Why does God care?

Seeking insight does not happen nearly often enough these days. It is the crown of the wise. Seek wisdom. Seek insight. Seek truth. You’ll find it. Or rather, He’ll find you.

Why does God care? Have you ever stopped and wondered? Think about it for a minute. God . . . .

1. existed in contentment for eternity past

2. doesn’t need anything

3. could do or make anything that He wanted at any time

Then, why oh why, would He go to all of the trouble to make this world, and even more importantly, us?

Have you ever considered what a pain we are? Since shortly after He created mankind, we’ve been rebelling against Him. Every one of us has. We don’t treat Him the way that He deserves to be treated – with total love and adoration and obedience. We don’t live the way that He created us to and tell us to. And worst of all – we ignore/suppress the truth that He has given us (in His word) and continues to give us (through nature) in order to proceed unhindered in our pursuit of rebellion.

“Why does God care?” may be the mother of all spiritual questions. It certainly is one of them. King David (the man who the Bible calls “a man after God’s own heart” put it this way.

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him? (Psalm 8:3-4)

What a question! If we are humble, we must admit that only God could answer that question, for He is so far beyond us that none of us could fathom the motivations of His heart. To do so would be pure arrogance. Our only hope for an answer would be that He, Himself, would tell us.

Has He told us anything about why He is the way that He is? Yes, He has. For over two thousands years, He revealed Himself and His ways and His plans to mankind through the mouths of His prophets (many of which are recorded in the Bible). And in these last days, He has told us through His Son. He has not answered this specific question, but He’s given us enough info about His heart and His motives that we can at least put together a decent explanation.

Consider the following things God has told us about Himself in the Bible.

1. God is love.He is not just loving.He is love.He cannot act contrary to love.It is His very nature.He is kind in all of His deeds.
2. God’s love expresses itself practically and tangibly. He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and truth. He gives lovingkindness to thousands. He forgives sin.
3. Lovingkindness, by definition, is a passion to pour out one’s goodness on others. It requires an object. It cannot exist in a vacuum. It makes no sense unless there is someone to direct it towards.
4. For all of eternity, God has existed in a perfect love relationship with Himself. The Father, Son, and Spirit are all completely devoted to each other. They needed no more than that. The object of their love is one another.
5. God chose, for His own reasons, to create additional objects for His love. He created a spiritual realm — angelic beings. And He created a physical world – the heavens and the earth and all that they contain. Then, He placed spiritual beings within that physical world – mankind. He made them in His own image – with the capacity to choose to love.
6. God’s plan, which He is executing in this physical realm, is to develop a kingdom comprised of men and angels who have chosen to love Him and to become the eternal recipients of His love.
7. He wants/calls/pleads with us to know Him. To experience His goodness. To trust and follow Him. To love Him in return. This is the good news of Jesus Christ – that God has sent His only Son into the world to make a way for us enter into relationship with Love Himself and become the eternal recipients of His goodness.

Listen to King David as he continues His reflections on this marvelous truth.

Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!
You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet (Psalm 8:5-6)

Why does God care? Because He is care. He is love. He is mercy. He is grace. It is as natural for Him as breathing is for us.

Why does God care about humanity? Because He wants to. More than that — because He chose to. Love is not good intentions. Love is action. God is passionate about pouring that out His goodness upon others. So He chose to make mankind to be the object of His love. He could have chosen to do it an infinite number of other ways. He chose to do it this way. In the end, all of those who want Him in return will become the eternal recipients of His goodness. The eternal Three-in-One will pour itself out upon worshipful children forever and ever.

Nowhere is this more clear than in God the Son – Jesus. Just one little example:

When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. (Matthew 8:1-3)

Jesus was more than just willing. He wanted to. He chose to.

But now for the real question . . . why does God care about me? Let’s be honest. I don’t deserve His love. I’m a rebel. I don’t reciprocate His love nearly good enough. There is nothing that I can give Him that He needs. Why does He still pursue me, woo me, pour out His goodness upon me? Because He wants to. Think about that. Because He wants to. Therefore, He choose to. Why? Because He wants to. That is what love is. That is what love does. But I don’t deserve it. Exactly!

