May 25, 2025

Memorial Day has a long history in the United States. It was first celebrated on May 30, 1868, one hundred fifty-seven years ago, to honor those Union soldiers killed in the American Civil War. It has since been expanded to include all those Americans that gave their lives in battle on behalf of our country. Memorial Day is always observed on the last Monday of May. It includes decorating the graves of men and women that paid the ultimate price for our freedom with flags and flowers. This is why it is also called Decoration Day.

Our nation’s wars have claimed a staggering total of lives: it is estimated that approximately one million, two hundred thousand men and women died in armed conflict. There are also many others who remain unaccounted for. We do well to commemorate their sacrifices. They died so that we might live. This is why we celebrate Memorial Day. I would encourage you to join in one of the observances near you.

When we reflect on these sacrificial deaths, we recognize that each brings a measure of temporary relief. It is why wars are repeatedly fought by the same nation, sometimes against the very same enemy. For example, my maternal grandfather, born in 1895, was witness to the Spanish-American War, World War I (in which he participated), World War II, the Korean Conflict, and Vietnam. While any level of peace is to be desired, permanent peace proves elusive.

This is why the sacrificial (and substitutionary) death of Jesus Christ is so significant. Like those of military combatants, his death was bloody. Biblically speaking, the blood of animal sacrifices prescribed within the Mosaic law reminds the giver of the cost and violence of sin and atonement for it. Notice Leviticus 17:11 – “I [God] have given it [blood] to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls.” This is true of those sacrifices associated with God’s forgiveness and embrace. Notice, too, what the apostle Paul writes in Romans 5:1 – “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This, too, is a result of Jesus’ bloody death on behalf of humanity. His death provides the only effective covering for God’s righteous wrath. We do not want to stand in God’s presence on the day of judgment without being shielded by Jesus’ blood.

The writer of Hebrews reminds us, “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). The repetition of such sacrifices clearly showed that any relief was only temporary. The benefit brought by Christ’s sacrifice is, in contrast, permanent. Notice the emphasis placed on the once-for-all nature of his work (Hebrews 10:10, 12,14). No, only Christ’s atoning sacrifice brings permanent peace between a repentant and believing sinner and a loving and just God.

March 10,2025

You have probably heard the phrase, but what exactly is Christian nationalism, and is it a good or bad thing? One source defines it as follows: “Christian nationalism is a form of religious nationalism that focuses on promoting the Christian views of its followers in order to achieve prominence or dominance in political or social life. It seeks to establish an exclusivist version of Christianity as the dominant moral and cultural order. In countries with a state church, Christian nationalists seek to preserve the status of a Christian state.” The conversation is important given the recent close identification of evangelical Christians with the Republican party, the MAGA movement, and Numbers 45 and 47, President Donald J. Trump. The discussion concerning Christian nationalism is particularly acute because it has divided evangelicals into two distinct camps, “for” and “against.” Two helpful volumes that address the subject in more depth than this article will are Thomas S. Kidd’s Who Is an Evangelical?: The History of a Movement in Crisis (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2019) and Evangelicals: Who They Have Been, Are Now, and Could Be, edited by Mark A. Noll, David W. Bebbington, and George M. Marsden (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2019).

In the estimation of this writer, Christian nationalism as a movement or ideal raises several red flags, three of which will be discussed here. First is its underlying assumption that America was specifically founded as a Christian nation. This is false. For example, consider the viewpoints of Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) and Roger Williams (c. 1603-1683), a Baptist and the founder of Rhode Island. These two men, who could not be farther apart in relation to the Person and work of Jesus Christ, both agreed that a wall of separation between church and state was essential. The phrase, “wall of separation,” seems to have actually originated with Roger Williams, who sought to protect “the garden of the church” from the “wilderness of the world” by means of such a wall. Isn’t that interesting? The impetus for a “wall” came from the Christian side of the debate. Conversely, our emerging national government recognized a very basic problem: whose version of it would be so privileged? So, while the influence of the Bible cannot be seriously doubted or debated, that it was “the law of the land” was hardly the case.

