Does God Really Care?

God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.   Romans 5:8

To many people, it is not immediately obvious how Jesus’ death is a demonstration of God’s love. After all, there are many things that God could give us that might seem to be a more relevant expression of his love.

If the Bible said, “God showed his love for us by giving us a cure for cancer,” we would have no doubt about the relevance of the message. We can think of several ways God might show his love for us, but for many people, Jesus dying on the cross is not one of them.

Imagine a couple sitting in a car on a moonlit night near Niagara Falls. The man puts his arm around the woman’s shoulder and whispers in her ear, “I love you.”

She looks up at him doubtfully. “Do you really? Sometimes I wonder.”

“Okay,” he says. “I’ll prove it.” He gets out of the car, walks over to the edge of the falls, and with one huge leap, throws himself over the side. As he is falling, he screams, “I looooove youuuuu!”

This would surely be an unforgettable experience, but it would not be a demonstration of love at all—it is a demonstration of utter stupidity. The man’s death is of no value to the woman.

In the same way, the death of Jesus is of no value to us unless it achieved something for us. That is exactly what the Bible teaches. Through Jesus’ death, the debt of our sin was paid, and God’s wrath was satisfied.

God showed his love for us on the cross. Jesus laid down his life at the point of our greatest need—“while we were still sinners.” When you are tempted to wonder if God really cares for you, look at the cross and contemplate the wounds and sufferings of Jesus. Then reflect on the fact that all this was for you.

For further reading, see 1 John 4