On God's Love of Man by Baruch Spinoza

Thus far we have shown sufficiently, we think, what our love of God is, also its consequences, namely, our eternal duration. So we do not think it necessary here to say anything about other things, such as joy in God, peace of mind, etc., as from what has been said it may easily be seen what there is to or should be said about them. Thus (as we have, so far, only considered our love of God) it still remains to be seen whether there is also a divine love of us, that is, whether God also loves mankind, namely, when they love Him. Now, in the first place, we have said that to God no modes of thought can be ascribed except those which are in His creatures; therefore, it cannot be said that God loves mankind, much less [can it be said] that He should love them because they love Him, or hate them because they hate Him. For in that case we should have to suppose that people do so of their own free will, and that they do not depend on a first cause; which we have already before proved to be false. Besides, this would necessarily involve nothing less than a great mutability on the part of God, who, though He neither loved nor hated before, would now have to begin to love and to hate, and would be induced or made to do so by something supposed to be outside Him; but this is absurdity itself.

Still, when we say that God does not love man, this must not be taken to mean that He (so to say) leaves man to pursue his course all alone, but only that because man together with all that is, are in God in such a way, and God consists of all these in such a way, therefore, properly speaking, there can be in Him no love for something else: since all form only one thing, which is God Himself.