The Scripture is Jesus' High Priestly Prayer in John 17. The specific verse that hit me, and has been the source of my meditation over the past few days is John 17:23. Jesus, praying for believers, and invoking the perichoretic nature of the Godhead, prays for unity saying, "May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."
Based upon the preceding context in Jn. 17: 20-22, and especially the end of 17:22 and beginning of 17:23, "...that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me." The work of the Father, through the Spirit, of bringing all believers to complete unity in Christ is a primary source of testimony to the world that Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. In other words our unity, in Chirst, displays to the world the reality and authenticity of the Incarnation.
This is just a prelude to the best part though. Jesus continues his prayer saying this "...and have loved them even as you have loved me." Unbelievable! This is truly what makes the gospel magnificent. That in Chirst, we, depraved humans as we are, are loved by the Father as He loves Chirst the eternal second member of the Godhead. There can be no greater love. For when we are adopted by God on the basis of the shed blood of Christ we are loved by God as sons and daughters in the same way, with the same intensity as he loves "His only begotten Son."
Throughout this week I haven't been able to shake this idea. Better yet, I don't want to shake this idea. I love it. I love to dwell on the fact that I am loved by the Father in the same way that Christ is loved by the Father. When I think further that I did nothing to merit this type of love, but was given it in grace through Christ, it melts my heart and drives me to my knees in worship. Thus the title of this post. The words of this song have been streaming through my mind all week. "How deep the Father's love for us. How vast beyond all measure. That He would send His only Son to make a wretch His treasure." Join me in worshipping our amazing and glorious God!
4 comments:
I love your post. What strikes me is the reality that many theologians who claim to be Christian hate the view of the gospel that you so clearly articulated. More to the point, many theologians today detest the idea of Christ being the propitiation for our sins. They hate the idea that Jesus somehow assuaged the wrath of the Father. They believe this view of the cross makes it seem as though the Father was reluctant to love us. In reality, when I look at the cross I am, in my human inferiority, more apt to question God's love for his Son than his love for me. After all, it was Christ who was crushed, not us. Still, when we realize how Christ-glorifying the cross ultimately is, then we realize how deep the Father's love is for the Son, and also for his adopted children!
Matt what you say is so true. This trend of rejecting the propitiatory death of Christ is serious and frightening. If I'm not mistaken, at its root, it reveals in its proponents an unwillingness to believe in the God revealed in the Scriptures. When you reject Christ as the propitiation for our sins you reveal a light view of sin, which in turn reveals an unhealthy and aberrant view of the holiness of God. This is a significant issue. God is, above all, holy. If he is not, he has no basis for forgiving those of us who are unholy. Bottom line, rejecting the propitiatory element of the gospel destroys the gospel and calls into question the very nature of God.
So, a propitiation is a sacrifice that appeases God's wrath and establishes peace between us and Him (Correct?). If so, this seems sensible, and I'm not sure who would deny it. So, when you guys are talking about the propitiatory death of Christ, am I correct to imply that you mean some theologians do not think that God's wrath is on sinners and will judge them? If so, I find this very strange, since there are at least a few verses that clearly and specifically say this.
If I'm wrong, please enlighten me.
-Kevin
I agree with you Kurtz, it seems quite strange. Still, these theologians are a little shaky on inerrancy and, more importantly, dispute the meaning of the greek word used for propitiation. In their view the word really means "expiation." In other words, these theologians believe that Christ died to remove our sins (expiation), but he did not die to shield us from the wrath of God (propitiation). The problem with their view is that even if the meaning of the Greek word is a little questionable, the context of the verses clearly illuminates the reality that propitiation is biblical.
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