John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

 Romans 12: 2  “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

“When we get that (knowing God loves us for who we really are) sorrow and regret have less control over us.”  Kalav

For most of us, like myself, John 3:16 is the very first Scripture verse we memorized.  It is the most quoted Scripture verse in the Bible.  Yet, have you really thought through this verse.  For instance, why did God say he loved the world rather than mankind?  When you examine this word for world in the Greek you find it is the word kosmos.  This is where we get the word cosmetic which has the idea of covering your face to hide its true blemishes. The Greek word itself stands for the world system. God loves the world system. Well, that doesn’t sound right but if you use the root idea of the Greek word, a covering of blemishes, it might fit.  In Romans 12:2 Paul tells us we are not to conform to this world, but here he uses the Greek word aion which means spaces of time.  We are not to conform to this present age.  Neither word really suggests mankind as we normally interpret it.  However, mankind is implied and we are correct to interpret it that way. However, the Greek word kosmos and the Aramaic word that is used carry a deeper meaning.

Unlike the Greek the Aramaic Bible uses the same word in John 3:16 as in Romans 12:2.  It is unlikely the Apostle Paul wrote the Book of Romans in Aramaic as he was writing to a Greek culture, but Jesus did speak Aramaic and the word He used was alma. This is absolutely fascinating as it brings out the Greek work kosmos much more clearly.  As I do not believe the Book of Romans was written in Aramaic but in Greek, I understand Paul saying we are not to conform to the present age, that which is temporal.   When it was translated into the Aramaic there was just not another word in the Aramaic to match the word aion so they use of the word alma in Romans which is quite misleading.  The shoe was on the other foot in John 3:16 as there is really no Greek word that would be a perfect match for alma. Well, at least a Greek word which could express the broad meaning of alma.

In its Hebrew root the word alma means a young unmarried woman who is usually a virgin. It is a reference to a young girl before she reaches puberty.  It also means eternal or complete.  In its Semitic root it is a reference to an eternal innocence.  In other words a child before reaching a certain age is just himself. A child does is not afraid to express his real emotions.  He will say and do what he feels.  As he reaches adulthood, he starts to put on a persona; he starts to create the image of himself that he would like to world to see.  This is the idea of alma.

I remember as a camp director for teenagers who came from troubled background we had a visit from Mr. Rodgers.  He showed these teenagers how to takes off and puts on a sweater, tie their shoes and he sang some of his songs, took request etc.  Then as he was leaving he said, “I like you, just the way you are.”  You see, he knew they were not the tough, gangbangers, but just frighten lonely young men. His message was that it was ok to be frightened and lonely if that is what you really were, then that is what he liked.  This is the Semitic root of the word alma and I believe this is what Nichodemus heard when Jesus told him that God so love the world, that is God so loved the world, just as it was, sinful, rebellious, evil, corrupt, He still loves  the world that he created not the world that man created.

When I go to God and He takes me in His arms, He is not hugging a former Bible college teacher, PhD, author, ventriloquist, He is hugging the person he created and He is telling me that he loves me in spite of all these things.  He is not impressed with the person I create; He only loves the person that He created.

It is like Kalav says, when we realize that God loves us just the way we are then all our sorrow, and regrets have less control over us.   Sorrow and regret control the person we created because we are responsible for that creation and the regrets and sorrow it brings.  But we cannot have sorrow or regret over who we really are because who we really are, our alma, was created by God and if there is any sorrow or regret over that, it would be with God, not us because we had no control over the way God created us.

I remember I had a student when I taught in Bible college who just loved girls. He loved skinny girls, fat girls, tall girls, short girls. He loved blonds, brunettes, red heads.  Unfortunately, they didn’t seem to like him.  Well, he wasn’t much to look at.  I guess that is why I liked hanging around him. Next to him I did not look too bad.  I once asked him if he would ever date a girl of a different race. He said, “If she makes my heart beat fast, Yes, I would date her in a heartbeat.”  He eventually went to the Ivory Coast in Africa as a missionary and found a woman there who loved him just as he was. Someone commented to him that he must really be dedicated to serve God in Africa.  He responded by saying, “Dedication, nothing, I get to serve the most beautiful people in the world.”

Maybe that is a good rendering for John 3:16, For God so loved the beautiful people of this world, that is the people he created, not the ones that we create. He loves us even in our sinful, corrupt, wicked ways, because that is not what he created, we created that. He only loves what He created.  God sent his only Son to die for us so He could remove all the flaws that we created and others created in us.   By doing so all God sees in us when we believe in Him is just that beautiful person He created, the rest was nailed to a cross and we can leave that behind and walk into everlasting life that perfect and beautiful person He created.

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