God So Loved the World

Scripture Reading: Genesis 1, Psalm 8

Today's Treasure: "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).

Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." The Word of God delineates between one little planet He called earth and the entire rest of the universe. We have no idea what is out there. What little science documents and hypothesizes makes Genesis 1:1 inconceivably impressive.

Our solar system is in a galaxy called the Milky Way. Scientists estimate that more than 100 billion galaxies are scattered throughout the visible universe. Astronomers have photographed millions of them through telescopes. The most distant galaxies ever photographed are as far as 10 billion to 13 billion light-years away. The Milky Way's diameter is about 100,000 light-years. The solar system lies about 25,000 light-years from the center of the galaxy. There are about 100 billion stars in the Milky Way.* Imagine 100 billion stars estimated in our galaxy alone, and Psalm 147:4 tells us God "determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name."

Impressive, isn't it? But this gets even more impressive: In the beginning God created the sun, the moon, every star, all their surrounding planets, and the earth. You and I have no idea what God's activities may have been elsewhere in the universe, but according to the Bible and as far as He wanted us to know, He picked out one tiny speck upon which to build a world. Our world. And he picked it out so that when the time had fully come, He could send His Son (Gal. 4:4).

Can you imagine the fellowship of the Trinity on the seventh day? As they rested and looked upon the very good work they had accomplished, one planet had been tended like no other to our knowledge. Perfectly placed in the universe with adequate distance from the sun, moon, and stars to sustain human life, it was chosen for divine infiltration.

"For God so loved the world." Scripture doesn't tell us He loved the sun, and it is the most impressive among the heavenly bodies we can see. Nor are we told He loved the stars, even though He knows every one of them by name. John goes out of his way, however, to tell us—not just that God loved the world—but that He so loved the world.

In a universe so vast, so incomprehensible, why does God single out one little planet to so love? Beloved, absorb this into the marrow of your bones: because we are on it. As despicable as humanity can be, God loves us. Inconceivably, we are His treasures, His prize creation. He can't help it. He just loves us. So much, in fact, that He did something I, with my comparatively pitiful love for my children, would not do for anyone. He "gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

Dear one, let it fall afresh. I am overcome with emotion. Elohim is so huge. We are so small. Yet the vastness of His love—so high, so wide, so deep, so long—envelops us like the endless universe envelops a crude little planet God first called earth.

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Your justice like the great deep. O Lord, You preserve both man and beast. How priceless is Your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of Your wings. I want to feast on the abundance of Your house; I want to drink from Your river of delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light I want to see light. Amen. (Ps. 36:5-9)

*The Worldbook Encyclopedia 2001, vol. 8 (Chicago: World Book Inc., 2001), 8-8a.

Adapted from The Beloved Disciple, by Beth Moore, pages 150-151. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2003. Used by permission.