"Also hat Gott die Welt gel." (#233)

German text in the Gesangbuch:

1 Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt,

daß er uns seinen Sohn hergibt,

daß wer ihm traut und glaubt allein,

kann und soll ewig selig sein.

2 Der Glaubensgrund ist Jesus Christ,

der für uns selbst Mensch worden ist;

wer seinem Mittler fest vertraut,

der bleibt auf diesen Grund gebaut.

3 Dein Gott will nicht des Sünders Tod,

sein Sohn hilft uns aus aller Noth,

der Heilge Geist lehrt dich durchs Wort,

daß du wirst selig hier und dort.

4 Drum sei getrost, weil Gottes Sohn

die Sünd vergibt, der Gnadenthron,

du bist gerecht durch Christi Blut,

die Tauf schenkt dir das höchste Gut.

5 Bist du krank, kömmst du gar in Tod,

so merk dies wohl in aller Noth:

Mein Jesus macht die Seel gesund,

das ist der rechte Glaubensgrund.

6 Ehr sei dem Vater und dem Sohn

samt Heilgem Geist in einem Thron,

welches ihm auch also sei bereit

von nun an bis in Ewigkeit.

My prose translation:

1 God so loved the world

That He has given us His Son

So that he who trusts and believes in Him alone

Can and should be blessed eternally.

2 The foundation of faith is Jesus Christ,

Who Himself is become man for us;

He who firmly trusts in his mediation

Remains built on this foundation.

3 Your God does not want the death of the sinner;

His Son helps us out of all distress;

The Holy Ghost teaches you through the word

So that you become blessed here and there.

4 Therefore be comforted because God's Son

Forgives sin, the throne of mercy;

You are justified through Christ's blood;

Baptism gives you the highest good.

5 Are you ill?  Do you come even into death?

Then know this well in all distress:

My Jesus makes the soul healthy;

That is the true foundation of faith.

6 Glory be to the Father and to the Son

Together with the Holy Ghost on one throne,

Which for Him be thus also prepared

From now on into eternity.

There are no authorial data in the Gesangbuch.

The first verse begins the same way as John 3:16.  The assonance and rhyme that are maintained from one word to the next in the phrase "ewig selig" ("eternally blessed") suggest this temporal continuation.

The last part of the second verse bears some resemblance to Matthew 7:24-27, specifically the man who built his house on the rock.

This hymn appears as "God Loved the World So That He Gave" in The Lutheran Hymnal (#245), Lutheran Worship (#352), and The Lutheran Service Book (#571).  In TLH and LSB, the text is paired with the tune "St. Crispin," and in LW, it's paired with "Die helle Sonn leucht," but according to the Gesangbuch, it's sung to "Herr Jesu Christ, meins."  Here's the TLH arrangement (transposed from Bb major to C major):

And here are two arrangements from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch: