Excerpt from 'Why Does God Love You' (http://bible-truths.com/WhyGodLovesYou.htm):
Reason One:
WHY GOD LOVES THE WORLD
Acts 17:26-28 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also HIS OFFSPRING.’
There is the answer as to why God loves the world.
The word "offspring" in this verse is from the Greek word, genos (from which we get our word genealogy), which Strong's Greek Lexicon defines as "kin." And kin is "One's relatives, family, kinfolk." Yes, we are of the same race, kin, relatives, and family as God Almighty!
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Certainly puts this parable in an even better perspective:
Luke 15:11-13, 17-24 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.
“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and GO TO MY FATHER, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’ “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
2nd Excerpt from 'Why God Loves You' (http://bible-truths.com/WhyGodLovesYou.htm):
Reason Two:
WHY GOD LOVES YOU INDIVIDUALLY
Time and again God informs us that He is Almighty, All-knowing, All wise, All loving, the only Creator, our Redeemer, our Hope, our only Saviour, our heavenly Father, and "beside Him there is no God, and there is none like Him." And this description of God by God is an indicator of how and why God created you....
And the answer is: Your "UNIQUENESS."
What mother could be happy knowing that she would have to give up just one of her children for all eternity? Neither would God be happy knowing that He lost one of His children whom He created to be unique in all the universe. And so, just as the Scriptures tell us that there is "none LIKE Him," there is none like YOU. You are the only person exactly like you on earth!
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As does this parable:
Luke 15:4-6 What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’
Think I just found my new favorite paper from Ray. Dennis, tell him great, great job.
Marques