Second, evangelicals have historically and helpfully been defined by four features: Biblicism, Crucicentrism, Conversionism, and Activism (David W. Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730’s to the 1980’s (Boston, Sydney, Wellington: Unwin Hyman, 1989). Each of these characteristics can be traced through the New Testament and together reflect the distinguishing marks of the people of God. What does an evangelical “look like?” Well, an evangelical looks like this. It would prove valuable to evangelicals to reacquaint ourselves with our own historical identity and not be too quick to extend our tent to those outside of what are truly Biblical parameters. Like it or not, there is an “in” and an “out” when it comes to the identity of the body of Christ. Further, the union between Biblical Christianity and political power has never really been part of evangelicalism’s profile. And it has rarely been successful when tried. However, the desire to acquire, keep, and use political power remains strong. Yet this does not reflect the way of the cross (Mark 8:34-38).

Third, Christian nationalism at worst reflects a desire to inaugurate God’s kingdom on the earth through primarily human means. While reflecting God’s values in practice is a goal of what has long been called sanctification, apart from the indwelling presence and work of the Holy Spirit is bound to fail. One has to look no further than Old Testament Israel, the sole covenantal people on earth, and its privileged position, call, and failure. It is an example of kingdom-building without conversion. This is, in my own estimation, a shared weakness with the current evangelical form of the social justice movement. In this writer’s estimation it has conflated justice and evangelism. Christian nationalism in many ways neglects both.

The Shifting Sands of American Politics
July 28, 2024

The metaphor of shifting sand is particularly apt as it relates to American presidential
politics in July, 2024. And, the month isn’t even over yet.

When was the last time that the political landscape has changed as quickly as it has over the last month or so? In my own lifetime, only 1963, 1968, and 1974 eclipse what we have experienced between June 27 and July 28. In many ways the events that occurred in our nation since the 2016 presidential election have set the table for our current national level of socio-political conflict, a divide that is possibly past the point of repair. Where does this leave America?

Think of the recent sequence of events. In a little over thirty days our nation has reacted to the first scheduled presidential debate of 2024; the resultant shock relating to our current president’s visible cognitive and physical decline; the very-public machinations of the president’s own political party to replace him; the assassination attempt on the life of the sitting president’s primary opponent; the withdrawal of our president as a candidate for reelection; and the emergence of a candidate with even more progressive credentials. Did you ever think such a series of events would occur as they did? I didn’t, even as a praying follower of Jesus Christ.

But I shouldn’t be surprised, and neither should you.

Evangelical Christians have always been activists, as demonstrated by David W. Bebbington in his Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History From the 1730’s to the 1980’s. As Bebbington shows, our activism has historically shown itself in terms of evangelism. However, this has shifted in the direction of political action and social justice instead. Why? Both are results-oriented and those results can be measured in more tangible ways than can any evangelistic process. And, these are both more socially acceptable forms of engagement than evangelism. So, we talk and write and debate and fret over the upcoming general election in November. And we will do so everyday between July 29 and November 5, and even afterwards, regardless of your political orientation.

There is a better way. It is to remind ourselves of the preeminence of Jesus Christ, who reigns from the right hand of the Father right now. His reign is invisible but real and potent, accomplishing the purposes of the Triune God. The day will come that his reign will be visible (the considered position of a committed premillennialist!) and equally potent. But this is what it means to sing, “Our God Reigns!” A careful reading of Colossians 1:15-20 will support this truth. So, do not look to either of our two primary political parties to usher in “solid rock” performances. Neither will. Read, pray, vote, and live in confident faith that God is the one who lifts up and takes down as he works out his own good, perfect, and acceptable will.

THE MOST NEGLECTED DAY ON THE CHURCH CALENDAR
May 5, 2024

Thursday, May 9 commemorates what is the most neglected day on the church calendar. This is surprising since Thursday, May 9 also commemorates what is one of the most important days on the church calendar. Thursday, May 9 commemorates Ascension Day, the day on which Jesus Christ’s first coming came to its conclusion when he physically and visibly ascended to “where he was before” he became incarnate (John 6:62), that is, with the Father in glory.

