“who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4 NKJV).

God desires that all humanity would be saved. Yet, we know from the Scriptures that only those who believe will receive God’s salvation. The tension between what God “desires” for us and what humanity desires for itself is difficult to ease. We tend to overstate one side or the other, either making too little or too much of man’s free will. However, let us just consider the fact that God “desires” to save us, absent the doctrinal conundrum for a moment. This surely reveals to us something about God. He created us. He loves us. And He wants to save us and be known by us. That God “desires all men to be saved” reveals the loving heart of our God that would motivate Him to send His only Son, Jesus, to actually purchase what He Himself desired.