Then, in an amazing act of love and mercy, the father embraced his son and gave him the best family robe to wear and placed a ring on his finger to confirm his love and acceptance. Afterwards he celebrated his son’s return home with a family feast, honoring his son’s return home.

It is noteworthy that even though the father greatly loved his son, he didn’t chase after him. He let the son he loved feel pain and suffer the consequences of his rebellious choice. In a similar way, the Scriptures teach that God’s love will never compromise what is best for us. It will allow us to suffer the consequences of our own wrong choices and rebellion. However, like the father in Jesus’ story, God will always welcome us back if we are willing to return in humility.

God’s unconditional love is best expressed in John 3:16: 

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Jesus also taught that God will never compromise his character. Character is who we are down deep. It is our essence from which all our thoughts and actions stem. So, what is God’s character like—down deep?

God Is Holy

Throughout the Scriptures (nearly 600 times), God is spoken of as “holy.” Holy means that God’s character is morally pure and perfect in every way. Unblemished. This means that God never entertains a thought that is impure or inconsistent with his moral excellence.

God’s holiness means that evil cannot exist in his presence. Since evil is the opposite of his nature, He hates it. It’s like pollution to him.

But if God is holy and abhors evil, why didn’t he make our character like his? Why are there child molesters, murderers, rapists, and perverts? And why do we struggle so with our own moral choices? That brings us to the next part of our quest for meaning. What did Jesus say about us?

Click here to read page 4 of 10 about “Is Jesus Relevant Today?”