First, take a moment to think about Ascension Day by the numbers, in relation to the final events of Christ’s physical ministry on the earth. Good Friday is followed, three days later, by Resurrection Day, which is, in turn, followed by Ascension Day forty days after that. So, the apex of redemptive history is realized over the span of approximately six weeks. Remember, though, that these events are inseparably related to Jesus’ birth and sinless life. Further, these five redemptive movements are intimately related to the subsequent sending of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost ten days later. So, a great deal of redemption history occurs in a relatively short period of time.

Second, while the apostles were eyewitnesses to the resurrected Jesus, they were also witnesses to his ascension. While none saw Jesus’ resurrection, they all saw his ascension (Luke 24:50-53). Luke, in his two-volume work, tells us that “He [Jesus] was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). The cloud reminds the reader of the Shekinah glory and the glimpses of the glory of Christ seen at his transfiguration, ascension, and parousia. How long did Jesus’ ascent take? How far did he travel before he disappeared? We are not told. We are told that he “will come again in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Ascent; descent. Veiled by the cloud; uncovered so that “every eye will see Him” (Revelation 1:7; Zechariah 12:10).
Jesus is coming again!

Third, while several important teachings emerge with Jesus’ ascension, we will consider just one. As you reflect on the event, it will be helpful to you to list the implications of Jesus’ ascent. Here we will briefly consider Jesus’ inaugurated reign.

While premillennialists like myself anticipate a thousand-year kingdom presided over by Jesus Christ on the earth, it is important to acknowledge that Jesus’ reign as the descendent of David began at the time of his being seated at the Father’s right hand (Psalm 110:1; Acts 2:34-35). Notice the tension: Jesus is already reigning, but he is not yet reigning. His kingdom has already begun but is not yet realized in all its splendor. His rule and reign is actual but invisible to the naked eye. One day this will not be so: Jesus’ kingship will be open and visible as well as actual. This is described in Revelation 20 and other places. But it has begun, and the form his kingdom now takes is largely stewarded by the church, the organism that Jesus is currently constructing (Matthew 16:18). It is this we are part of by virtue of our new birth by grace through faith. How much authority does Jesus possess and exercise in the accomplishment of his purpose? “All authority” (Matthew 28:18). This is only a part of what Ascension Day commemorates.

WHO IS SAINT PATRICK
March 8, 2024

Just who is Saint Patrick, and why do we celebrate him every year on or around March 17? After all, very few people have their own special day of recognition on our
calendar: Martin Luther King, Jr., our Presidents as a group, though both
Washington and Lincoln are specifically acknowledged and remembered, Patrick,
and Jesus Christ in relation to his birth, death, and resurrection. That is a very select group. Patrick, however, is the most surprising.

In comparison to the others, little is known about Patrick. If you were to randomly ask about him, the answers would range from “Irish” to “Roman Catholic saint” to“ snake remover” to “party guy.” Very few would identify Patrick as an early Christian missionary to Ireland who happened to be British! Patrick was born somewhere around 389 AD and died somewhere around 461 AD. March 17 is the traditional date of Patrick’s death, though this is not known with certainty either.

What is known of Patrick’s story, however, is both interesting and important. As a young man, a teenager, really, Patrick was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Ireland. He toiled there for six years, until he was able to escape and return to his family and home in Great Britain. During his period of enslavement, Patrick was converted to Jesus Christ, an experience he recorded in one of the writings he left behind when he died. While life was at times brutal for Patrick, God cultivated a deep concern for the spiritual needs of the men and women of Ireland. So, Patrick did the unthinkable: he freely returned to Ireland as a missionary. Of course, he now did so as the servant of Jesus Christ. Patrick, like all Christians, had been freed to serve.

