
(in German the expression “lieber Gott“,<br />
more in the <strong>sense</strong> of “dear loving God“, is actually<br />
part of the common vernacular way of referring<br />
to God), it actually leads to an impersonal<br />
idea of God. Referring to God in such nice, superficial<br />
terms is actually unbiblical, because it overlooks<br />
the heart and nature of God. God is commonly<br />
thought of in this way, someone “out<br />
there” just to help us. Borchert realistically<br />
described how people see God. If He does not do<br />
what we want Him to, in our childish image of an<br />
“old man in the sky”, then we just stop concerning<br />
ourselves about Him.<br />
The Bible asserts that “God is love” (1 John 4:16),<br />
but also that “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the<br />
hands of the living God” (Hebr 10:31). If God<br />
does not become our Father through the Lord<br />
Jesus, then He is our judge, and His wrath<br />
remains on us (John 3:36). Without Jesus nobody<br />
can stand before His wrath. <strong>Our</strong> common view of<br />
God as a “dear loving God” misses this aspect<br />
completely, and actually gives rise to a general<br />
belief in a God who is powerless to change anyone<br />
or to save anybody.<br />
But if we have wholeheartedly turned to God,<br />
then His declarations of love never end. We read<br />
in Jeremiah 31:3: “I have loved you with an everlasting<br />
love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”<br />
How is love proved most clearly? Through<br />
acts of love. God does not want the only creature<br />
who was made in His image to be lost. The value<br />
of anything in our eyes depends on what we are<br />
prepared to pay for it. It is the same with God:<br />
The value of man in God’s eyes can be measured<br />
in terms of the price He has paid for us. He has<br />
sacrificed His Son for us, or, in other words: Jesus<br />
performed the greatest deed – He died for us. He<br />
could therefore say: “Greater love has no one<br />
than this, that he lay down his life for his friends”<br />
(John 15:13). Paul calls us “God’s chosen people,<br />
holy and dearly loved” (Col 3:12). And John<br />
affirms that we are God’s children: “How great is<br />
the love the Father has lavished on us, that we<br />
should be called children of God! And that is<br />
what we are!” (1 John 3:1).<br />
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