In this series, I explore some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀.
Select the arrow for my “general intro” (which I’m reusing for all the modern hymns that I explore)
I grew up with rock music, so it’s not such a shocking thing for me to explore these. Back in my earlier years as a Christian, we had the old hymns and some modern choruses that originated in the 1970s charismatic movement. As time went on, I started to prefer the older hymns.
Nowadays, I try to maintain an interest in all Christian music. It’s easy to find “trendy” Christian music annoying, even as a Christian 😀. I don’t know why. But I’m trying to overcome that prejudice. Perhaps the older hymns give us a sense of history, but many of these would have been similar to popular music of their day. So maybe people cringed when they first heard some of these too 😀.
Anyway, today’s hymn is God So Loved. It’s from 2020.
The song title brings to mind one of the most well-known New Testament verses:
John 3:16
“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.”
In some respects, this verse is the main theme of this website. Sin separates us from God. Humans might make some attempts to reach out to God through religion, good works, building knowledge and so on, but ultimately, we need a Saviour. And God has provided the means of salvation – faith in His Son.
But does God really love the world? Here are two verses that might seem to complicate things.
Psalm 11:5
The Lord watches over those who do what is right.
 But he really hates sinful people and those who love to hurt others.
1 John 2:5
Do not love the world or anything in it.
If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.
My understanding is that humankind is intrinsically hostile to God. We demonstrate this every time we sin. But unlike demons (evil angels), who apparently have no way back to God, God has provided a means of reconciliation for humankind.
So, does God love sinners or does he hate them? Well, even as humans, we surely realize that you can love and hate someone at the same time. Maybe there’s much that you potentially love in someone if only something else would stop. When John speaks of not loving the world in the verse above, I think he refers to à world that puts God out of the picture and essentially declares independence from him. So perhaps he’s pleading with Christians not to be enslaved by the desire to be “cool” and subject themselves to bad influences. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t love people.
I often think of this guy. If you’re watching the first Star Wars film in 1977, you’d probably hope that he gets killed. If you know what happens at the end of the second film [Spoiler Alert], you’ll see him differently. Perhaps God’s love is directed towards everyone in that He is good to everyone, but He has a special place in his heart for those who will respond to his offer of salvation, who will share eternity with him.
Anyway, let’s get back to the song.
My favourite lines are these, which reminds us that he welcomes us all into his kingdom. But remember that there is nothing to indicate that this offer will be in place after we die. Now is the day of salvation.
Bring all your failures
Bring your addictions
Come lay them down
At the foot of the cross
Jesus is waiting
God so loved the world
Here are some other interesting versions of the song:
And here are some other hymns based on John 3:16. I remember one by Limerick’s Larry Hogan back in the 1970s, when I was a young teen, but I can’t find any trace of it anywhere. But lots of other songs are based on John 3:16
Hibernia Gospel 