How does God see us?
Does He see us first in terms of love, like a bridegroom would see a bride, or does He see us first in terms of judgement, the way a judge would condemn someone to their fate? The Bible tells us that God both loves and judges us, but is one a means to the ends of the other?
There should be no doubt that God sees us all. Proverbs 15:3 says, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.” Job 34:21-22 says, “For his eyes are on the ways of a man, and he sees all his steps. There is no gloom or deep darkness where evildoers may hide themselves.” Psalm 139:1-4 says, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up…You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.”
But does God watch us out of love, or out of seeing when we stumble so He may hold us in judgement? Perhaps the answer is in John 3: 16 which says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” That is, He looks to love us all, but He gives His love especially to those whom He has judged to love Him. To love God is to believe in Him. It is possible that God may love everyone, even the sinners, but since sinners are deemed to be following other gods, God would look upon them with jealousy, like a jealous husband when his wife fools around with someone else. Would you expect a husband to treat such a wife the same way as a husband would treat a wife who is devoted to him and to the marriage? 1 John 4:16 says, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” God determines, and in His determination He judges and discerns those who abide in Him and those who don’t.
What does God look at when He sees each of us? 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “…the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” The heart is where the truth lies, contrary to the brain which is prone to being scrambled so as to deceive and be blinded by itself. Thoughts can dart out irrationally like bullets from a gun, or they can misfire. But the heart cannot be deceived, simply because it doesn’t have the brains to know any different than knowing the truth.
So God sees parts of us that people can’t. And Jeremiah 16:17 says, “For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes.”
God gives His love to us in accordance with how much or how little we love Him. As inferred in John 3: 16, God will at least have a smidgeon of love toward the wicked, so that even they can be saved if they come around to loving Him before their day of His final judgement on them.
Does He see us first in terms of love, like a bridegroom would see a bride, or does He see us first in terms of judgement, the way a judge would condemn someone to their fate? The Bible tells us that God both loves and judges us, but is one a means to the ends of the other?
There should be no doubt that God sees us all. Proverbs 15:3 says, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.” Job 34:21-22 says, “For his eyes are on the ways of a man, and he sees all his steps. There is no gloom or deep darkness where evildoers may hide themselves.” Psalm 139:1-4 says, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up…You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.”
But does God watch us out of love, or out of seeing when we stumble so He may hold us in judgement? Perhaps the answer is in John 3: 16 which says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” That is, He looks to love us all, but He gives His love especially to those whom He has judged to love Him. To love God is to believe in Him. It is possible that God may love everyone, even the sinners, but since sinners are deemed to be following other gods, God would look upon them with jealousy, like a jealous husband when his wife fools around with someone else. Would you expect a husband to treat such a wife the same way as a husband would treat a wife who is devoted to him and to the marriage? 1 John 4:16 says, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” God determines, and in His determination He judges and discerns those who abide in Him and those who don’t.
What does God look at when He sees each of us? 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “…the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” The heart is where the truth lies, contrary to the brain which is prone to being scrambled so as to deceive and be blinded by itself. Thoughts can dart out irrationally like bullets from a gun, or they can misfire. But the heart cannot be deceived, simply because it doesn’t have the brains to know any different than knowing the truth.
So God sees parts of us that people can’t. And Jeremiah 16:17 says, “For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes.”
God gives His love to us in accordance with how much or how little we love Him. As inferred in John 3: 16, God will at least have a smidgeon of love toward the wicked, so that even they can be saved if they come around to loving Him before their day of His final judgement on them.
