Jesus wept because He loved Lazarus... and He loves you too!
“Christ shows us what it is to be God, in the way he dies as a human being.” ~ John Behr
God revealed how much he loves us through the Messiah—the King of kings and Lord of lords. He told us we are God’s children and that we are loved because we are his children. (If you don't know that God loves you the following video might help you to see just how valued you are.)
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” ~ Jesus
The King of the universe calls us his friends. He became a man and died for you to show you how much he loves you. (And by his Spirit, he rose his body from the dead and now lives for us all. And though God has forgiven each and every one of us, we will never begin to be free from our sins until we believe he loves us and begin to trust him.1)
God became a man and died for us. When we realise how much he loves us we stop being indifferent or hostile toward him. (His death propitiates us. It turns us from our sins to God.)
But the paradox of God’s love and forgiveness is this: You are not saved until you believe you have been saved. In other words, we have to enter into God’s salvation. We have to repent (change our minds) and believe. Each and every one of us has been forgiven, but we cannot enjoy intimacy with God and begin to be set free from our self-destructive ways until we believe that we are forgiven and are unconditionally loved.2
1. Only Jesus can set us free from the prison called Self.
“All wickedness tends to destroy individuality, and declining natures assimilate as they sink.” ~ George MacDonald
2. Jesus came to save us from our sins. He is our Saviour. That is the good news. (See What is the Gospel? and the YouTube video Is the Gospel an Invitation or a Proclamation? - Phil Henry).
"But what if I don't believe? I can't make myself believe!"
That is true. But you can choose to trust and obey Jesus. If you do, you will come to believe.
“Taste and see that the LORD is good.” Psalm 34:8b
The sooner we start to trust and obey Jesus, the sooner we will begin to be set free from the demon called Self. Trusting and obeying Jesus can be very hard, but it is clean. No one has to go against their conscience to do what God asks of them (see Conscience). Jesus will completely destroy the Devil's work. He will save each and every one of us from our sins. Yes, Hell is awful, but it is only the penultimate destiny for the self-centred (see Is Hell Eternal?) God will make all things new (which includes all people).