My wife & I were at our end and had, in our hearts, truly given up. Counseling, talking, praying, reading books, everything we could think of...until we both came to this understanding: that our God loves us, He always has and, He always will - even if we fail at every effort to save our marriage. Or anything else for that matter.
Now, before you say, "Or vey! These two wanna sell me unconditional love, that was yesterday for cryin' out loud!", I do admit it's ironic that this applies the day after that show. Although I would say His love & acceptance for people is perfect, not "unconditional". Here's why. I believe that God makes people. It's not us who makes us. (see: Psalm 100 "it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves") So, if that is true, does He make things He hates? And, if He love's who He makes, when does He stop loving them? Or, once we lose this love, what must we do to get it back? What is the criteria, i.e. When do we know we are "good enough" for His love? Who determines these answers? These questions reveal to me that man is subjective while God is perfect so, because of this, He loves even the one who "makes his bed in hell" as the Psalmist wrote.
In Jeremiah there's a prophecy of the new covenant wherein we are told that, He will forgive our iniquities & remember our sins no more. I take that as a thing that happened, literally, at the cross of Christ. Therefore, All are forgiven - the saint who believes, and the unbeliever who goes to hell. I also believe those two states of mind produce very different kinds of 'fruit'. One who really KNOWS He loves Him will be less likely to sin while, one who "knows" He doesn't has nothing to lose - "Eat, drink & be merry, for tomorrow I die."
To shorten this up, it's not a question of, "Does He love unconditionally?" but, what is the love of the eternal God? Is it perfect and, is He the only one who can dispense it?
The answers we found are, It is perfect, and, He alone has it to offer.
Thank you, Dennis, I hope very much to carry on this conversation with you more.
God bless you & keep up the good work, Mark and Suzette d. in Rancho C.