God’s hand was on Patrick. He shared the gospel with many of the Irish; kings were converted to Jesus Christ. The man that previously “owned” him was converted to Jesus Christ. Historians estimate that 120,000 were converted through Patrick’s preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ, a staggering number if accurate. It is no wonder that Patrick has been called “the apostle to Ireland.”

Remembering Saint Patrick as a Christian missionary to Ireland is a better and more important way of honoring him every March 17. And, honoring the Triune God who called Patrick to himself and bestowed the gift of eternal life by grace through faith is, too.

PROGRESS IN CHRIST; INVESTMENT IN HIS WORD
January 8, 2024

When I was a young pastor wondering how to best keep up with various language
skills learned in seminary, my former New Testament professor, Carl B. Hoch, Jr., reminded me, “Bruce, you will always make time for what is important to you.” He was right.

When it comes to our experience of sanctification, which has to do with the long and slow process of being conformed to Christ in practice, his guidance continues to be relevant. While our actual experience of conversion is instantaneous in relation to saving faith, our sanctification is not. Positionally, we are in Christ. Practically, we are becoming like Christ. This takes time and does not naturally occur as does our physical growth and development. Rather, it occurs through the agency of the Holy Spirit in relation to the written Word of God, namely, the Bible. In Jesus’ “high priestly prayer” he asks the Father, “Sanctify them [believers] in the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17). God the Father is pleased to answer this petition and does so in connection with the Scriptures. If our sanctification is important to us, we simply must make time to read our Bible.

Let me challenge you to carve out thirty minutes each day to sit quietly, read some portion of Scripture, and carefully consider what God is communicating through that Biblical text. Of course, this will raise many questions that a good book dealing with hermeneutics will answer. But for starters, simply read and absorb what God has spoken.

For some, thirty minutes might seem like an eternity, particularly if we do not like to read. It may also seem long if you already feel the pressures of time. But remember the words of Dr. Hoch: “You will always make time for what is important to you.” And if getting to know God better is a priority, there is no better investment you can make in 2024.

Think of that thirty-minute period of time and project what it means over the course of time. One-half hour each day translates into three and one-half hours per week. Multiply that by fifty-two, and the total time investment amounts to one hundred eighty-two hours per year. Now divide that by twenty-four. All of a sudden, that thirty-minute per day reading time results in a seven and one-half day private seminar with Jesus Christ each and every year. Think of that!

LABOR DAY 2023
September 4, 2023

Besides being recognized as the unofficial end of summer and a reason for a long weekend, why do we, as a nation, celebrate Labor Day? The short answer is, Labor Day provides an opportunity to recognize and honor the contributions of American laborers in the development and accomplishments of our nation. Labor Day has been celebrated as an official public holiday since 1894.

Without minimizing Labor Day in any way, let me draw your attention to the labors of Jesus Christ.

In the gospel account that bears his name, the apostle John traces the work of Christ as assigned to him by His Father. The verb just used, “assigned,” makes a point but needs some clarification. Here goes. All the works of God described in the Bible are Trinitarian in nature. This means that each member of the Godhead, Father, So, and Holy Spirit, is active in each divine work in some specific way. Further, each work is characterized from beginning to end by complete harmony and cooperation between Father, So, and Holy Spirit. Just as there is a unity of persons among the Godhead, there is a unity of purpose as well. There is, however, a distinction in the work each contributes. For example, in relation to salvation, it is often said that the work is planned by the Father, accomplished by the Son, and applied by the Holy Spirit. In terms of the doctrine of salvation, it is Jesus who voluntarily dies on the cross.

In relation to his work, Jesus uses a Greek verb translated into English as “finish” or “accomplish” to describe his mission. This particular verb is used by Jesus on four different occasions as recorded by John (John 4:34; 5:36; 17:4; 19:30). Each is used in relation to Jesus’ accomplishing that which the Father gave him to do. These four uses of the verb culminate in the final reference, recorded in John 19:30. It is the well-known saying, “It is finished,” spoken by Jesus immediately prior to his death. “It is finished.”

