Epistle to Diognetus 10
For God loved human beings. For their sake he made the world. To them he subjected everything on the earth. He gave them reason and mind. To them alone he allowed an upward look toward himself. He formed them from his own image. To them he sent his only-begotten Son. To them he promised the kingdom in heaven — and he will give it to those who have loved him.
Greek
ὁ γὰρ θεὸς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἠγάπησε, δι᾽ οὓς ἐποίησε τὸν κόσμον, οἷς ὑπέταξε πάντα τὰ ἐν τῇ γῇ, οἷς λόγον ἔδωκεν, οἷς νοῦν, οἷς μόνοις ἄνω πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁρᾶν ἐπέτρεψεν, οὓς ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας εἰκόνος ἔπλασε, πρὸς οὓς ἀπέστειλε τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ, οἷς τὴν ἐν οὐρανῷ βασιλείαν ἐπηγγείλατο, καὶ δώσει τοῖς ἀγαπήσασιν αὐτόν.