Love that is deserved is not love. It is duty. It is not God’s duty to love you. It is His choice. It is the purest expression of who He is. Don’t spurn His love. That is the unforgiveable sin — to reject God’s love. To write Him off. To walk away from Him. The purest form of faith and confidence in Him that you can muster is to stand before Him with your arms open wide, and say, “Here I am. I receive you. And all that I am and have, I give you in return.” Why? Because I choose to.

that they might be with Him . . .

Studying the Gospel of Mark, I came across these words . . . “And He went up to the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. And He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him . . . . ” (Mark 3:14)

When I read these words, time stopped. Chills went down my spine. Since then, they have been haunting my mind for weeks. Not in the sense of scary, but in the sense of beautiful. Hauntingly beautiful. I would so love to have been in the shoes of those twelve. To be with Jesus, every second of every day – hearing His teaching, seeing His miracles, watching His interaction with people and with life around Him. Wouldn’t you give almost anything to be there? Weren’t they so lucky? But then I remember . . . He chose me for the very same purpose . . . to be with Him. How easily deceived we can be. How easily we can forget what we have available to ourselves in Him and leave it unused on the shelf.

Yes, the twelve were with Him, but they could not yet understand Him. They’d have given anything at that point to have what Jesus’ disciples now have. They followed Him everywhere, listened to His every word, saw His every deed, but it wasn’t clicking. They were in awe of Him, confused by Him, afraid of Him, and had no clue what He had come to do and why. It wasn’t until later (after He died and rose again on their behalf) that their eyes were opened to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45). And it was only after they received the Holy Spirit that they could understand all of the things that Jesus had spoke to them. (John 16:12-13) They made the choice to follow Him for years before they really knew who He was and what He wanted from them.

Yet now, on this side of the resurrection, we have access to be with Him all of the time. 24/7. The moment that I placed my trust in Christ and chose to follow Him, I had more than they had. Each time I awake, I have the opportunity to spend the entire day with Jesus . . . quite literally. When I made that initial choice to put my faith in Him as my Savior, and to follow Him as my Lord, He changed me forever. (2 Corinthians 5:17) He placed His Holy Spirit inside of me (Ephesians 1:13) immediately. In a very real sense, Christ is in His Father, and I am in Him, and He is in me (John 14:20). I am spiritually very close to Jesus at all times.

But isn’t it is so easy to take this for granted – to ignore it? To go throughout our days planning infrequent rendezvous with Him (a quiet time here, a prayer time there) rather than being with Him all day long. We miss out when we do this, because this is eternal life . . . knowing Him . . . being with Him . . . joining Him in His work (John 17:3). This is where real life begins. (1 John 5:20)

So many who wear the name “Christian” are missing out on eternal life. And then they wonder what’s messed up. “Maybe this Christian thing doesn’t work,” they wonder. “Maybe it’s just not for me.” Wrong conclusion. The right answer – “Maybe I don’t understand eternal life.” Eternal life is not a destination. It is not something I put in my pocket for now and pull out in the future when I die. It is not eternal existence. Everyone will exist forever. The only difference between eternal life and eternal death is the quality of the eternal existence. Eternal life is the quality of life that is experienced by those who are with Christ . . . starting today and continuing throughout eternity. (1 John 5:20) Eternal life is today, or it’s never. In fact, many will be surprised in that day when they arrive at His throne expecting to join Him in heaven, only to hear, “Depart from Me. I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:21-23)

If you are His disciple, He did not choose you to believe in Him. He chose you to be with Him. And not for His benefit . . . for yours. Today . . . be with Him. For He Himself says, ” . . . abide in Me . . .” “Long for the pure milk of the Word, ” “pray without ceasing,” “rejoice always,” “in everything give thanks.” Embrace your eternal life to the fullest.

He chose you ” . . . that [you] might be with Him . . .”