We can discover a lot of things when we study God’s word but there are two things that are inescapable; God hates sin but he loves the sinner. This is the great paradox of the Bible. God hated sin so much that he placed the death penalty on it. It was sin that destroyed the perfect relationship between God and his creation. It is sin that has caused all the human suffering and misery throughout the history of the world. Sin has robbed God of his most treasured possession, man.
The Bible doesn’t say too much about God hating but what it does say amounts to a violation of all of the Ten Commandments.
These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
Proverbs 6:16–19
Jeremiah 44:4 tells us idolatry is another thing the Lord hates.
In the New Testament, Jesus only listed two things he hated. They were the deeds and the doctrines of the Nicolaitanes. The doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, supposedly, was a false teaching among many Christians that eating meat sacrificed to idols was alright. From reading the Revelation it becomes very clear that Jesus hated false teachings.
God’s hatred for sin is only exceeded by his love for the lost sinner. He doesn’t love the sinner because he is a sinner but because he is God’s creation; made by God himself and for God’s pleasure. God derived his greatest pleasure from man as long as man was in his innocence; but when man sinned, God was robbed of his greatest pleasure. However, God still saw in man the potential for giving him pleasure if he could rescue him from sin. He had a plan already in place to do just that.
His plan was called grace. His love for his creation caused him to find grace for his fallen creature and he had mercy on the man. God’s plan of grace called for a Redeemer, an innocent man who had never sinned, to die for the sins of mankind thereby paying the death penalty for sins. God knew there was no innocent man among the sons of men so he sent his Son Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, to die for the sins of men.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Now, because of his grace, mercy and love, man can have his relationship with God fully restored. Once again, God can derive his greatest pleasure from man who will receive his Son, Jesus, as their Savior by faith and live for him in obedience to his will.
This is the only way a man can realize his greatest pleasure too, to have his heart right with God. Is your heart right with God?
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