The Notes

We continue our message series called "6 Reasons" this coming Wednesday night, January 28, 2026, with the message:  "6 Reasons We Know Our Faith Is True."  If questioned about the reason for faith in Jesus, would you be ready with answers?  As more and more people question faith, and more people define themselves as atheists or agnostics, we need to have solid answers.  Peter said, "Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you." - 1 Peter 3:15.  We share 6 answers this week.  Join us in person for worship at 6:00 p.m. for this meaningful and uplifting  message series.  Don't you need some mid-week encouragement for the soul? 

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This past Wednesday night, January 21, 2026, was week 3 of our new message series called, "6 Reasons."  This series is designed to answer common questions, cover current topics, and build our faith and maturity as Christians.  This week's topic was on 6 Reasons God Loves Us. 

Some people question whether they are loveable . . . they struggle with self-esteem and self value.  That internal struggle causes us to not only doubt whether other people will love us, but we start to doubt whether God loves us.  And the Enemy certainly plays into this mindset, bringing up every flaw, failure, and sin to cause us to doubt God's love.  But here is truth from the Bible on why God loves us. 

1.  God is Love. 

God loves us simply because God is love.  1 John 4:16 tells us: “And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” 

The Bible tells us that love is the nature of God, and God can't be at odds with His nature - so God loves us.  Nothing can stop His love either.  Here is how the Bible puts it:  Romans 8:38-39 – “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

And because nothing will stop God's love, we can have confidence that God's love is eternal and unconditional; it will last for always.  Here are two verses to support that truth - Jer. 31:3 – “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you.”  Isaiah 54:10 - “The mountains and hills may crumble, but my love for you will never end.”  Be confident that God's love is everlasting because God is love!

2.  We Are God's Creation.

Think about how it is to be a parent - parents love the children they have created, and they love them  immediately.  They love that newborn baby before the child has done anything important or great.  In just holding the child in their arms, parents often say, "I didn’t know I could love this much!”  It's love that exists simply because that baby is born to them and came from them.  It's the same way with God.  Jeremiah 1:5 - “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.”   God loved us before we came into this world, before we took our first breath.  And scripture reminds us that God loves us before we knew Him - while we were still far away from Him as doubters and sinners.  Romans 5:8 – “God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

God’s love for us is like a parent – we are loved because He created us - because He is our heavenly Father, not for anything we’ve done. 

3.  We are Created in His Image.

Humans are the only part of God’s creation that are like Him.  Genesis 1 tell us of the creation story "Then God said, 'Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'  So God created mankind in his own image in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."  [Gen. 1:26-27].  More specifically, Genesis 2:7 says: “Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.”  That means, humans have a special relationship to God because we’re in His image and have the breath of God inside us.  We are the only part of creation that have those two important characteristics, and it matters to God.   

4.  We Are the Most Valuable of Creation.

 Although God loves all of His creation – after all, in each part of the creation story God saw it and said "it is good" – we (humans) are loved more.  We are valued and cherished above everything else.  Matthew 6:26 are the words of Jesus – “Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?”  Jesus didn't answer that question because the answer is obvious - yes, we are more valuable to God.  And then Jesus emphasized this again a little later.  Look at Matt. 10:29-31 – “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

God prizes us – values people – above everything else.  That's why He loves us so much!

5.  We are Redeemed by the Blood of Jesus.

You know how much you value something by how much you’re willing to spend for it.  If it's not worth $5.00, it doesn't mean much to you.  But if you are willing to pay thousands of dollars for something - it has a very high value.

Consider the words of Peter who tells us we are of priceless value to God.   1 Peter 1:18-19 – “For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.”  Notice that he says gold and silver aren't worth much, but the blood of Jesus is precious.  It is so precious, it is priceless.  You can't put a price-tag on the precious blood of Jesus because we can't buy our redemption . . . we can't pay enough to enter heaven.  Jesus paid the price with His own blood, and that is worth more than gold or silver or any other currency.

So we can know we’re loved because of the high price God paid to have an eternal relationship with us.   We are loved because the blood of the Son was shed for us.  That blood redeemed us, and no other part of creation is redeemed.  All have sinned and fallen short and need Jesus.  (Romans 3:23).  

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” – Eph. 1:7

“For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” – Rev. 5:9.  Only people are redeemed. 

6.  God Loves Us More than Jesus.

Sacrificial love is the highest form of love.    What you are willing to sacrifice for something shows its value.  Here is the truth for us - God sent Jesus to this earth to die for us.   Jesus endured cross!

Romans 5:8 – “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”  Not only did God send Jesus, but Jesus willingly gave up His life for us.   1 John 3:16 – “By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us.”  Here is the truth to comprehend deep in your soul - God cared more for us than the comfort of Jesus.  God cared more about our salvation - that we would spend eternity with Him - than He did for the pain Jesus would endure.  God loves us more.

And notice this - we are not loved because we’re good, talented, beautiful handsome, strong, intelligent, or any other reason . . . we are loved simply because we are.  We are loved simply because we exist and were created by God, in His image.  We are loved simply because we’re God’s child and God is love.