1 John 4:9-10
"In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
As I expressed in my last post, we will complete the Depth of God's love with the second portion of the exposition of the 1 John 4:9-10 passage. What is love? The first part displayed that God loved us first rather than us loving Him. Now, we will dive into the heart of the Gospel with the second part. Love is astoundingly revealed by the Son's willingness to represent sinners, to pardon sinners. This is the climax, the pinnacle, the focal point of the Gospel. HE CAME TO BE THE PROPITIATION FOR OUR SINS.
Now, what is propitiation? I asked this question a couple months back on my blog and got a variety of different answers. Some replied that propitiation is the atoning sacrifice for sins. Others said that propitiation displayed the assuaging of God's wrath, the satisfaction of God's wrath by condoning sin. The latter is a more correct view than the first. However, the first view is relatively in the same ballpark as the latter. I won't argue over this because it is possible to obtain the appeasement of God's wrath for the first view, but overall, the best view for propitiation contains the satisfaction of God's wrath for sins. So with that said, I will give you two pictures of propitiation that will hopefully be helpful.
The first picture is a favorite of my Pastor's. A storm is blowing across the Midwest, East Coast, whatever. If you live there, you may now that many of your homes have electrical conductors, which are really large copper rods that go down into the soil. These electrical conductors contain all of the electrical wiring of the house at some specific point in the ground. So that if the house should be hit by lightning, the electrical conductor draws all the fury and power of that lightning down into the soil and away from the home.
The second is like a dam. A humongous dam 1000 miles wide, 1000 miles long, and 1000 miles deep. A gigantic volume. This dam is filled with the wrath of God. At one specific moment in time, the dam breaks loose releasing the horrifying fury that represents God's wrath.
The picture of propitiation in these two images represent the absolute demolition of Christ physically, mentally, and spiritually. HE WAS CRUSHED!!!!!!! HE WAS DESTROYED!!!!! HE WAS DEMOLISHED!!!!!!! There is no way of getting around the Cross of Christ lightly. His physical suffering was bad, but His spiritual suffering was ultimately, horrifically incomparable. NO COMPARISON. Try and think of the worse pain that you have ever experienced. Think about it. Once you have, multiply that pain times infinity. That is what Christ experienced. TO SAVE YOU, A SINNER!!!!
Romans 5:6-8 says, "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person---- though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die---- but God shows His love for us in that while WE WERE STILL SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US."
He was crushed beneath the weight of our sin. God's wrath is ultimately assuaged, appeased, and satisfied by this one truth. That is propitiation. Now, how can God "agape" us and still remain just? The answer is found in the word propitiation. I already explained the intricacies of propitiation, so we should easily be able to obtain the answer. The definition of the word propitiation proclaims that God's wrath is ultimately satisfied. When God's justice reigns by crushing His own Son on OUR behalf, the complete satisfaction of His righteous wrath prompts His love to flow freely from Calvary on behalf of vile, helpless human beings. In other words, Christ purchased our hell, so that we gain His "agape" love. That is the depth of God's love......
Sola Deo Gloria!!!!!!
Now, the answer to the question that you have all been waiting for. How can God "agape" us and still remain just? In review, we have taken a glimpse of the importance of God's justice in condemning sin in relation to His love, and in Part 1, if you remember all the way back, we discussed the first part of what is love, which was taken from 1 John 4:9-10. God loved us first, rather than us loving God. In Part 3, I will partly answer the question above, and in Part 4, yes, there will be a Part 4; I will answer the rest of the question with the final half of the exposition on the passage 1 John 4:9-10.
So, how can God "agape" us and still remain just? To be able to answer that question, we need a correct view of the nature of God's attributes. All of them. His love, faithfulness, sovereignty, holiness, justice, mercy, grace, omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, sufficiency, etc. Then, we need to split up God's attributes appropriately. God's attributes are split up into two categories: his incommunicable attributes and his communicable attributes. God's incommunicable attributes are reserved for Him alone, while His communicable attributes are those attributes that humans possess to a degree. What are His communicable/incommunicable attributes? How does this relate to the posed question above?
I will get to those questions. However, at this moment, we will begin deciphering His incommunicable attributes. A glimpse of the answer is found in his omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. What is the meaning of the prefix omni? All! right. He is all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful. Does this prefix relate to any of his other incommunicable attributes? He is all-holy, all-sufficient, all-sovereign. Yes, of course. God, the creator of the universe, holds ALL things together (Col. 1:17) in His perfect, absolute sovereignty. He is the complete, sovereign ruler over the entire universe. We see in Isaiah 6 that the train of His robe filled the temple with glory. In this awesome display of the glory and majesty of God, the complete, perfect, penetrating Holiness of God is put on display when Isaiah's response to His Lord is, "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, AND MY EYES HAVE SEEN THE KING, the Lord of hosts!" He is, no doubt, all-holy, all sovereign, and all-sufficient.
