God Loves the World So Much

God loves the world so much
That He gave His only Son
So that the world through Him
Might be saved.
Yes, God loves the world so much
That He gave His only Son.

God did not send His Son
To condemn the world,
But that the world through Him
Might be saved.
Yes, God loves the world so much
That He gave His only Son.

About This Song:
“God Loves the World So Much” was the second song I ever wrote–sometime in the latter 1960s. The lyrics come from John 3:16-17, Bible verses familiar to every Christian and undoubtedly our most beloved Scripture.

If you’re like me, you memorized the King James Version translation:

¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
¹⁷For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

I recently bought an album that contains the very familiar John Stainer arrangement of that Scripture. Even though I’m not fond of the Early Modern English the King James version of the Bible was written in, it sounds beautiful in the Stainer choral arrangement.

As I always do when writing songs based on Scripture, I reword them my own way, making every effort to remain true to the intent of the original. However, one choice I consciously made with this song was to say “God loves”–present tense–instead of “God loved.”

While God sent Jesus in human form only one time, His love is past, present, and future. Hence my preference for “God loves.”

Non-Christians often question how a loving God can “condemn the world.” That’s the result of sin, something that happened because God wanted human beings to have free will, and every one of us sins. Nobody is “good enough” on his own to meet God’s standards.

Free lead sheets (lyrics, tune, and chords) are available for many of my songs. Click on the Lead Sheets tab at the top of this page to see whether one is available for this song.

Look for me again next Wednesday. Better still, subscribe to receive these weekly posts by email.

Best regards,
Roger

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About Roger E. Bruner

Roger Bruner worked as a teacher, job counselor, and programmer analyst before retiring to write Christian fiction full-time. A guitarist and songwriter, he is active in his church choir, church praise team, and nursing home ministry. Roger also enjoys reading, web design, mission trips, photography, and spending time with his wonderful wife, Kathleen. Roger has nine published novels. Four of them are the now-completed young adult Altered Hearts series. Three are quirky romantic novels (as opposed to genre romance novels). The Devil and Pastor Gus is a speculative satire, and Rosa No-Name is a contemporary coming-of-age novel.

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