So…WHO, in fact, does God love?

John 3:16 says “God so loved the WORLD, that He gave His only-begotten Son…” the logical conclusion, from looking at passages such as this, is that God loves each person–or everyone, if you will. That would include people that “normal folks” don’t like very much. I will leave the specifics to you, but if you were to imagine the worst sort of people alive, and then multiply their “badness” tenfold, you would find that God still loves such people. His love is a defined love, however, and many times we make the mistake of saying, “God loves me, therefore whatever I do is all right with Him.” That is not right, either. In fact, God’s love has a strong moral component, and the same God who loves me is the God who has the right and power to judge me. The proper result of God’s love (in me) is for me to turn to Him with my whole heart–or, as the Apostle Paul put it, “The goodness of God leads you to repentance.” It is clear from reading the Bible that God’s love is free in that He offers it freely–but in order to receive His love, and be a part of His family, we must turn to Him from our sin, and then receive His Son. John put it like this:
“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; He who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him…”
Not a very pretty thought, but then God is always like this–promises of good things beyond dreaming in exchange for simple faith, but also announcements of judgment unparalleled. He acts like the Sovereign King of the Universe who decides the fate of all, because in fact He is.