Most people in this world do not like to be misunderstood. Sometimes good intentions can be misunderstood as bad intentions, or love can be misunderstood as hatred. There are many undesirable things in this world, and being misunderstood is certainly one of them. However, the most misunderstood One in the whole world is God! The misunderstanding we experience is only a fraction of what God experiences. He is the most misunderstood One in the whole world!
Once I met a relative of mine. He had a Ph.D. and was a professor at Manchuria University. I exhorted him to believe in the Lord Jesus at that time. He said, “Your God is not good. Your God does nothing good in heaven. From heaven He records the evil deeds of this person and that person. He does it like bookkeeping, and He uses this book to judge and condemn people to hell. Your God does not have a good heart. All He does in heaven is record the evil deeds of all kinds of people. His heart is very devious, and He wishes men to go to hell.” Oh, he misunderstood God! He misunderstood God’s heart.
You may think, “God hates me. He does not want me to be saved; He is anxiously waiting to condemn me and bring me to perdition; He wants me to go to hell.” However, I must tell you today that I know my God! My message today is to tell you one thing; if you really understand the message, you will not give up this God. Now I beg you to listen to the Word of God.
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world”! God is love. Please pay attention: God is love! It is so wonderful that God is not only thinking about you, caring for you, paying attention to you, and being merciful to you, He also loves you.
A few days ago I was strolling in a park and met a classmate of mine. I asked him to believe in Jesus. I continually exhorted him, but he would not accept. In the end I almost burst into tears. If he only knew how loving God is toward him! Men very easily misunderstand God’s love! You might think, “What kind of God is this God? Does He want to save me? Can He save a person like me?” Men are always full of doubts. But God not only is merciful toward you, He not only cares for you and pays attention to you, He also loves you. Throughout the ages, the most difficult thing God has done is love men. After man sinned, the first thing God did was love. God is full of good intention toward men. He is anxious for men to be saved. You may think that He is fierce and vicious and that He likes to see you far away from Him. But God gave us this book, the Bible, the Word of God, which tells us that God is love!
Even though you are a sinner, God loves you. Even though you are far away from God, He loves you. Time after time, God sent His servants to tell men about His intentions. He said, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, / That she would not have compassion on the son of her womb? / Even though they may forget, / Yet I will not forget you” (Isa. 49:15). Oh, He so loved us. He once used a good illustration: “If a man divorces his wife / And she goes from him / And becomes another man’s wife, / Will he return to her again? / Will not that land be / Utterly polluted? But you have committed fornication with many lovers. / Yet return to Me” (Jer. 3:1).
Oh, God is so willing to accept sinners. But men do not believe that God loves the world. They always doubt that God can be so nice. But I have to say that God is love! God so loved the world that He decided that He Himself would come to the earth and become flesh in order to show men His love.
Once I went to Lushan Mountain. I like the flowers and birds on that mountain. I do not like to place birds in cages; I like to see them flying freely. One day the birds came and ate up all the rice I left on the railing. This was very interesting, and I went and got a whole bowl of rice. As soon as I walked close to them, the birds flew away; after I left, they all flew back. I had no intention to catch them or hurt them. I was more than happy for them to come and eat my rice. I thought it would be the happiest thing for me to sit in the midst of the birds while they surrounded me on all sides. But they did not know my heart, and they always avoided me. If I wanted the birds to know my heart, the only way was for me to speak their language or become a bird flying among them and telling them my intention. Then I would not be misunderstood. But there was no way that I could become a bird; consequently, there was no way for me to show my heart to them.
This is the same way God feels about us. God loves us; He likes us. He wants us to be close to Him. But we do not understand His heart. God’s Word tells us that God has spoken of old in many portions and in many ways through His servants concerning His heart’s desire and that He loves us. But man did not understand. Therefore, God had to personally come to this world and become a man. This man is Jesus, the Christ, whom we know. If I became a bird, you might say that I humiliated myself. But for God to become a man is more of a humiliation. What humility that the God of glory would lower Himself to become a man! He is far above all, but He emptied Himself, took the form of man, and came in the likeness of men.
When Jesus was on the earth, everything He did expressed God’s love toward men. If you read the life of Jesus, you will find out that He is not only a good man but God from heaven becoming a man. We thought that God hated us. But He became a man in order to show us that God is the same as Jesus. He was on the earth for thirty-three and a half years; during this time He expressed God’s heart. God is the same as Jesus. The way Jesus treated men is the way God treats men.
Once, a man full of leprosy came to worship Jesus and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can cleanse me” (Luke 5:12). Jesus very easily could have made him clean by one of His words. Instead, He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed!” (v. 13). A man full of leprosy is unclean and smelly! But the Lord put forth His hand and touched him. He sympathized with this man. He seemed to be saying, “If others are not willing to come to Me, and you are willing, I will touch you.”
Another time, a woman caught in adultery was brought to the Lord (John 8:3-11). According to the law, such a woman should be stoned to death. The Lord Jesus could not say that she did not commit sin, yet He did not want to see her stoned to death. Therefore, He said, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (v. 7). They were all convicted in their own consciences and left one by one, from the oldest to the youngest. Then Jesus was left alone, and the woman stood before Him. What did the Lord say? He said, “Has no one condemned you?” (v. 10). She said, “No one, Lord.” Jesus then said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more” (v. 11).
O friends! If you have not believed, let me tell you that God does not hate you; rather He loves you.
On another occasion, a publican named Matthew invited many publicans and sinners to his house, and he also invited Jesus. At that time the publicans were a very despised kind of people. The Jews had lost their country and were under the domination of Rome. For a Jew to work for those who conquered his country and dealt harshly with his own people, was something very despicable. If it were us, we would not have eaten or drunk with them. But Jesus ate and drank with them.
Would you as a college student be willing to sit with such people? You might think that if a newspaper reporter found out that you were socializing with such people, it would be a big disgrace to you. But in any case, Jesus went.
At that time there was another kind of people called the Pharisees. When they saw this, they spoke to Jesus’ disciples, saying, “Why does your Teacher eat with the tax collectors and sinners?” They were debating and criticizing. But how did Jesus reply? He said, “Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill.…For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt. 9:10-13). Jesus opened up God’s heart to men.
Some may wonder, “Does God still want me? I am such a terrible sinner.” Others may wonder if God would want persons like themselves because they have robbed others, committed adultery, told lies, and been unclean and filthy sinners. But Jesus has opened up God’s heart and shown us that God wants us and loves us. He is, in effect, saying, “I am like a doctor, and I am not afraid of patients.” Are patients afraid of doctors? Of course they are not afraid. Some may think that God does not like them and wants them to perish. But I must tell you that God wants you because He loves you! Friends, please do one thing today: remove the veils from your eyes so that you can see that God has no evil intentions toward you. He loves you.
The Lord Jesus once spoke a parable about the prodigal son. When he was a great way off, his father saw him, had compassion on him, ran, fell on his neck, and kissed him. This expresses God’s heart. God is calling you home today. Jesus has died for you, and the Holy Spirit has come. You do not need to go to hell. But if you do not accept the Lord, there is no other way. I hope you can remember that God is love! If you will say to God, “I am a sinner. I am willing, and I want to accept You,” you will be saved. Then God will rejoice, and you will also rejoice together with Him. God is love!
From The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Set 1, Vol. 18, pp. 267-277.