What about His communicable attributes? Can the Lord's communicable attributes correlate with the prefix omni? This is where the debate reigns. Some Christian's attribute God with not being all-just, but all-love, as I described in Part 2 of this series. Those Christian's water down his justice as being nearly nonexistent. While some on the other hand, focus purely on God's justice, and scorn His love as if His love is completely absent. As Bible-believing Christians, we need to stand up to this and argue against the fallacies in these particular arguments. My argument against these fallacies is that God is 100% Love, 100% Just, 100% Gracious, 100% Sovereign, 100% Merciful, 100% Joyful, 100% Kind, 100% Omnipresent, 100% so on, 24/7! THAT IS FINAL!!!
I will explain why. Why is God 100% in all His attributes 24/7? Think of it this way. If God was only 50% just, how could He judge the world in complete justice, and yet be God? If God was only 50% love, why would He sacrifice His Son on a cross for those who hate Him, despise His very nature? If God was only 50% faithful, how could we trust Him to come through for us in our most troublesome time of need? These rhetorical questions are definitively true if you truly think about them with an open mind. So, why is God 100% in all His attributes 24/7? So that, HE MAY BE ULTIMATELY GLORIFIED. HIM ALONE!!!!! He does not share His glory with another (Isaiah 48:11). He is glorified when He justly condemns a person to Hell, He is glorified when he comes through in a magnificent way for some person, He is glorified when He sacrificially lays down his life to redeem hopeless mankind back to Himself, HE IS GLORIFIED!!!!! No matter what. End of story.
Now, I answered the question, "How can God "agape" us and still remain just?", partially. God loves us and is just 24/7, so that He may ultimately get the glory for what he has purposed to accomplish before the beginning of time. By default, He is all-love and all-just at the same time, but how does that happen? Wait tomorrow.
Sola Deo Gloria!!!!!!
It has been an incredibly long time since I last posted on the Attributes of God series, but I am back at it. Last time, I left you hanging with a very significant question. How could God "agape" us first and still remain just (true to his holiness in dealing with man's sin)? The Holiness of God is so brilliant, so tremendously beautiful that the defilement of this attribute in correlation to God's love is detrimental to the Christian faith. What do I mean by that? Our faith is futile, if God is love, but not just. However, sadly, many false preachers preach this message with no idea what they are saying half the time. They say in a subtle, deliberate manner that God is like a father, who lets their children run rampant around the house without any discipline. No discipline for wrongdoing, no consequences for sin, nothing. You can sin, sin, and sin, and God is not going to mind. God's love is going to wash you clean each and every time. Continue sinning 'wink' is what they are truly saying when they preach this type of gospel, even if they don't mean it. What does Hebrews 10 have to say about this?
Hebrews 10:26-31 says, "For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay.' And again, 'The Lord will judge his people.' It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
In the context of this passage, the author is warning the Hebrew believers about the impending justice of God, clearly revealing that God is not just a God of love, HE IS A GOD OF JUSTICE AS WELL. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Paul also tells us in Philippians to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. The justice of God is real and there is no way of escaping it. Romans 2:3-5 says, "Do you suppose, O man--- you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself--- that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed."
I know that I am throwing a lot of Scripture out in this post, but it is extremely vital to realize that God's justice is just as real as His love. The only way that you are going to realize this is by soaking your minds in the truth of God's precious Word. God's Word will never return void and will never fail. Take Him at His Word! He literally means it.
I have primarily used up this whole post in creating the backbone for the depth of God's love in relation to His justice. In answering the question I posed earlier, it is crucial to believe that God is just. He will not even tolerate sin, because it is in complete opposition to his divine nature, His astounding Holiness. His astounding Holiness is so brilliantly bright and penetrating that sin is utterly repugnant to Him--- fully abominable. HE CANNOT STAND SIN. So with what I have said thus far, we can now answer the question: How could God "agape" us first and still remain just? Tune in Monday, when I post the answer on Resurrection Sunday.
Sola Deo Gloria!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1 John 4:9-10
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Verse 9 in this passage of Scripture has similarities to John 3:16. After looking back, I could have used this passage of Scripture to make my point in Part 2 of this series, but it was great to see the beauty of a familiar passage of Scripture like John 3:16. In this part, however, we will focus on verse 10 from this passage of Scripture which is, "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." This verse dives into the heart of the Gospel. The love of God is wrapped up so delicately in this verse that it seems like God is whispering a special secret to us-- a secret that is found in the depth of God's magnificent love. Let's dive into this passage.
