BiblicalInsights.net

Does God love everyone the same?  This question deserves some serious thought.  Is there any difference in God’s love for the world (John 3:16) and His love for His people (John 14:21-24)?  In John 3:16 and Rom. 5:8-9, the Scriptures teach God’s love for sinners.  But, God’s love for sinners does not save sinners if they do not love God and believe on His Son, Jesus Christ.
God’s Love For the World                                                                                                                                           God’s love for the world is manifested in that He:  (1) Sends the sunshine and the rain on the just and the unjust (Matt. 5:44-49).  (2) Sent Jesus into the world to die for the redemption of mankind (John 3:16).  Both reveal the general and unconditional aspect of God’s love.  God’s love is God seeking the highest good of each person by providing the essential things necessary to sustain physical life (creation) and to save man from the consequences of sin (redemption).  Just because God loves people in the world and has demonstrated His love in sending His Son to die in their behalf to obtain the means of atonement, does not mean that people love Him back.  Many do not love God.  Many do not believe in God nor heed His commandments.  In John 3:16, unbelievers will perish (eternal destruction, Matt. 25:46) even though God loved them, they will face His wrath.
God’s Love for His Children
God’s special love for His children is conditional.  Consider the words of Jesus in John 14:21-23, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.”
God loves those that love His Son, “he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father.”
We love Jesus by keeping His commandments (become His disciples or in other words a New Testament Christian).
Obedience to Jesus wins God’s love.
God fellowships those that love Him and His Son, Jesus Christ.  Notice, the world is not in fellowship with God because of unbelief.  Unbelief and disobedience are connected.  Lovelessness and disobedience are connected.  God does not fellowship unbelievers or the disobedient.
God has a special love, a covenantal love, for His people.  This is God’s lovingkindness toward those who love and obey His Son.
God is Father spiritually only to those in covenant relationship with Him.  Gal. 3:26-27; I John 3:1-2.  “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:26-27).
God’s promises and spiritual blessings belong to His people (Rom. 8:29; Eph. 1:3).  All spiritual blessings are in Christ and so, outside of Christ there are no spiritual blessings and no hope of eternal life (Rom. 6:23; Mark 16:16).
Summary
Those who love God win God’s special love (covenantal love).  Those who love Jesus Christ win God’s special love.  Those who are obedient to Christ win God’s special love.  God loves His people with a special love that He does not love the world with.  Consequently, God loves the world in a different way and in a different sense than He loves His children.  God is in intimate fellowship with His people whereas He is not in fellowship with the wicked of this world.

Before Jesus launched His public ministry, He appears to John the Baptist to request baptism by John.  Jesus recognized John as a prophet from God and knew that his message was from God.   Jesus complied with John’s baptism and was immersed in the Jordan River.  Why?
Personal Purpose.                                                                           Jesus’ mission was “to do thy will, O God” (Heb. 10:7).  Jesus was sinless and therefore, did not need to repent or be baptized for the remission of sins–both of which were aspects of John’s baptism (Mark 1:4).  However, positive conformity to God’s Will was most certainly required by Jesus.  Jesus publicly declares by His baptism His resolve to fully surrender His will to God’s will.  Had he not been baptized, He would have fallen into the same camp as the Pharisees and Sadducees who rejected John’s preaching and thus rejected God (Luke 7:30).  Later, Jesus rebukes them for this rejection (Matt. 21:25).
Paramount Principle
“And Jesus answering said unto him, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15).  Righteousness is right conduct based upon God’s Word.  John’s baptism was from heaven (authorized by God, Matt. 21:25).  When the Pharisees and Sadducees rejected John’s baptism, they rejected the counsel of God against themselves (Luke 7:30). These Jewish leaders would not repent.  They would not obey John’s preaching.  They would not obey God.  They acted against their own spiritual welfare.  They violated the sacred principle that Jesus spoke and upheld.  This principle must guide every person today.  We must understand that we are amenable to the authority of God.  We must comply with all of His will for our lives or be in transgression of that will.  Transgression of the will of God is sin (I John 3:4).  There are no excuses for not obeying God.  There are no exemptions from obeying God.  Even Jesus Himself, who was without sin (Heb. 4:15; I Pet. 2:22) complied with all of God’s Will.  If anyone could or would have been exempt, it would have been Him.
Perpetual Pattern
Doing all that God instructs us to do is a powerful ethic for pleasing God and living a disciplined life as a Christian.  All of the evil in the world is the result of a departure from doing God’s Will! No excuse is good enough for disobedience to God.  No one is exempt from obeying God.  Jesus’ obedience to God’s Will is a perpetual pattern for all who would follow Him.  We must walk in His steps (I Pet. 2:21).  In the Great Commission, Jesus commanded His disciples to teach men to obey all of His commands (Matt. 28:18-20).  One of those commands is to be baptized (Mark 16:15-16).  Jesus said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned.”  It is perilous to the soul to disobey the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The call to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins is a legitimate part of the gospel.  Peter proclaimed this message on the day of Pentecost and three thousand souls obeyed it (Acts 2:38-41).  Respect for the principle Jesus uttered at His baptism is essential for our salvation.  Will you follow Jesus?