God is Passionate about People

God is passionate about people.  Though there are better than 7 billion of us on this planet right now, God has a personal interest in all of us.  When Jesus said, “For God so loved the world,” (John 3: 16) He wasn’t talking about the world of birds and bees and flowers and trees.  He was talking about the world of people.  While God is certainly not disinterested in this terrestrial ball we call Earth, He is most vitally interested in the people who breath its air, consume its food and drink its water. 

The Olympics have provided us a window on the world illustrating the kaleidoscope of cultures on the planet.  God is madly in love with people from every continent, country, color and culture.

 One of the surest proofs of God abiding interest in people is the amount of space He devotes in the Bible to the names of people.  In all 3,237 different people are named in the Bible.  Some share names with others.  There are 5 Johns, 13 Josephs and 31 Zechariahs in Scripture.  Some have symbolically suggestive names.  Jonah, for instance, means “dove.”  Ironically he was a real war hawk.  Some names describe physical characteristics like that of Esau whose name means “hairy” or Careah meaning “bald.”  Some got animal names like Deborah (“bee”) and Rachel (“ewe”).  Some got long, almost unpronounceable names like Maher-shalal-hash-baz (“Speeding to the Plunder, Hurrying to the Spoil”).  Can’t you just imagine the kidding you’d get on the playground with that one? 

 The first 9 chapters of 1 Chronicles is genealogy consisting of long lists of names.  Matthew (Matthew 1: 1-16) and Luke (Luke 3: 23-38) provide extensive genealogies of the Christ.  When Paul drew his magnum opus, the Book of Romans, to a close he named 35 different people who were special to him and the church in the imperial city (Romans 16: 1-23).

 The extensive naming of people in the Bible shows how “the Father from whom every family in heaven and earth is named” (Eph. 3: 14-15) cares intimately for each created man and woman.  Augustine observed centuries ago that God loves each of us as if there were no one else to love.

 God is immeasurably concerned with each of you reading this column.  He is also intensely concerned with those who will not read this column.  God is deeply concerned for those who cannot read this column.  God loves the big shot, the little shot and those who ought to be shot!  He loves you!

 The God who knows the fall of every tiny sparrow to the ground and numbers the hair on every single head on the planet (Matthew 10: 29-30) is interested in the minutia of your life today.  His love was unforgettably proven on the cross where His divine Son died to provide our salvation.

 Two questions demand an answer today: (1) God knows you but do you know Him? And (2) God loves you but do you love Him?

 

This post originally appeared as a column in The Daily Press