Jesus loves us the way we are, right?
But, do we love Jesus the way He is?

Jesus loves us the way we are, right? Yes, but … Wait! I thought Jesus just loved us as we are. He meets us wherever we’re at, and He loves us, no matter what! What’s this “Yes, but …” about?

We hear a lot about how Jesus meets us where we are. He loves us the way we are. No matter what we’ve done.

I had MS Copilot generate the adjacent image to show that.

We have a guy in a dark alley. It doesn’t matter what he did to get to that place of darkness. Or how dark it is. Or how much mist there is to hide things we don’t want people to know about us.

Jesus knows it all already. And He’ll still go there to meet us, because He loves us. No matter what.

He comes bearing gifts, if we choose to accept them. Salvation, for one. The Holy Spirit, as symbolized by the white dove. The Holy Spirit will, among other things, help us to understand Jesus’ words in their deeper spiritual meanings, if we choose to accept His offer, and get baptized.

If we accept those things, and follow Jesus, He takes us up the stairway, from the dark alley into the light.

Now we have another image.

The white dove, the Holy Spirit, is now with us. “In us”, technically.

Jesus is showing us the way.

Heaven doesn’t come to us. We go to Heaven.

God, the Father, doesn’t come to us. We go to Him.

The path we take is one of transformation. One that prepares us for our destination.

It makes sense, really, if we think about it.

If everyone went to Heaven as we are, it would be just like here on earth. The fallen earth, with all its problems. If this is what we want for all eternity, then we don’t want Heaven. We wouldn’t like it there.

Transformation. Think of it as we’re lost, and Jesus is coming to find us. To get us back on track to where we want to be.

In fact, that’s exactly how Jesus put it.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep – Matthew

18:12-14 pp — Lk 15:4-7

Mt 18:10 “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.

The NIV does not include verse 11.  Those translations that have it use something along the lines of the words below from the AMP.

Mt 18:11 For the Son of man came to save [ from the penalty of eternal death] that which was lost.

Mt 18:12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.”

Why must we take a different path from the one we’re on, if Jesus loves us the way we are?

Do you get it? Consider the shepherd in this image.

He’s on top of one hill, with his flock. But there’s one missing.

It doesn’t matter whether the lost sheep is down in the valley below. Or on the other hill. He’s going to get that one who’s lost.

And that’s the way it is with God.

The key difference between the shepherd and God is this:

If the shepherd finds this lost sheep, he can do all sorts of things to make that one return to the flock.

However, God will not force us to return to Him.

He will try to get our attention, wherever we are. But He won’t force us to follow Him.

God wants us to love Him. That’s his desire. However, God also gave us free will to make our own choices. There are certain things that just “are” with God. Things like love, justice, and our free will.

The thing is, since we have that free will from Him, then we must be the one who chooses to love Him. If God forces us to love them, then it’s not our choice, it’s not free will. It’s also not love. Love must be freely given. It cannot be compelled.

And since God is Holy, and we aren’t, we’re the ones who must be transformed. Transformed to be more Christ-like in this life, preparation to be Holy and sinless for all eternity after this.

And as I said, if we don’t want that, then we also don’t want Heaven and eternity with a Holy God.

Do we love Jesus the way He is?

Here’s something we need to consider. And I do mean “need”!

We focus on whether or not Jesus loves us. But hang on just a second. Are we confused over who’s God and who’s created? Isn’t the Creator more important than the created? How come so many of us don’t ask, do we love Jesus the way He is?

Take a look at this image and think about what it shows. Jesus meets us where we are. He wants to get us out of whatever bad place we’re in. We’re lost, and He found us.

But when Jesus arrives, we don’t want to hear Him. We want to stay in that place where we are.

That is, unless we can take whatever it is that we desire in that place with us as we follow Him to someplace better.

In other words, if we carry this all the way forward, we’ll happily follow Jesus to Heaven, as long as we can take whatever we’re addicted to in the dark place we’re currently in along with us. To Heaven.

No transformation. Ni giving up the thing(s) that keeps us from loving Jesus. Instead, Jesus has to adjust His thinking, His sense of right and wrong, so that we can love Him as we want Him to be. Whether it’s power, drugs, sex, murder, whatever.