What Jesus accomplished by dying was his divinely ordained act of atonement. How we understand the concept of atonement depends on which historical theory and model we choose to use, of which there are six or seven available to us. Each provides some element of Biblical truth, but the penal substitution theory of atonement is most faithful to the total teaching of the Scriptures.

The concept and practice of atonement as employed under the Old Covenant’s sacrificial system is relatively straightforward. Human sin results in guilt before God, which requires that a penalty be paid for it. To remedy this a series of animal sacrifices was prescribed by God that taught two important lessons: that sin is a costly thing and that if it is to be properly atoned for something must die. A life for a life, so to speak. An animal sacrifice was offered so that individual Israelites might live. And, once each year on the day of atonement, sacrifices were offered for the corporate life of Israel as a nation (Leviticus 16:2-34). This is the basic meaning of penal substitutionary atonement.

At a time of God’s choosing, the Father sent his Son as the ultimate and final sacrifice toward which all other animal sacrifice pointed. Jesus comes to die as the Lamb of God who substitutes himself for us and carries our sin on his cross (John 1:29, 36). This is the essence of penal substitution. Of himself and his work Jesus says, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). This is the work the Father gave his Son to accomplish. And, it is the work Jesus finished once for all on the cross.

The benefit of Jesus’ work is applied to our lives by the Holy Spirit. It is clearly based on our individual belief in the gospel and the one whose person and work the gospel reveals and explains (Ephesians 1:13-14). No response; no salvation. It is as simple (and tragic) as that.

FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY
May 26, 2023

The title of this article is taken from a Memorial Day speech delivered by President James A. Garfield on May 30, 1868 at Arlington National Cemetery. The speech is important because it captures the meaning for which Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as it was originally called, was established. Today we tend to treat it as the beginning of summer, or simply as a day that creates a long weekend, but these both deny the real reason for Memorial Day. The holiday is instead intended to remember and honor the lives that were lost in battle through the effort to establish and maintain our nation.

The holiday is marked by one specific date on our calendar to read about, reflect on, commemorate, and even visit a local or national cemetery to honor those that paid the ultimate price for love of country and the freedoms we enjoy.

Biblically, it is a short step from Memorial Day to the cross of Christ. Jesus’ death provides the only possible means for our greatest possible freedom. The writer of Hebrews tells us “that through death He [Jesus] might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives” (Hebrews 2:14b-15). The slavery the writer speaks of is our captivity to sin and its destructive consequences that are both temporal and everlasting. Biblical words and concepts such as “sacrifice,” “substitute,” and “deliverance” are used to describe and explain what Jesus accomplished on our behalf. The point is, our freedom and safety is established by His death.

This Memorial Day, please consider the salvation that Jesus has won for all who believe. But also consider the societal freedom the deaths of countless others has secured for the American people. Commemorate Memorial Day for the important Day it is.

THE GOD WHO DWELLS WITH HIS PEOPLE
February 14, 2023

One of the important themes found throughout the Bible is that God is and will be pleased to dwell with His people both now and throughout eternity. The first occurrence of this phenomenon is found early on in the Biblical testimony as God came “walking in the garden in the cool of the day” (Genesis 3:8). Did God descend because He knew something was amiss? Or did God descend and call to Adam because He was in the habit of doing so? The answer may both. After all, God clearly communicated His will to Adam from the time of his creation (Genesis 1-2). However, following Adam’s rebellion, communion was broken and conversation itself became more difficult. This is not because God is a poor communicator; He isn’t. The problem is that Adam and his descendants became increasingly poor hearers as the result of sin. We live with the consequences of this rupture today.

But all was not lost. God, in His pursuit of wayward humanity, continued to directly communicate His Person and will by way of theophany or through His servants, the prophets. Finally, God sent His Son to dwell, or tabernacle, or “set up shop” so to speak, among us (John 1:1-18). Remember, God gave His only begotten Son to restore what had been lost at the time of Adam’s fall from grace. And, as we have seen, our restoration is made possible only through Jesus’ death and resurrection and our own response of faith to that work. When we believe we pass from darkness into light, into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, as we become recipients of and partakers in the endowment of eternal life (Colossians 1:13-14; John 3:16; Ephesians 1:3-14).

