A conversation between a believer and a father who wants to know God
Believer: As a father, do you love your child?
Father: Yes, I do.
Believer: Where does this love come from?
Father: It comes from the heart.
Believer: Who pours love into your heart? Where does this love come from?
Father: It comes from Almighty God.
Believer: If God did not give love to you, would you be able to give love to your child?
Father: No, I could not.
Believer: Can you love someone more than the amount of love you receive from God?
Father: No, I guess I cannot.
Believer: God’s love manifests in the presence of water, air, light he provided for us as his children. Parents give a fraction of the love they received to their children. In this way, who loves the children more, the parents or God?
Father: The parents love their children. But God loves their children much more.
Believer: Many parents love their children to such an extent that they are willing to sacrifice their prestige in order to save their children. For example, they are willing to get their son released from prison at the cost of their reputation. Do you agree?
Father: Yes, I agree.
Believer: You said a while back that God loves children more than their parents. Does this mean that God is willing to lose his honour for humans?
Father: If I say no, then I am saying God loves his children less than human parents, which is impossible. Since God loves us more, I think he must be willing to lose his honour for us.
Believer: There are some parents in this world, who love their children to such an extent that they are willing to sacrifice their lives for them. Since God loves children more than parents do, is he willing to sacrifice his life for his children?
Father: What type of question is this? If I say no, this implies that God loves us less. If I say yes, God will sacrifice his life, then it looks like a barrier to my mind. This would mean that God dies. But how can this be?
Believer: You are right. The Almighty God is immortal. Although he is not subject to death, he is willing to die for us. In order to show his love for the people on earth, he sent Jesus Christ to the earth, so that people can come to understand his love.
Father: I don’t really understand this statement.
Believer: If a human says to a bird, ‘I love you’, will the bird understand?
Father: No.
Believer: But if a human could transform himself into a bird and say ‘I love you’, will the bird understand?
Father: Yes.
Believer: This is the reason Jesus Christ came down to earth in human form, so that people would able to realize God’s great love.
Father: I see.
Believer: Consider the case, if a small child falls into a drain and gets himself all dirty, won’t the parents still accept him when he returns home in this state?
Father: Of course. It will take the help of the parents to clean up and bathe the child.
Believer: Exactly. In the same way neither can we clean ourselves of our sins, no matter how much good deeds we do, or amounts of sacrifices we make.
Father: Then what is the way?
Believer: Everyone’s present condition is such that they are not worthy to be in God’s kingdom. Just as parents are willing to clean up their dirty child, God is willing to clean up our sins, because he loves us as his children. Even if we are only putting a foot into heaven, God will surely come and pull us in all the way, even if he requires pulling our foot.
Father: God will take our foot? What are you talking about? Isn’t it like belittling God?
Believer: It isn’t. Because the God of love and truth is so humble that he is willing to touch the feet of his unclean child. Jesus Christ, being a divine person still washed the feet of his disciples. It was his way of showing that God is willing to accept his children on any terms. Humans think with their sinful and arrogant mind that God on high will not come down to touch our feet or filthiness. But God’s Almightiness is in no way diminished by his act of serving and acceptance towards humans. There is no one greater than him.
Father: Yes, this is right. We humans often treat different people differently, so we think that God is similar to us. But he is greater than that.
Believer: Jesus Christ died for our sins to show us just how much God loves us. If God forgave the sins of humans without consequence or punishment, then he wouldn’t be fair, because the sin really hurt people. But He is fair, and therefore he has to judge, and the price of sins is death. If someone has already been judged and already has paid the price, is there still a need for judgment?
Father: No.
Believer: Since we believe that Jesus Christ is not just a human, but God himself and eternal, by accepting the death penalty instead of his humans, he saved us all. He died for all human sin, past, present and future. As a believer I am eternally indebted to Jesus Christ because he gave his life and with it compensation for my sins. So I am a sinner, but I am saved from my deserved punishment by his mercy.
