Is God Mad About You?

In an excerpt from an audio by Rick Warren which was supposed to be a Christmas message, he made the following comment, “God is not mad at you, He is mad about you.” Now, we all know what that means. If we are “mad at” someone then we have some type of disdain or anger towards them; if we are “mad about” someone then we have some type of infatuation for them. There is quite a difference by how we use the word “mad.” So, is God “mad at” us or “mad about” us as Rick Warren wants us to believe?

Scripture clearly states that:

To Israel God said, “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3)
“This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:16)
“But God commanded His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)
“Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Ephesians 5:25)
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us” (I John 3:1)
“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (I John 4:10)

The list could continue but we should suffice it to say that God loves some people…but which people? Does He love every single person that ever lived or will live? Is he truly “mad about” everyone as Rick Warren wants us to believe? This goes into another discussion but if God loved every single person and wanted every single person to go to heaven then what about Psalm 5:5 which tells us that “He hateth the workers of iniquity?” This verse does not say that God only hates sin but that He hates the sinner. And, what about Romans 9:13, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated?” It is true that God loves His creation and grants good things on evil people as well as good people. But is His love (“mad about us”) only a love that He gives to those who will spend eternity with Him as Ephesians 1 explains?

Rick Warren says that God is not mad “at” you? (Oh, really, Rick?) Then how does Rick Warren interpret Psalm 7: 11 which tells us, “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day?” In I John 4:20 (above) he tells us that Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins. But, whose sins? Is Jesus Christ the propitiation for the sins of those who enter hell every day? Is God sending the righteous to hell every day?

I suppose that it is a pleasant thought that God is “mad about” you but is it a biblical truth? Rick Warren must be some type of Universalist to believe that God is “mad about” every single person. This comment by Rick Warren is not pulled out of context in a weak sermon about Christmas. If Rick Warren would have intended that thought to have a truthful meaning then he should have explained it to be such. This is a perpetual teaching by him. Why do people and church bodies continues to help Rick Warren perpetuate his false teachings, programs and his pastors.com website?