What is eternal life? It is helpful to consider it in terms of both quantity and quality. In relation to quantity, eternal life means that we live on, even after we experience physical death. There is no end whatsoever to our existence. We simply live on in another place; in another realm. Ironically, even those men and women that do not believe in the Son of God live eternally, only in separation from Him. They, too, are indestructible in their experience of judgment. But for those that believe in the Son, eternal life must also be thought of in terms of quality. In salvation we are reoriented toward God and a new relationship is established with Him. This relationship is cultivated during our present life, is advanced after physical death as we enter His presence, is further advanced at the time of our physical resurrection, and culminates in the new heavens and earth (Revelation 21:1-4). Notice the promise: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them” (Revelation 21:3). This is God’s end game for us, or at least a part of it.

So, on Valentine’s Day, do stop and reflect on the nature of God’s love for the world. Consider His actions in human history on our behalf. Be reminded that our love for others is reflective of God’s greater love for us. And, if you haven’t done so, respond to Him and to His Son in faith, and come to know for yourself His great love from which you will never be separated.

THE GOD WHO RESCUES
February 13, 2023

God’s saving work on our behalf must be considered objectively as well as subjectively. As we learned in our last blog, God decisively acted on behalf of all people everywhere in giving His Son over to crucifixion. There is a once and for all character to this sacrificial and substitutionary act. The actual benefit of Christ’s work points both backwards and forwards in time and provides propitiation for the Father’s wrath toward sin. Consequently, the cross stands at the very center of human history and reflects the BC/AD reckoning of time.

Just as importantly, God’s saving work must be subjectively embraced by all. Notice how John 3:16 restricts the gift of eternal life to those that believe. God’s gift is not indiscriminately and universally applied. The “whosoever” limits eternal life to those that believe the gospel message.

The person that does not believe looks forward only to the final judgment of God. This is the import of the word “perish” (John 3:16). It is a strong word, associated with destruction. What else can be said about refusing God’s gracious offer of forgiveness and reconciliation? Only in this case, does not mean annihilation. Instead the word communicates the sense of ruin; of being hopelessly and irrevocably broken by the wrath of God. The apostle Paul tells us that the fullness of the divine fury is still future, it is “to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10). John calls our attention to the truth that “the wrath of God abides” on the unbeliever in the present (John 3:36). Apart from Christ we are marked for judgment. Only the patience of God prevents it from immediately being poured out on those that reject His offer.

But why would God be wrathful in the first place? Isn’t God characterized by love? Well He is. But wrath is a capacity and expression that is closely related to God’s holiness and His love. Since God is holy He cannot and will not coexist with sin and its effects forever. He must abolish it. But wrath is also a function of God’s love. Paul writes: “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). Persecuted by whom? By the adversary and his followers. Just as they persecuted Christ, they will persecute Christ’s people. And Christ’s people are God’s people. As such, the day will come that God will openly vindicate all that call upon His name. God judges unbelief as it impacts the lives of His children.

Wrath results in retribution, which in turn results in the everlasting separation from God in hell at death and in the lake of fire following the final judgment (Revelation 20:11-15). Punishment is meted out that perfectly fits the crime, so to speak. And God was not content to leave Adam and His descendants in this condition, so He promised the arrival of a victorious “seed” (Genesis 3:15). He is, after all, the God who so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God is motivated by His love, and demonstrates that love once and for all by the giving of His Son. He is the God who rescues.

THE GOD WHO SHOWS HIS LOVE
February 12, 2023

Valentine’s Day is all about professing our love to some significant person or persons positioned toward the center of our lives and showing that love in some tangible form. This is why Americans can be counted on to spend nearly $26 billion this coming February 14. Not only do we like to tell someone about our love for them, we like to show them, too.

