Does God really hate you?

In this article I'll try to demonstrate, both through Scripture and through logics, that God does love everybody, even though the pastor of your congregation doesn't think so. Hoping this will be useful.

People often do not realize that many Christians nowadays believe that God actually does hate almost everybody. They quote a passage that, according to their interpretation, gives a "proof" of the fact that God doesn't love everybody. There are also many other passages that seem to teach the same, but since the below argument fits all of them, they are not listed here. This verse is Psalm 11:5. According to these "God-hates-you preachers", God's love is not for anybody, but is only for those who act according to His will. For a Calvinist, it'd be even more: God preordained somebody to be hated by Him forever and ever. But let's examine this verse in order to see whether it really states that God hates somebody or not.
In Psalm 11:5, David says: Jehovah the righteous doth try. And the wicked and the lover of violence, hath His soul hated. (YLT). Yet, if we were to read the verb "to hate" literally, we should do  it also in this verse: [With] perfect hatred, I [i. e. King David] have hated them, enemies they have become to me (Psalm 139:22). We can clearly understand that, since Jesus asked us to love our enemies, we cannot suppose that the author of the book of Psalms, inspired by God, hated his enemies literally. Otherwise, we'd have to choose between David's God and Jesus's God, who is good even to the wicked (Luke 6:35), and between David's ethics and Jesus's ethics. The former, in fact, tells us that we can "hate perfectly" those who hate God, while the latter taught that we must "love perfectly" even our enemies, and to be perfect, for the Father is perfect as well (Matthew 5:48). But are we really to make this choice?

Jesus said that we must hate our families, if we want to be His disciples (Luke 14:26), yet Paul says that those who don't care about their families are worse than non-believers (1Timothy 5:8). Does Jesus want us to be bad fathers, mothers, children, and by doing so being worse than non-believers? The point is that neither in the book of Psalms nor in the Gospel the word "hate" is meant to be litteral, as any wise scholar would know. Unluckily, many "hatred doctrines" were formulated by people who had no real "biblical knowledge" nor did ever study biblical languages. Unfortunately, most of pastors and preacher don't know even a word in ancient Greek, so no wonder they know the Bible only for how they were taught to read it in seminary. Besides, if God hated somebody, it would be a contradiction towards His own nature. In fact, we know from 1John 4:8 that God is Love, and in Deuteronomy 6:4 we read that God is one. From cover to cover, no Bible verse says that God "is" justice, vengeance or else but love. So, if God hates, He's a "hating love", which makes no sense, unless we say either "hate" or "love" doesn't have their common meaning. But we know the word "love" means "love": test it by yourselves and read 1John 4:7, 9-11. The only word that can have another meaning than the ordinary one, as we also see in the verse quoted above (Psalm 139:22), is "hate".
Besides, consider this. Hatred is a research of punishment, of chastisment. If hatred ceases, then punishment ends too, so a "perfect hatred" must reach, some day, the time when it ends, because it has been satisfied. If somebody hates forever, then this "somebody" cannot be perfect, because he/she is in a continuous research of punishment for enemies, without ever reaching a satisfaction point. That is, somebody who hates is looking for something that has not reached yet. If we apply this paradigm to God, we say that He will continually be un-satisfied by chastisment, that He will forever be looking for something, without ever finding it. So, if God is perfect, then His hatred must be perfect as well, that means that it will reach an end (look up the etymology of the word "perfect"!). So, we have a changement in God's mind: He "used" to hate sinners, but then stops. But what do we know from God: He does not change (Malachi 3:6).
On the other hand, let's see whether God loves everybody or not. We know that the Bible states that "God loved the world" (John 3:16), that He "wants everybody to be saved and come to the Truth" (1Timothy 2:3-4). We also know that Jesus is the exact representation of God's being (Hebrews 1:3), so we can rely on His behaviour in order to understand God's heart. And what do we know from Jesus? He forgave His own murderers (Luke 23:34), He loved a man who would not be His disciple (Mark 10:21), He came to save sinners (Matthew 9:13) and to find the lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7). I believe that this, together with many verses which are not listed here, can be enough evidence for God's love toward everyone.
"Fear not, for I am thy God" (Isaiah 41:10).

How I Love Jesus!

Future Promises Of A Present God

Dear readers,

the world, nowadays, appears always more as a malignant place, a state where continuous pain reigns. The events that recently occurred in Paris show us that East and West are not that different: in any place, our Planet seems a broken device, both on the environmental and social side. And in all this furious spiritual and human mess, we receive a kindness commandment from a God who urges us to be sweet and to love our enemies. Anyway, it is not any new that God's principles are much different from ours, as we are shown that God's most powerful energy toward us is manifested in a man's death, that was so powerful that could defeat satan's might, as the Bible tells us. While everybody goes into the streets for a guerrilla, God urges us to fight a much different battle. While the world growls looking forward a revenge, the Good Shepherd urges us to make our light shine (that reminds me that beautiful children song, "This little light of mine") among men (a), and Paul repeats this: don't let the evil one win thee, but rather win evil with goodness (b). But how can we be so kind and sweet, especially in modern times? Luckily, we have a great Creator who, in His steadfast love, didn't want to consign the world to its fatal destiny.

On the day of Pentecost, Peter, led by the Holy Ghost, talked about the "Restoration of all things" (c) God had for us prepared, and Paul writes a much wider explanation, saying that creation itself, nowadays, is suffering like a woman in travail, waiting for the children of God to be manifested (d). So, it is clear that evil at this moment haunts every single place (and too much haunts human hearts), but it will not be always true. In spite of our merit, God will bring us the peace we've been longing for. In the last Day, God will give us the quiet our souls did desire, and everybody will thank Him (e).

Somebody often asks: "But where is God? Where was He during the Holocaust of milions of Jews? Where was He during all the attacks recently occurred?". We have to be patient, as God Himself is patient toward us. In fact, we know from the Bible that God is not looking forward the destruction of all humankind, but is waiting, "not wishing that any should perish" (f). God has no time/space problem: with Him one day is as a thousand years. We have to trust God, as this is the only action that makes sense in our lives. We have to trust His promises to restore all things unto Himself, since He already reconciled them. We all know it is not easy, and especially the families of many innocent victims do, but our pain is not in vain, for we know that God will one day give what Adam took away. As we suffer, we suffer with a Blessed Hope for all peoples and tongues.

We did not receive a message of anger and wrath from an angry God, but rather a love letter from a kind and sweet Dad, given to Abraham first and then continuing through all ages until the apostles. Our duty is to keep bringing onto the world the Good News of the Restoration God will send. We have a holy hope for all peoples, a hope that cannot be shut into our hearts, but must be spoken to all (g). The fiery and angry world cries always more, because in its fury it is consumed by its own evil: God is the One that has the only remedy, and we have to bring forth the hope our Father has given us. When the whole world knows how strongly God loves each one of us, we will see a great change that will prepare our Planet for the last Day, when the Lord will restore everything, remove evil from our lives and wipe away tears from all faces (h). Yes, we are nowadays passing through the days Jesus spoke about (i), days of pain and sufferings, but we know that, in these days, we have to lift up our eyes, for we're about to be set free (j)! In pain, we are the ones that can bring forth the Blessed Hope of comfort, the "tidings of comfort and joy", as is sung in a famous Christmas carol ("God rest you merry gentlemen").

(a) Matthew 5:13-16.

(b) Romans 12:21.

(c) Acts 3:21.

(d) Romans 8:19.

(e) Revelation 5:13.

(f) 2Peter 3:8-9.

(g) Acts 4:20.

(h) Isaiah 25:8.

(i) John 16:2-3.

(j) Luke 21:28.