Divine Love: The Cost of Reconciliation Through Christ

"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 is one of the summary statements that we find in the New Testament letters that clarify large chunks of the Gospel narratives we're introduced by John who is of course the disciple that Jesus loved and one who writes extensively about love both in his gospel and in his letters he introduces us to a love that is unconstrained by anything in Us in other words it's not like human love whereby we set our affections on someone because we found something lovable in them or something that attracted us to them this love has no such attraction it is a love that takes the initiative in crossing the vast Chasm which exists between God and His Holiness and men and women in their sin and it is a love which as you will note is expressed at Great cost and it is this glorious theme of the love of God that is expressed here by John" [00:54:36]

"but an actual fact it is only when we realize how justifiably God hates sin that his wrath is not capricious it's not volatile it's not a nasty Hasty volatile outburst his wrath is the inevitability of his holiness it is the only way that because of who he is he can respond to sin in all of its dimensions and so it demands that we think ourselves through to that so that we then may be amazed at the mercy of God but until we have any sense of God's displeasure with us in our sin there is no real reason for us to rejoice in his Mercy if we think that we're just rather outstanding individuals and that God whoever he is has shown up just to help us a little bit in our lives just if you're like to be our life coach and of course there will be no wonder there will be no mystery there will be no worship there will be no bowing down there will be no tears why ever should there be" [02:56:40]

"Jesus throughout the whole of John's gospel we are told has been operating on the basis of a Time plan that was known from all of eternity that's why when you read John's gospel you will ever so often find him saying my time has not yet come or my hour is not yet here but interestingly he says to his disciples in the prospect of this event now is the hour now is the hour of Darkness now is the hour they appointed our and I must leave you to think this out for yourselves but it is quite mysterious namely that the free action of his opponents and The Sovereign purpose of God coalesce in this that all the events all of the events in the preceding centuries have been ordered by God himself in such a way that this hour would unfold as planned from all of eternity" [07:20:39]

"so you have Injustice at the level of the Courts and you have inhumanity at the place of punishment the sense of Cruelty the sense of mockery the vile and hellish elements that are represented in this ought to be difficult to miss clothless friendless betrayed forsaken third and final scene is still in chapter 19 and in verse 18. There They Crucified him and with him two others one on either side and Jesus between them that's pretty well it for the actual crucifixion in terms of the Gospel records it's remarkable isn't it especially when you think about the fuss that people tend to make of the physical sufferings of Christ not that they weren't physical but the many people had experienced the same not least of all the two individuals who were on either side of them and there is an understated way in which the gospel writers handle this" [10:01:68]

"and The Wonder of it is simply this that in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ my sin is overcome God's Wrath is averted and because of what happened on Calvary God then can look on man without displeasure and we as men and women can look on God without fear but until the spirit of God reveals to me the ugliness of my rebellious heart then I will have no interest in the story of his amazing Mercy The Wonder of it is simply this that the reason that you and I do not have to bear our sins ourselves is because Christ bore them in our place and if anybody should have grasped The Wonder of that notion of substitution in all of the characters involved in the events of these days it surely must have been Barabbas for he's the fellow that was set free in exchange for Jesus" [19:10:00]

"the reason for propitiation is because by Nature we as men and women are estranged from God and we are exposed to the wrath of God the estrangement is mutual on our side we are estranged from God on account of our sin on his side he is estranged from us on account of his Holiness or his Wrath and the fundamental question then the problem if you like is how is it possible for God to love sinners without compromising his holiness and how can he exercise his Wrath without diminishing his love that's the issue how can he be true in terms of Justice by executing punishment on sin and true in terms of love an expression of his character and the answer in a word is propitiation for that is simply the technical term for the reconciling effects of the cross in the cross God in Christ took the punishment upon himself he took the initiative for the ungodly for his enemies" [16:55:10]

"and you have this profound theological statement set within the context of a two-fold exhortation beloved let us love one another that's how it starts in verse 7. and that's how it ends in verse 12 and 11. if God loved us like this we also ought to love one another no one's ever seen God but if we love each other God abides in US and his love is perfected in Us in other words by this means says John the invisible God becomes visible in the world it is God who dies upon the cross God the son it is the appeasement of the wrath of God through the love of God by the gift of God" [22:07:20]

"and in his death he's still at it still at it fantastic before his hands were bound what was the last thing he did quiz healed the ear of the high priest servant Marcus before they bound him he put his ear back together I think before all of that of that in the business what's an ear between friends in light of all of the ignominy that he now faces but no he has time he is a gentle shepherd He is a kind savior he is a loving Lord so before his hands were bound he healed the ear and before his voice was silent he invited a guest to come home with him will you remember me when you come into your kingdom sure I will I'm up here for guys like you that's why I'm here" [13:33:00]

"and The Wonder of it is simply this that in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ my sin is overcome God's Wrath is averted and because of what happened on Calvary God then can look on man without displeasure and we as men and women can look on God without fear but until the spirit of God reveals to me the ugliness of my rebellious heart then I will have no interest in the story of his amazing Mercy The Wonder of it is simply this that the reason that you and I do not have to bear our sins ourselves is because Christ bore them in our place and if anybody should have grasped The Wonder of that notion of substitution in all of the characters involved in the events of these days it surely must have been Barabbas for he's the fellow that was set free in exchange for Jesus" [19:10:00]

"and you have this profound theological statement set within the context of a two-fold exhortation beloved let us love one another that's how it starts in verse 7. and that's how it ends in verse 12 and 11. if God loved us like this we also ought to love one another no one's ever seen God but if we love each other God abides in US and his love is perfected in Us in other words by this means says John the invisible God becomes visible in the world it is God who dies upon the cross God the son it is the appeasement of the wrath of God through the love of God by the gift of God" [22:07:20]

"and in his death he's still at it still at it fantastic before his hands were bound what was the last thing he did quiz healed the ear of the high priest servant Marcus before they bound him he put his ear back together I think before all of that of that in the business what's an ear between friends in light of all of the ignominy that he now faces but no he has time he is a gentle shepherd He is a kind savior he is a loving Lord so before his hands were bound he healed the ear and before his voice was silent he invited a guest to come home with him will you remember me when you come into your kingdom sure I will I'm up here for guys like you that's why I'm here" [13:33:00]

"and The Wonder of it is simply this that in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ my sin is overcome God's Wrath is averted and because of what happened on Calvary God then can look on man without displeasure and we as men and women can look on God without fear but until the spirit of God reveals to me the ugliness of my rebellious heart then I will have no interest in the story of his amazing Mercy The Wonder of it is simply this that the reason that you and I do not have to bear our sins ourselves is because Christ bore them in our place and if anybody should have grasped The Wonder of that notion of substitution in all of the characters involved in the events of these days it surely must have been Barabbas for he's the fellow that was set free in exchange for Jesus" [19:10:00]

"and you have this profound theological statement set within the context of a two-fold exhortation beloved let us love one another that's how it starts in verse 7. and that's how it ends in verse 12 and 11. if God loved us like this we also ought to love one another no one's ever seen God but if we love each other God abides in US and his love is perfected in Us in other words by this means says John the invisible God becomes visible in the world it is God who dies upon the cross God the son it is the appeasement of the wrath of God through the love of God by the gift of God" [22:07:20]