God so loved the world simply means that God loves people. It is God’s nature to love all of us in spite of our brokenness. I hear people say they have been so bad that God couldn’t possibly love them. He does because God is love. I know people who think God is angry with them and is just waiting for them to mess up so He can punish and condemn them for getting out of line. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world. He came to save the world and to rescue us from our messes. I read a story that the police were staging an intense search for a car that had been stolen. They placed announcements on the local radio stations trying to contact the thief. The reason for the intensity of the search lay in the front seat of the stolen car, a box of crackers that, unknown to the thief, was laced with poison. The car owner had created the poisonous crackers intending to use them as bait. Now the police and owner of the VW bug were more interested in apprehending the thief to save his life than to recover the car. So often when we run from God we think it is to escape His punishment, but actually what we are doing is eluding His rescue. He didn’t come to condemn you but to save you. You can’t do anything to make God love you more. You can’t do anything to make God love you less. Walk in that love today.
– Dr. Tim Thompson