HOW long have you been seeking after God? Ah! a long time. And you are in earnest—you really desire to be His, and to know that you are His forever? Be assured, by His own word to you, that He is more ready to hear than you are to cry to Him, He is pitiful and full of tender mercy. He is filled with compassion, and His heart of love is towards you. Do not let any of your dark thoughts deny the character of God to your faith. God is love.
But how can I know that God loves me? This is the question so perplexing to the anxious soul. Let us look at it fairly. One thing is clear—when one asks this question with real earnestness, the feeling what self is, what “I” am, what “me” means, is very, very terrible. We know we are sinners, that our hearts are full of sin, and that all our efforts to be free from sin are vain; and we know that God is infinite in holiness, and perceives what we are perfectly, and we know these things because the Word of God has entered our hearts.
Our only possibility of knowing what God thinks about us in His love, is by His word. Read His word, and let it speak to you, dear anxious seeker after God. “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)). “While we were yet sinners” —note His words, they are full of comfort and hope. Again, He says, “God...for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.” (Eph. 2:4, 54But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (Ephesians 2:4‑5)). “Even when we were dead in sins” —meditate over, these words; they give the extent of our sinful state—dead in sins. Dead to God, to His love, to His holiness, and dead in our sins and iniquities. Yet when we were in this hopeless state God loved us.
How can I know that God loves me? We ask the question in the full sense of what God declares us to be in our nature state. Sinners, and dead in sins, and we rejoice in the wonderful love of God as we do so. For
While we were yet sinners, He gave His Son to die for us,
And, when we were dead in sins, He gave us life together with His Son who died for us, and who rose again.
God’s love towards us is measured by the death of His Son for us. It could not be deeper! His love toward us is proved by His giving us, in our dead state, life together with His Son, who lives to die no more. It could not be greater! Dear reader, God is love. Believe His word, and you shall rejoice in His love.