His Heart from the Start

This devotional series is called The Heart of Jesus. It consists of 28 devotions that are overflowing with God’s love for you. This is the first devotion, The Heart of Jesus from the Start.

The Heart of Jesus from the Start

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

1 John 4:8

At the core of His being, God is relational. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God…” Right there in the first verse of His Word, God sets the stage for everything that is to come. He introduces Himself as Elohim–the plural form of the Hebrew word for God (El). God announces Himself as the Holy Trinity–three in one.

In Genesis 1:26, He further reinforces His relational identity when He says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” And then immediately acknowledging it wasn’t good for the man He created to be alone (Genesis 2:18).

But my favorite part of the creation story comes in Genesis 3 where we get to see a picture of God walking in the garden with the people He created.

When His creation was done, God didn’t back off and let the world turn. He embraced it. He didn’t need us, but He wanted us. He chose to have a relationship with us… but we didn’t choose Him.

Related Devotion: The Gospel

We chose to put ourselves first. To love ourselves more than the God who created us. And that choice separated us from God.

In Genesis 3, God walked into the garden of Eden and called to His people, “Where are you?”

But He knew. God knew exactly where Adam and Eve were. They were hiding… from Him. They had sinned–doing the only thing God asked them not to do, and God was calling them back to Him.

Even in our rejection of Him, God didn’t reject us. Yes, there was steep price to pay for our sinfulness–a price we are still paying today. But there was also provision. Right there in the garden, God foretold the coming Messiah and preformed the first sacrifice.

While our sin broke His heart, God’s love for us remained unchanged.

In 1 John 4:8 we’re told that God is love. The universe is that love on display. God created the heavens and the earth as an outlet for His heart.

No matter how short we fall or how many times we fail to choose Jesus, God’s love for us will never falter. His steadfast love endures forever (Psalm 136).

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