16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
This verse has only 25 words. Twenty-five words that describe in detail the great care God has for you. What does the phrase, "For God so loved the world" mean?
Tozer broke it down in straightforward terms:
To boil it down into the familiar terms and words we can understand, I can restate this phrase by simply saying it means I mean something to God. Once that phrase is stated, nothing more needs to be said. That sums up in compressed, pressurized fashion the whole intent of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation1
Did you catch that? You mean something to God. The very God who breathed the molecules into existence and sang them into form, spinning worlds off the tips of His fingers cares about you, and you mean something to Him.
He sees your every step and counts the very number of hairs on your head. He cares about the sorrow in your heart and the fears that grip you and keep you up at night. He cares about the little things just as much as the big things, for they are all beneath Him. The Bible speaks of the condescension of God. The word condescend means to descend from the privileges of superior rank or dignity, to do some act to an inferior, which strict justice or ordinary rules of civility do not require. God is high above all. He is not required by His superior rank above all to stoop, but love behooved Him to do so.
God's love isn't some general, universal love, but an individual, personal love. This love moved Him to leave heaven, and come, be a man, to suffer with and for you. Yes, He loves the whole world, but He did not die for mankind, but man. He did not die for man corporate, but man the individual. He cares for you.
His first care is for the destination of your soul "that whosoever believeth in him should not perish," His next concern is the condition of your soul, "but have everlasting life.
Sin not only condemns men to a Christ-less eternity in eternal suffering and torment, but it makes men miserable in this life. He cares about what your heart cherishes, especially when what we often love does not bring us good, but evil; is not eternal but only short-lived. He cares about the condition of our life. He wants the power of everlasting to be stamped upon our souls.
When this truth pierces the garb of religiosity, and through the darkness of sin's ruin, it rescues men from vanity and empty pain and brings them into the light of God's personal, intimate love that moved Him to the point where "He gave His only begotten Son."
All my life was full of sin when Jesus found me;
All my heart was full of misery and woe,
Jesus placed His strong arms about me
And He led me in the way I ought to go.
No one ever cared for me like Jesus;
There's no other friend so kind as He.
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me;
Praise the God Who Cares
07/01/2020
Day 183: Praise the God Who Cares
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
This verse has only 25 words. Twenty-five words that describe in detail the great care God has for you. What does the phrase, "For God so loved the world" mean?
Tozer broke it down in straightforward terms:
To boil it down into the familiar terms and words we can understand, I can restate this phrase by simply saying it means I mean something to God. Once that phrase is stated, nothing more needs to be said. That sums up in compressed, pressurized fashion the whole intent of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation1
1 Tozer, A. W. And He Dwelt among Us: Teachings from the Gospel of John. Ed. James L. Snyder. Ventura, CA: Regal, 2009. Print.
Did you catch that? You mean something to God. The very God who breathed the molecules into existence and sang them into form, spinning worlds off the tips of His fingers cares about you, and you mean something to Him.
He sees your every step and counts the very number of hairs on your head. He cares about the sorrow in your heart and the fears that grip you and keep you up at night. He cares about the little things just as much as the big things, for they are all beneath Him. The Bible speaks of the condescension of God. The word condescend means to descend from the privileges of superior rank or dignity, to do some act to an inferior, which strict justice or ordinary rules of civility do not require. God is high above all. He is not required by His superior rank above all to stoop, but love behooved Him to do so.
God's love isn't some general, universal love, but an individual, personal love. This love moved Him to leave heaven, and come, be a man, to suffer with and for you. Yes, He loves the whole world, but He did not die for mankind, but man. He did not die for man corporate, but man the individual. He cares for you.
His first care is for the destination of your soul "that whosoever believeth in him should not perish," His next concern is the condition of your soul, "but have everlasting life.
Sin not only condemns men to a Christ-less eternity in eternal suffering and torment, but it makes men miserable in this life. He cares about what your heart cherishes, especially when what we often love does not bring us good, but evil; is not eternal but only short-lived. He cares about the condition of our life. He wants the power of everlasting to be stamped upon our souls.
When this truth pierces the garb of religiosity, and through the darkness of sin's ruin, it rescues men from vanity and empty pain and brings them into the light of God's personal, intimate love that moved Him to the point where "He gave His only begotten Son."
All my life was full of sin when Jesus found me;
All my heart was full of misery and woe,
Jesus placed His strong arms about me
And He led me in the way I ought to go.
No one ever cared for me like Jesus;
There's no other friend so kind as He.
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me;
O how much He cared for me. --Charles Weigel