God So Loved Us
By Darren Hewer
Also available as a podcast at: http://thelife.com/blogs/experience/kindle/2008/08/05/god-so-loved-us-2/
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“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Most of us are probably quite familiar with the creation account found in Genesis 1-2. The account is beautiful, poetic, and historical. God created the Heavens and the Earth. But He did not create everything equally at once in the blink of an eye. Last of all He spoke us into being as His special creation, made in His image, and beloved above all else He created.
Although God clearly loves His entire creation (Jesus explained that “God so loved the world”) He shows a special concern for human beings above and beyond all other beings. He told us, for example, that although the birds of the air are very important to Him, “you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:31)
In fact, when we examine Jesus’ ministry, he rarely preached about caring for animals, but constantly preached about caring for each other. That does NOT mean that animals are unimportant; they are of course important and it is part of our divine call to care for them. However, our fellow human beings must be (second only to loving God) the most important. (Matthew 22:34-40)
The reason for Jesus’ sacrifice, as explained in today’s passage John 3:16, was so that “whoever believes in him shall not perish,” meaning it was done for human beings, you and I, who can comprehend and choose to accept the gift of grace He offers to us.
Thus, let us today first thank God for creating us, as his special and most valued creations. Then let us recommit to loving others first, in response to how God first loved us, as Jesus guided us to do: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34)
Question: What does it mean to be, simultaneously, a sinner, and also God’s special and most valued creation?
About this Author: http://thelife.com/experience/devotionalformen/authors/darren-hewer/