If Jesus loves me the way I am, then He can just adapt to my way of looking at things. Then, and only then, will I love Him. That’s what we try to tell ourselves when we want to stay in the dark places. But it doesn’t work that way. God makes the rules for His place – Heaven. We make the rules for our dark place in this life.

God created us – and God makes the rules for His home

But then, those rules only last for as long as we’re alive. Because, after all, God created us, not the other way around. When we die, we’re on His territory, not ours. His rules, not ours.

The Rich Young Man – Mark

10:17-31 pp — Mt 19:16-30; Lk 18:18-30

Mk 10:17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Mk 10:18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’’”

Mk 10:20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

Mk 10:21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Mk 10:22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Mk 10:23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

Mk 10:24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Mk 10:26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

Mk 10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Mk 10:28 Peter said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!”

Mk 10:29 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

The rich young ruler in the Gospels is Jesus’ version of the guy in the dark alley, refusing to follow Him.

For the rich young man, it was money. For us today, maybe it’s also money. Maybe not. But whatever it is, it’s something about our life that the Bible, God, tells us is wrong. But we refuse to accept that. And so, we tell God to go away.

Love, Justice and Free will

We have to remember some things about God to understand what’s going on here – and why.

God is love.
God requires justice.
God gave us free will.

God is love.

Yes, God is love. We think we know what love is. But we really don’t. This once again goes back to God created us, not the other way around. Therefore, what God says is love, that’s love. With that in mind, here’s the Bible, The Word of God, says in 1 John, with “God is love highlighted”.

God’s Love and Ours

1Jn 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1Jn 4:13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

1Jn 4:19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Here are some thoughts about that passage:

God is love (also v. 16). This simple sentence embodies the profoundest religious truth; yet it can be perverted into a callow slogan, in which God is pictured as some sort of floating fuzz-ball of love, accepting everything and judging nothing. This is wrong for two reasons: (1) God’s love is not mere feeling, but action, as the familiar Yn 3:16 teaches: God so loved the world that he sent his only-begotten Son to die for us sinners who needed rescue (compare v. 12 below and 3:16–18 above). (2) God is not only love; he is also justice, pouring out wrath on those who reject his mercy (Ro 1:18–2:16, 3:19–20). Believers must proclaim not only God’s love, but also his hatred for sin and his intolerance of human pride that presumes on God: God is not mocked (Ga 6:7).

C. S. Lewis points out an interesting relationship between consciousness of self and love as spoken of in this chapter:

“There is no reason to suppose that self-consciousness, the recognition of a creature by itself as a ‘self,’ can exist except in contrast with an ‘other,’ a something which is not the self. It is against an environment, and preferably a social environment, an environment of other selves, that the awareness of Myself stands out. This would raise a difficulty about the consciousness of God if we were mere theists: being Christians, we learn from the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity that something analogous to ‘society’ exists within the Divine Being from all eternity—that God is Love, not merely in the sense of being the Platonic form of love, but because, within Him, the concrete reciprocities of love exist before all worlds and are thence derived to the creatures.” (The Problem of Pain, New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., paperback edition 1962, p. 29)  ¹Stern, D. H. (1996). Jewish New Testament Commentary : a companion volume to the Jewish New Testament (electronic ed., 1 Jn 4:8). Jewish New Testament Publications.

God requires justice

Once again, the meaning is God’s. It’s not ours. It’s not the case where the rich get away with things the average person might not, and the poor person never would. No one has more riches, more power, more love than God.

Here’s a portion of a passage from Isaiah that speaks to both God’s justice and His love.

A Rebellious Nation

Isa 1:2 Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth!
For the LORD has spoken:
“I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.

…

Your hands are full of blood;

Isa 1:16 wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds
out of my sight!
Stop doing wrong,

Isa 1:17 learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.

Isa 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together,”
says the LORD.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.

Isa 1:19 If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the best from the land;

Isa 1:20 but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Isa 1:21 See how the faithful city
has become a harlot!
She once was full of justice;
righteousness used to dwell in her—
but now murderers!