John 3:16 begins with a declaration of God’s love for a world that no longer loves Him. Not content that His once-good creation be lost, God, as both a result and demonstration of His love, decisively acted as He gave His one and only Son as the remedy for our condition. This gift is both sacrificial and costly. In the context of John 3:16 the giving of God’s Son is a giving over to death. Christ, like the serpent of Moses’ day, is likewise lifted up on His own pole, so that those that look to Him in faith might live and not die (John 3:14-15). God’s gift is also therefore substitutionary. The only begotten Son will die so that many might live. Does God really love me? Look no further than the cross.

Let’s return to our definition of love, derived from 1 John 4:10. We suggested that love is the voluntary giving of one’s self so as to meet a deep need in the life of another person which that person cannot meet for him or herself. The deep need of all people everywhere is a cure for our alienation from God, a separation that has come about through Adam’s decision to sin and our own ratification of that decision by our sin. A rupture has occurred as the result of the events recorded in Genesis 3. We feel the effects of this in our present life and will in our afterlife unless the breech is healed. God, as the result of His love for humanity, has initiated reconciliation through Jesus Christ His Son. The way of peace is made possible through the lifting up of Christ on the cross. In relation to 1 John 4:10, the solution is to be found in Christ’s work of propitiation.

Propitiation has to do with the satisfaction of God’s displeasure over our sin. God manifests His displeasure in judgment and wrath. This is God’s rightful response to sin and to unrepentant sinners. By means of His sacrificial and substitutionary death Christ has deflected the Father’s wrath from us by absorbing it Himself. This is what propitiation means and why the word and concept are important. And this is how our deepest need is met by the One that loves us. The Father has made our reconciliation possible by sending the Son to secure it. And the Son did so willingly and voluntarily as part of God’s plan of redemption.

So, does God really love the world? Does He really love me? The answer is found in Romans: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

THE WORLD GOD LOVES
February 11, 2023

What does God mean when He proclaims that He “so loved the world” (John 3:16)? What is God drawing our attention to? Is it the effort required by the act? The world is, after all, a big place. With an equatorial circumference of approximately 24,900 miles weighing an estimated 13 septillion pounds (check it out!) providing the surface for 7 continents divided into roughly 200 nations holding 8 billion people, there is a lot to love. Is God referring to the sheer size of His love in John 3:16? I know a couple of thousand people by name and enjoy various levels of intimacy with them, and it is demanding to maintain these relationships let alone add new ones.

In talking to us about His love for the world God isn’t referring to either the size of the job or the effort required to accomplish it. Instead, He is talking to us about what has become the nature of the world He loves. Not only has the world become unlovable in so many ways, the world no longer loves God in any way. Prior to Adam’s rebellion neither of these assertions were true. The world was full of possibilities for Adam, Eve, and their descendants. After Adam’s rebellion, everyone and everything was changed in their basic orientation and are left facing away from the God who made everything. Sin, decay, and death became the Biblical storyline after the events recorded in Genesis 3:1-19. Notice how Christ Himself affirms this condition throughout John 3:1-21. Words like “unless,” “must,” “perish,” “judge,” “darkness,” and “evil” drive Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. These words echo and affirm the tragic truth recorded in Genesis 3.

John 3:16 draws an immediate contrast between the nature and character of God and what has become the nature and character of corporate humanity since the time of Adam’s disobedience. It is important for us to briefly recall the perfections of God. In speaking of God, Anselm of Canterbury (d. 1109) offers that “God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived.” Nothing greater, nothing better! Anselm is correct. This is true of God in His being and nature, in His decrees, in His works, in His self-revelation, and in His judgment. Moses praises God for this very thing (Deuteronomy 32:4).

Remember our tentative definition of love derived from 1 John 4:10 and recorded on the Home page of this site. In showing His love, God acts from neither obligation or self-interest but from His mercy and graciousness toward those whose lives and everlasting destinies reflect deep need and who no longer naturally or normally accept this to be the case and who instead resist and reject the claim with everything we’ve got. But hope breaks through, because “God so loved the world.”