Chapter One Overview

God's unconditional and unfailing love is the motivating factor for all that God does.

Snippets from Chapter One

The Bible describes God's willingness to love us at such ultimate personal cost in this way ...

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
[ Romans 5 : 6 – 8 NIV ]

Isn’t that just amazing?
It doesn’t matter whether we are sinners, evil, good, righteous or unrighteous, God still loves us and provides for our well-being.
I like to say that God’s love is unconditional and unfailing.
He just can’t help himself.
Love is his character, his nature.
Love comes naturally to him, and everything he does is clothed in love and motivated by love.

God doesn’t wait for us to become good enough or to meet any prior qualifications in behaviour or attitude.
It was while we were his enemies, out of favour with him, that he expressed his love to us in such an amazing way.

* * * * *

I have a very simple definition of love – simple to explain, that is, but much harder to live by.
For me, to love someone is to genuinely desire the best for them – and as the opportunity arises, to do that best for them.
That works for me, and is another way of saying what the Bible says.

If you love others, you will never do them wrong;
[ Romans 13 : 10 GNT ]

Which is fair enough.
Surely if love can only love, it can’t do anything that is unloving.
It’s not that it chooses not to or feels it shouldn’t – it just can’t!

* * * * *

God’s influence on humankind is never zero, no matter how far from God any person might be.
Reason requires this to be so, and the Bible assures us of this truth.

If God is God, the Creator of all there is, he must be touchable from any and every part of his universe.
A creator just has to have his creation within his sphere of influence.

* * * * *

"The Really Good News About God" has now been published in various formats. You can purchase a copy by clicking the "Buy the Book" link.