The first piece of this verse is telling us, "In this is love." This statement is primarily asking a question. What is love? What is the depth of God's love? Love is what. With the verse 1 John 4:10 being a compound sentence, the depth of God's love is easily found in two places. What is love? John directs us to the first answer by showing us that God loved us first rather than us loving Him. The other answer to this simple, but profound question is displayed in the the Father's offering up of His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. This is where the majestic depth of God's love is found.
Theme: This is love
1) God loved us first.
2) He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
So, the love factors, in 1 John 4:10, are that God loved us first and that amazing reality of the Father's provision of sending His Son to step foot on this planet to satisfy God's terrible wrath through the propitiation of His blood. These two answers to the question, what is love, provides us with the basis of the dynamics of the depth of God's redeeming love.
The first answer, "not that we have loved God but that He loved us", teaches us that the ultimate source of our salvation is based on God loving us first, not us loving God first. Think about it. If God did not love us first, Jesus would not have even stepped on this earth to die a brutal death to save us from our sins. God would have justly punished all of mankind, in this case, based on their sins and sent every single person to hell. He would have been just in doing so. We could try to love Him all we want to, but our attempts would be futile. Why? Because He is God. He is the one who created us. He has every right to punish us because we have sinned against Him, but His loving (agape) us first is what separates His terrorizing justice from destroying us in a heartbeat. This incomprehensible, redeeming love for mankind is so astounding that a question is posed in relation to this verse based on this amazing love and terrifying justice. How could God love (agape) us first and still remain just?
The answer is found in the most beautiful word relating to the atonement. Propitiation.
We will finish the depth of God's love in my next post.
Sola Deo Gloria!!!!
As promised yesterday, I am going to post Part 2 of the love part of the attributes of God series. Today's post is going to deal with the greatest demonstration of God's love and we will dive into the most familiar passage in all of Scripture. Can you guess? John. Ok, I don't have to go any further, because John 3:16 is the climax of the gospel in the New Testament. Pertaining to the ransom of lost, hopeless sinners, John 3:16 provides the greatest hope that anyone could ever experience. Let's delve deep into this passage of Scripture and hear what God has to say to us.
John 3:14-16 says,
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
First of all, I have read, heard, and repeated this passage of Scripture over and over and over again, specifically John 3:16. When I either read, hear, or repeat it again, I never give that much thought about it, but as I was studying this passage of Scripture for this post, God's truth unveiled John 3:16 to me like I have never seen it before. This passage of Scripture has become in the American church, a kind of evangelistic type motto that never really sinks deep into the Christian's heart, which is truly sad, because John 3:16 contains the beauty, the glory, and the majesty of the greatness of God's overwhelming love that no other Scripture can fully contribute. The love of God reflected in Christ's atoning work at Calvary is spread across the very words of this verse and I pray that by God's grace, he would show you what he has revealed to me.
Verse 14, for context purposes, goes on to explain the comparison between Jesus' death on the cross and the bronze serpent in the wilderness (Num. 21:9). The amazing thing about Numbers 21:9 is that Moses lifted up the bronze serpent, the Hebrew term translated "bronze" can also mean "copper", which would seem necessary because copper is red, and whoever was bitten by the serpent would live. The redness of the copper also symbolized the atonement, where Jesus intricately demonstrates the similarities between his death and this serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness, but the main connection here is found in verse 15 after "so must the Son of Man be lifted up." The purpose of the Son of Man's being lifted up to die is found in verse 15, "that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life." The ransom of lost sinners is determined by the saving work of Christ on the cross. He was lifted up, so you may have eternal life, which leads us to the pinnacle of the gospel, verse 16. Please pay close attention to this verse.
The word "For" at the beginning of verse 16 transfers us back into verse 15. Verse 15 says, " that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life." A question must be posed after verse 15, which is answered in verse 16. What happened to make it possible that someone may have eternal life? Can anyone guess? For God so "agape" the world. The verb "agape", love, made it possible for us to gain eternal life through the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross. The unboundable, incomprehensible, unfathomable, love of God. His selfless love made it possible for us to gain eternal life. HIS LOVE. Do I have to ring this through your minds over and over again? My soul is bursting with joy and passion that I want you all to see this. Love, the magnificent, majestic, miraculous love of God. His love that surpasses all understanding. Ask Him to show you that love, which leads us to the rest of the verse.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave......". He gave what? His only Son. The greatest demonstration of love that God could ever reveal to a hopeless outcast of guilty sinners is His only Son. We are talking about "only" here. Think about it. Pretend you were a parent. What would it be like if you had to sacrifice your son or daughter to save Adolf Hitler, Tiger Woods, or Richard Dawkins? Depraved, Insolent, Murderous, Vile, guilty people. I would never do it, but God with the great love that he showed us, not only crushed His Son, He crushed His ONLY SON, to save all of mankind, because of "agape" love. It all comes back to love. God's love is so mysterious, far beyond human comprehension or fathomability that I always wonder why He would give up His only Son to save me. It does not make sense. The total reversal of human thinking is displayed in the greatness and the glory of cross and I am eternally grateful that He would save a wretch like me. Thank you Lord Jesus!
