Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why God cares about you? Or even more, why God should care for any person on this earth?
Stop a moment and just consider that the Creator of the universe, the omniscient, omnipresent and all-powerful God, actually bothers to care about you as an individual. He who can manipulate the stars and planets, who sends the winds and rain and in whom there is life, cares about YOU.
Why?
There is a scripture in the bible that asks this same question.
“It has been testified somewhere, "What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that thou carest for him?” (Hebrews chapter 2, verse 6).
The question demands an answer, but we are not given a direct answer in that chapter of Hebrews. However as we look deeper into the Bible we begin to understand why He cares so much.
Jesus Christ
The first thing to consider is the person of Jesus Christ, who is God the Son and came to earth for the salvation of man.
God cared enough to send His only begotten Son into the world in the form of a man, for the purpose of teaching us the ways of God and to die for our salvation.
We are told in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3:
“He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power.”
In this we see that Jesus reflects the nature of God. In Christ we can see God the Father for they are of one mind and heart.
This is important because what we see in Christ is love, forgiveness, compassion, mercy, justice and so on. These same attitudes are thus a reflection of God the Father. Just as Christ cared for the people in His time, God the Father cares for all mankind who come to Christ and to Him.
But does this answer the question…why does God care? To an extent, but there is more.
Relationship
One of the things we also see in Christ Jesus is that He did not simply lead a band of disciples as a teacher, but those who followed Him were friends.
“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” (John chapter 15, verse 15)
Jesus came into a relationship with His disciples, and He continues to be in a relationship with all who believe in His words and follow Him.
His followers today are His friends, just as the early disciples were friends.
But this aspect of a relationship did not begin with the coming of Jesus for Abraham was also called the friend of God.
Ten Commandments
This issue of relationship was enshrined in the Ten Commandments, given by God to Moses.
The Ten Commandments were not a simple list of “thou shalt and thou shalt not” issues. They go much deeper than that.
When you look closely at the Ten Commandments you see that they are all about relationships. You can find these in Deuteronomy chapter 5, verses 6 to 21.
The first four commandments define the basic relationship rules we need to adhere to if we are to be in relationship with God. He wants to be in a relationship with us and so He lays down the ground rules of how that relationship must work. We are to love God and have no other gods before Him, hate idols and idolatry, keep the name of the Lord holy by not taking it in vain, and to remember to worship Him on the Sabbath.
The remaining six commandments define our relationships with other people. They begin with honouring our parents, who are worthy of honour for their years of caring for us to bring us to maturity, just as God is worthy of praise, worship and all honour for His care of us.
The rest are about specific issues: do not kill, or commit adultery, or steal, or bear false witness, or covet anything belonging to another.
All of these are the rules of relationship, and it is important that we all learn to live in harmony with one another and God, especially if we are to go into His eternal kingdom with Jesus Christ and God the Father.
Summary
So the answer to the question, “Why does God care?” comes down to this.
He cares because He wants to be in an eternal relationship with His children, and He wants them to get along with each other. Jesus showed the way for us and His teachings are all about preparing us for a deep and abiding relationship with God.
Since retiring from work, John Lemmon now spends his time teaching, preaching and writing about the word of God, online and offline, answering God's call on him to “Speak to my people.” You can connect with John on Twitter (@JohnBLemmon) or on his website: freegiftfromgod.com/ or listen to his podcast on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/the-free-gift-from-god-podcast/id1440682375