Does God love everyone or just Christians?

TL;DR:

God loves everyone, but only those who follow God can experience the fullness of His love for them.

God does love everyone, as shown by His enduring love, His relationship with humanity, and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ dying for all humanity. However, while His love is universal, those who have not accepted Christ are still under the weight of their sin and His divine wrath. The fullness of God’s love can only be experienced through a relationship with Him, made possible by faith in Jesus. God desires for all to turn to Him and escape His wrath, but only those who are saved by grace through faith will experience the complete measure of His love and eternal life. Thus, while God's love is extended to all, it is fully realized and experienced only by those who have accepted Christ as Savior.

from the old testament

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 136:1). This verse emphasizes God's goodness and unchanging love as part of His character and invites His people to respond by praising Him and being grateful.
To Israel, God promises in Isaiah 54:10 that His steadfast love and covenant are unshakeable and everlasting, regardless of external changes.
Jeremiah 31:3 communicates that God’s love is eternal and leads to His ongoing faithfulness toward His people.

from the new testament

"God is love" (1 John 4:8b). The very essence of God's character includes love. This means that God cannot be unloving. God loves everyone.
Romans 5:8 tells us, " God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." God's love was not given to us when we became Christians; He loved us as sinners.
John 3:16 highlights God’s immense love for all humanity, demonstrated through the sacrificial gift of His Son, which offers eternal life to those who believe.
While God does love everyone, relationship with Him is restored only through the sacrifice of Jesus. God loves those who do not yet know Him, and He longs for them to turn to Him (2 Peter 3:9). He will pursue them and give them opportunity to come to saving faith, but He will not deny His justice. So, only those who have been saved by grace through faith will experience the fullness of God's love for eternity.

implications for today

Recognizing that God’s love extends to all people should motivate us to share His love and this message of hope and redemption with those around us, understanding that while everyone is valued by God, not everyone already knows the depth of His love. Engaging with others through compassion and evangelism reflects our gratitude for the grace we've received and our desire for others to experience it as well. This perspective encourages us to live out our faith actively, showing God’s love in our actions and conversations. By doing so, we reflect God’s eternal love and participate in His mission to help bring others into a saving relationship with Him, so they, too, can experience the fullness of His love and grace.

understand

God loves everyone, demonstrated by the sacrifice of Jesus for all humanity.
Those who have not accepted Christ remain under sin and divine wrath, limiting their experience of God’s full love.
The complete experience of God’s love and eternal life is only available through faith in Jesus Christ.

reflect

How does knowing that God loves everyone, but that His love is fully experienced only through faith in Christ, affect your understanding of God?
How can you show God's love to those who haven't accepted Christ?
How does the reality of sin limiting God's love influence your understanding of God and His relationship with humanity?

engage

How does the concept that God’s love is for everyone but fully realized through faith in Jesus deepen our understanding of His character?
How can a better understanding of God’s love and its conditions affect our view of His role in the world and in our lives?
How can we communicate that God loves everyone while emphasizing the need for salvation from sin by trusting in Christ?