Isa 1:22 Your silver has become dross,
your choice wine is diluted with water.

Isa 1:23 Your rulers are rebels,
companions of thieves;
they all love bribes
and chase after gifts.
They do not defend the cause of the fatherless;
the widow’s case does not come before them.

Isa 1:24 Therefore the Lord, the LORD Almighty,
the Mighty One of Israel, declares:
“Ah, I will get relief from my foes
and avenge myself on my enemies.

Isa 1:25 I will turn my hand against you;
I will thoroughly purge away your dross
and remove all your impurities.

Isa 1:26 I will restore your judges as in days of old,
your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you will be called
the City of Righteousness,
the Faithful City.”

Isa 1:27 Zion will be redeemed with justice,
her penitent ones with righteousness.

Isa 1:28 But rebels and sinners will both be broken,
and those who forsake the LORD will perish.

…

Once again, some comments on the passage. These regard what our response should be to God’s love, grace and His offer for Jesus to pay the price for our sins if we choose to follow Him, rather than turn away and walk away, as the rich young man did. Or as the man in the dark alley did in my example.

The proper response, then, to the grace of Yahweh is obedient faith (1:18–20). Obedient faith entails the willingness to remove and cleanse oneself from the evil of one’s generation, to love one’s neighbor, and to receive divine cleansing and forgiveness. True repentance results in faithful obedience, as an expression of gratitude and the willingness to let God be God. The remnant which has survived the ordeal may again be restored to enjoy God’s blessings. God has graciously opened up a future for them, but for those who rebel, judgment is sure to come.

In a lament, the prophet speaks about the filth of Jerusalem (1:21–26). Rather than resembling pure silver in the practice of justice, righteousness, and faithfulness, the city’s silver has become dross (vv. 21–22). Isaiah reflects on the era of David and Solomon as a period in which Israel was characterized by justice, righteousness, and loyalty to the Lord, because these leaders upheld God’s law. But Jerusalem has become faithless, like a harlot. She is as worthless as wine diluted with water. People and leaders are all alike: each one is out for himself. Yahweh, the great and merciful King, has seen their insensitivities and will come to the defense of the poor. He will bring them through another judgment in order to remove the “foes.” The “enemies” are all those who do not do his will, and it is significant that he addresses the covenant community. One is reminded of Jesus’ words that whoever is not for him is against him (Matt. 12:30; Luke 11:23).  ²VanGemeren, W. A. (1995). Isaiah. In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible (Vol. 3, p. 477). Baker Book House.

So yes, it’s up to us whether we choose to love God – as He is. To Love Jesus the way He is. Or not.

And then, if we choose not to, it’s not like we don’t know the consequences. We’ve absolutely been told. Maybe we refuse to acknowledge any of this. But we have been told. Warned. And given an option.

Free will

It’s hard for me to imagine, but there are many Christian denominations that believe God predetermined/predestined everyone who would be saved before He created our universe. The flip side of that is those who believe in Free Will.

For me – I can see the arguments on both sides. However, I believe some people were predestined to do certain things – like Moses, Job, Paul, the original twelve disciples, and so on. Then, the rest of us have a choice – to follow Jesus or not.

Here’s a passage from Matthew that combines all three thoughts. Notice especially, for today, verse 24.

Jesus Predicts His Death

16:21-28 pp — Mk 8:31—9:1; Lk 9:22-27

Mt 16:21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Mt 16:22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

Mt 16:23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

Mt 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. 28 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

And some corresponding thoughts:

16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” These words applied to the disciples and to all who would come after Jesus—that is, become a disciple and enter his fellowship. Recognizing and confessing belief in Jesus as the Messiah is only the beginning of discipleship. Jesus invites every person to follow, but those who desire to follow him must have three attitudes: (1) a willingness to deny themselves, (2) a willingness to take up the cross, and (3) a willingness to follow.

To deny oneself means to surrender immediate material gratification in order to discover and secure one’s true self and God’s interests. It is a willingness to let go of selfish desires and earthly security. This attitude turns self-centeredness to God-centeredness. “Self” is no longer in charge; God is. Too often this has been interpreted to mean that we should have no self-esteem. Some discipleship or “deeper life” strategies have advocated stripping ourselves of all dignity or anything that contributes to a sense of self-worth. Jesus’ view of denial was immediate and practical. It had to do with the disciples’ careers—their future.

