Jehovah​—Always a God of Love

“God is love,” wrote the apostle John. (1 John 4:8) Therein he stated an eternal truth: The Creator, Jehovah, has been, is, and always will be a God of unchangeable love. And from beginning to end, the Bible record supports that statement.

Love Expressed Through His Son

Over the centuries, Jehovah God provided further details regarding the ‘seed of the woman’ and ‘Abraham’s seed,’ and through His prophets He foretold the coming of the Messiah. When the appointed time arrived, God demonstrated his love in an unprecedented way​—by sending his only-begotten Son to earth to provide the ransom sacrifice.

Of this marvelous provision, the apostle John wrote: “God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Because God’s love through his Son, Jesus Christ, is so magnanimous, some have mistakenly concluded that He could not have been the same God as the one spoken of in the Hebrew Scriptures as bringing punishment and judgment.

But is the God taught by Jesus so different from the God portrayed in the Hebrew Scriptures? Or is it that people have chosen to see just what they want to see? Does not that well-known scripture, John 3:16, clearly show that if one does not ‘exercise faith’ in the Son, that one will be “destroyed”? Furthermore, John went on to say: “He that disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.” (John 3:36) If this in no way detracts from the magnitude of God’s love, then why should his expression of displeasure against the unfaithful Israelites and others in the Hebrew Scriptures make him any less a God of love?

God’s Loving Purpose for You

Through his prophet Malachi, God stated: “I am Jehovah; I have not changed.” (Malachi 3:6) Not only has he remained unchanged as the God of love but his loving purpose regarding mankind and the earth has also remained unchanged. As Jehovah laid before Adam and Eve the prospect of everlasting life in an earthly paradise, so this God of love wants you to be among those who will forever live happily in that Paradise. (Luke 23:43; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:4) But what is required? Jesus said: “This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.” (John 17:3)