He also died to give you eternal life. At the end of verse 16, in closing, Jesus clearly explains that He would give up His life so that we might gain Him. We get to see our Lord and Savior face to face. What a day that will be! I can't wait for that day when I see the culmination of the glory of Christ. How beautiful, gorgeous, awe-striking, awesome, majestic, and brilliant will our Lord be arrayed in splendor and majesty? The joys of heaven are ours, because of His love; the riches of heaven are ours, because of His love; and the brilliance of Christ is ours, because of His love; which he so freely gave to those He loves.
Soli Deo Gloria!!!!!~
I checked my last Attributes of God post and it was the introduction to the series back in July. Wow! Time has flown by like a rocket and I am just beginning this series that hopefully will bring much glory and honor to Jesus Christ. However, as I checked the final results of the Attributes of God poll that I placed on my blog many moons ago, the love of God tallied up the most votes. So, because of the final poll tally, I will begin this series with the awe-striking love of God.
First of all, before I begin my first few paragraphs on the first part of the love of God, I will outlay my schedule for this series. A schedule would be absolutely helpful for my followers and myself, so that I don't fall behind. Fair enough. With that said, the love of God will contain a maximum of seven posts. Then, I will move on from there with a vote on the next attribute of God. This specific poll, with my followers consent, will provide me with enough info. to start on the next attribute of God. I will also post a schedule on my sidebar, so that you all will know when I will post the next post to this series. Got it. Hopefully, it all makes sense and I was not rambling. If it doesn't make sense, post a comment and ask me what does not make sense. Otherwise, I assume that you all understand.
Now, in the love part of the Attributes of God series, I will touch on a variety of topics relating to God's love. In this first part, I will go over the kind of love attributed to God and get this series underway, while Parts 2 and 3 will cover the magnificence and beauty of God's love. Parts 4 and 5 will cover our attitude towards loving God and how we can love God. Parts 6 and 7, however, are to be determined. In the overall scope of the imagination, we will see how it goes. May God ultimately be glorified.
One day, in an American POW camp held by the Japanese during WW2, American POW's were returning from an intense day of hard-working labor forced by the Japanese Army. The American POW's were asked to place their shovels back where they belonged. When all the shovels were gathered, one of the Japanese generals ordered the Americans to place their backs up against the wall until all the shovels were counted. As soon as all the shovels were counted, their ended up being one missing shovel. When the Japanese general heard this, his temper flared into an angry tirade. "Who stole a shovel?" the Japanese general exclaimed angrily in Japenglish. All Americans froze. The general screamed again the same sentence. Silence. "Shoot 'em all," cried the Japanese general in utter hatred. "Wait." one American replied, "I stole the shovel." A shot broke out almost instantly and the American, who replied to the general, was killed on the spot. "Who's next?" yelled the Jap-general. Every American stood still and waited until the Japs left. Once they had left, one of the friends of the dead American POW dug a hole and buried the body, but as he soon found out, the Japanese had miscalculated the number of shovels. All of the shovels were returned before the incident took place. This revelation broke the heart of the soldier, who lost his fellow buddy, as he realized that his friend died for no reason, but to save them from all being killed. A miscalculation led to a dead American hero, who gave up his life to save his fellow men.
This true story gives us a small glimpse of the love of God, but ultimately God's love is unfathomable, incomprehensible, and undeniably great. The love of God, in Greek, is agape, which literally means a selfless kind of love that involves giving with expecting nothing in return. Just like the fellow American loved selflessly for a split second, God loves us selflessly day in and day out, 24/7, with a love that cannot be comprehended at all. Reflect on this love daily and be astounded by it.
We only hit the bare surface of God's love and we will go more in depth on the subject tomorrow. Yes, I will post tomorrow on the Attributes of God: The Love of God Pt. 2; so be eager and watchful.
Soli Deo Gloria Forever!!!~
I am feeling led to start a blog series on God's attributes. From the Westminster shorter catechism, the first question that children always remember is "What is the chief end of man?" The answer to that is to KNOW GOD AND ENJOY HIM FOREVER. So, how can we begin to know God and as a result of that question enjoy him forever? The answer: By learning and studying his very nature (his attributes). God's attributes will bring us to a place of awe-inspiring worship that will help us remember that He alone is worthy of our worship and praise. It has led me to a more heartfelt worship of Him and I pray that it does the same for you.
Soli Deo Gloria!