Death is Satan’s domain, but Jesus Christ, by resurrecting on the third day, has shown that he has defeated death. By his death on the cross Jesus has defeated Satan. So the ones who will accept Jesus Christ as Lord and not bow to other gods, they are chosen by God Almighty to be with him forever. God says that Jesus Christ is the only way to himself, but we are not forced to come to God. We have been given the freedom, God does not coerce us to choose him and he just offers himself. It is us who choose eternal life with God or death.
Father: This is quite a thought. I never thought of it in this way. I thought that God considers us as slaves, and that he always wants to exercise his authority over us. I never understood that he sacrificed himself for us. Although he has the power to control us, he does not do that. The other gods I know of want to control us in order to get us to do their work. This is the first time I have heard about the love of God quite like this. I previously thought of God as the basis of our thinking, philosophy and knowledge. I never thought of him as the God of selfless love. Thank you for making me aware of it.
Special Note:
For a child, it is not necessary to obey the laws in order to have access to a good father. When a child realizes his or her mistakes and wants to return to the father, a good father always accepts the child and helps the child to change its ways. The Bible shows us that in the beginning God created Adam and Eve with love, blessed them, gave them the power to survive and grow. He also gave them the one condition that they are not allowed to consume the fruit of the forbidden tree. Here we see that love and relationship come first, only afterwards come’s the law, which is also needed for growth.
After Adam and Eve committed sin, God immediately committed to a plan of salvation for them, though they have to leave Eden. Again we see that God’s love came first, and then the needed consequences. Then God saved the rebellious nation of Israel through Moses, and only after that gave them the law so that this nation would grow, and that through them other nations would be blessed. Here, too, salvation comes first because of God’s love and grace, and then comes the law. In the same way, through Jesus Christ, God first saves us from sin because of love, He then lovingly encourages us to obey the law so that we may grow in godliness and that other nations may receive the good news and turn to God. Therefore, obeying the law does not entitle us to God’s kingdom, only God’s grace does.
Our God is the God of love. He is the Father to whom we can pray even when we are filthy. He is the Father to whom we can pray in the toilet/restroom. Like the ideal father he is willing to cleanse us. The other deities want the devotee to first serve them in the false hope of some blessing. But our Lord has given up the right to sit on His throne, to accomplish the salvation that he freely offers to us. The ideal teacher first follows principles himself and then tells others to follow them. Our Lord Jesus is the best Teacher; He always walked in the way of righteousness before he advised us to be righteous. He never committed adultery and then taught us not to commit adultery. He gave his life for us for the right reasons and taught us to give our lives for others for the right reasons. Whether you accept this great Jesus as Lord or not is entirely your choice.
** One will die instead of another, where is the justice here? This question may arise in the minds of many. If you read the tract “The story of Greatest love”, the idea of the justice of the true God might become a little clearer. There is no difference between a big sin and a small sin to the God of the Bible. The consequences of each sin in this world are different, yet lying and killings are both impure to God, because they both sever the relationship between man and God. And the ultimate punishment for both is death. But most of the time, by the grace of God, he continues to give opportunities rather than death.
One thing to keep in mind that the Bible is not so much trying to prove the existence of God, but a revelation of God’s character. God wants to build a relationship with you personally and through this relationship you will find proof of God. I encourage you to pray to God and ask Him for a proof, I myself have received various proofs. But I have some suggestions before asking for proofs.
1) You must ask for proofs where you have no personal interest. For example you may pray for instant healing for your mother because of faith in God’s power, but maybe you want your mom’s well-being so you don’t have to cook. There are selfish interests involved, it may not be happen.
2) Evidence must be sought where no other human being will be harmed. Because God wants the best for your enemies too.
3) It is better not to ask for proof that involves other people’s decisions. God Himself has given them freedom and He does not usually interfere with human decisions because we are also the image of God.
** We sometimes get influenced by wrong things and want evidence of God in a wrong way or for wrong reasons. So most of the times we don’t get the answers we look for. We often place so much importance on the rules of the church that we do not care about God. So if you really want the proof that God exists, you might have to be free from your cultural, educational, religious view and be open to the truth which will be revealed to you.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. You may or may not agree with my statements. Whichever way, I respect you for being willing to engage with the question and have your thinking challenged.