Q: Why does God love us? He sent his only begotten Son to die and redeem us. He knew about us even before creating us. He saw our sins, our weaknesses, our flaws, our imperfections. But he created us anyway. When Adam and Eve fell, he could have chosen not to give mankind another chance, but that’s not what he did. What does God see in us, why would he love us that much? I don’t see why. Thank you for your time. – C.K.
Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC
A: Yours is a question that people have raised for centuries. “What is man that you are mindful of him, and a son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him little less than a god, crowned him with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:5-6).
The simple answer is: God made us out of love. He wanted to share his love with us, and he wants us to be happy with him forever. “God is love” (1 John 4:8), so it’s not surprising that he loves in all directions, so to speak.
This is a topic that could fill a book, of course. For the sake of simplicity, let’s take one approach to an answer.
God’s love is reflected in a special way in marriage. A husband and wife love each other, and it is natural that they want to share that love. That is why they welcome the children that their love helps bring into the world.
And when the mom and dad look at their kids, the little ones remind the parents of each other. A husband is reminded of his wife, a wife of her husband. Each sees traits of the other in the children.
Beyond reflecting traits of our own mom and dad, we are made in the divine image (“In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” – Genesis 1:27).
To carry the parent-child analogy further, we could venture to say that when God the Father looks at us, he is reminded of the Son and the Holy Spirit. And when the Son sees us, he is reminded of the Father and the Holy Spirit. And when the Spirit sees us, he is reminded of the Father and the Son. And who have the divine Persons loved from all eternity – but the other Persons?
Again, this is a big and deep topic, but perhaps this personal reflection might help you. Also helpful might be to watch our Retreat Guide called “You Matter.”
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