Article 10 of 14 | Honest Questions
By Dr. Timothy Mann
The cross is God's definitive answer to why He would care about you, not in words but in action. Romans 5:8 says Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and Galatians 2:20 makes it personal: He loved me and gave Himself for me. That is not a vague cosmic gesture; it is a costly, specific, individual act of love.
This is the second half of the answer to why God would care about you. Part one established that significance is not a matter of size but of meaning and purpose, and that human beings, made in God's image, are not ordinary in a vast and mostly unaware universe. What follows is the final and most important piece: the historical proof of that care.
The Cross Is the Definitive Answer to the Question
The definitive answer to the question of why God would care about a person is not a philosophical argument. It is a historical event.
The cross of Jesus Christ is God's answer to that question. Not in words. In action. In the most costly possible act of self-giving the universe has ever witnessed.
Here is what the cross says about how much a person matters to God. The eternal Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, through whom all things were made, took on human flesh. He lived a human life in all its limitations and suffering. He was betrayed, abandoned, tortured, and executed. And He did all of this voluntarily, not for humanity in some abstract collective sense, but for individual people, specifically, personally, by name.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8, NKJV)
Not after anyone became worth it. While every sinner was still exactly what they are at their worst.
If the God of the universe did not care about individual people, the cross makes no sense. No one goes to that length for something that does not matter to them. The cross is not the action of a God who is vaguely aware of human existence and mildly interested in its outcome. It is the action of a God who loves the people He made with a depth and a cost that is difficult to comprehend.
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, NKJV)
Not loved the world in general. Loved me. Gave Himself for me. The apostle Paul understood the cross as a personal transaction, not just a cosmic event, but a specific, individual, named act of love directed at him personally.
That is how God feels about every person who bears His image. Not because anyone is large enough or good enough or accomplished enough to deserve it, but because He is the kind of God who loves like that. Who gives like that. Who comes like that.
Known by Name
Why would God care about you? The size of the universe does not determine human significance; significance is a function of meaning and purpose, not mass and dimension. The evidence suggests that human beings are genuinely extraordinary, the only known bearers of the image of God in a vast created order. And the cross is the definitive, historical, costly demonstration that God cares about His creatures with a depth that defies easy description.
No one is a cosmic accident wandering through a meaningless universe. Every person bearing the image of God is a creature made by a personal God, known by name, pursued with relentless love, and invited into a relationship that death itself cannot end. The God who made the universe, every star, every galaxy, every light year of it, also knows your name. And He proved it at Calvary.
APPLICATION & REFLECTION
For anyone who has never responded to that love, it is worth considering today, not as a religious obligation, but as the most important relationship available to any human being. Turning from sin and trusting in Jesus Christ is where that journey begins.
If you have already trusted Him, who in your life needs to hear that they, too, are known by name?
Next time: can I really trust a God I cannot see? A question about faith itself, not just what faith is about.
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If you missed the beginning of our series “Honest Questions” find the article links below:
Article 1: If God Is Good, Why Is There So Much Suffering? (Part 1)
Article 2: If God Is Good, Why Is There So Much Suffering? (Part 2)
Article 3: Has Science Disproved the Bible? (Part 1)
Article 4: Has Science Disproved the Bible? (Part 2)
Article 5: How Can a Loving God Send Anyone to Hell? (Part 1)
Article 6: How Can a Loving God Send Anyone to Hell? (Part 2)
Article 7: Isn't the Bible Just Written by Men? (Pt 1)
Article 8: Isn't the Bible Just Written by Men? (Pt 2)
Article 9: Why Would God Care About Me? (Pt 1)
FAQ
Q: How does the cross prove God cares about individuals?
A: Romans 5:8 says Christ died for us while we were still sinners, an act of costly, voluntary love directed at people before they were worthy of it. Galatians 2:20 makes it personal: Paul says Christ loved him and gave Himself for him specifically.
Q: Is God's love general or personal?
A: Both, but Scripture emphasizes the personal. Paul doesn't say Christ loved the world in the abstract; he says Christ loved me and gave Himself for me. The cross is described as a specific, named, individual act of love, not a vague cosmic gesture.