To take up the cross was a vivid illustration of the humility and submission that Jesus was asking of his followers. When Jesus used this example of his followers taking up their crosses to follow him, the disciples got the picture. Death on a cross was a form of execution used by Rome for what they considered dangerous criminals. A prisoner carried his own cross to the place of execution, signifying submission to Rome’s power. Following Jesus, therefore, meant identifying with Jesus and his followers, facing social and political oppression and ostracism, and no turning back. For some, taking up the cross might indeed mean death. But Jesus’ words meant that his followers had to be prepared to obey God’s Word and to follow his will no matter what the consequences. We must count the cost and be prepared to pay it. Soon after this, Jesus would take up his own cross. Jesus was speaking prophetically here as well. To follow Christ is also a moment-by-moment decision, requiring compassion and service. Following Jesus doesn’t mean walking behind him, but taking the same road of sacrifice and service that he took.  ³Barton, B. B. (1996). Matthew (pp. 331–332). Tyndale House Publishers.

So here we see the offer. And what’s required to accept it. If accepted, if we give up our own desires and instead desire the things of God, then we can live in eternity with Him.

It’s an offer to everyone. But most won’t accept it. It’s offered to all out of love. It’s rejected by so many because we love the things of this fallen world instead of the One who created us.

But that’s not God’s fault, is it? It’s our choice. We have the knowledge of what’s right and wrong. And we know the consequences of choosing what’s wrong.

Conclusion – Jesus loves us the way we are, right?

We can sum this up with the passage containing what is arguably the most famous verse in the Bible.

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

Jn 3:1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Jn 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.’”

Jn 3:4 “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”

Jn 3:5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Jn 3:9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

Jn 3:10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

Jn 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

John 3:16 is the verse I referred to:

Jn 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

If we took the time to read, understand, and acknowledge some of the other verses, then we also would acknowledge the things I wrote above. Those verses are:

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

Consider the billboard in the adjacent image.

The man’s looking at two possible locations for his vacation. There’s the beach on the left – or the industrial factory on the right.

Obviously, he’s going to choose the beach, right?

Sorry, but no. He lives in a major city, filled with nothing but skyrise buildings and smog. The sun is rarely seen down on the streets because of that. The open spaces, the bright sun, and the lack of people scare him. He’d rather stay with the hazy sun and the smell of the smoke from the factory.

Say what? No way! And yet, that’s exactly what we do when we decide we’d rather cling onto something here in this life, in this world, than go to the perfection available to us in Heaven. He had choices as to where to go for his vacation. And he chose the factory.

Those verses are all about our choices. Our love of the things that took us into the dark alleys. The things we’d rather try to hang on to, rather than to give them up and follow Jesus.

Our choices. And they’re just as Jesus said they would be.

And as long as we stay in the dark, we will remain, of our own accord, remain ignorant of the truth about God.

It’s been that way ever since this question was asked:

“Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Final thoughts on Jesus loves us the way we are, right?

Yes, Jesus loves us the way we are. But, He also loves us too much to leave us the way we are.

Maybe the question we also need to ask ourselves is this: Do we love ourselves enough to not leave us the way we are?

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Image for “Do we love Jesus the way He is?” was done at Canva, since MS Designer wouldn’t generate it.

Image for “Rich young ruler” was done at Canva, since MS Designer wouldn’t generate it with young man looking sad.

All other images from MS Designer with DALL-E 3 using my descriptions.

Summary by MS Copilot

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Footnotes

• 1
  Stern, D. H. (1996). Jewish New Testament Commentary : a companion volume to the Jewish New Testament (electronic ed., 1 Jn 4:8). Jewish New Testament Publications.
• 2
  VanGemeren, W. A. (1995). Isaiah. In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible (Vol. 3, p. 477). Baker Book House.
• 3
  Barton, B. B. (1996). Matthew (pp. 331–332). Tyndale House Publishers.