Monday, May 12, 2014

It's Definite

In class I read the following quote by J. I. Packer in the forward of, From Heaven He Came and Sought Her: Definite Atonemtne in Historical, Biblical, Theological and Pastoral Perspecive:

In this understanding of Christianity, Christ's achievement by his cross of the corporate redemption of the whole church - past, present, and future as the Holy Three know and love it, and thereby the individual redemption of everyone whom the Father has given to the Son to save, is both the mountaintop of glory, in the primary sense of God putting himself fully on display, and the wellspring of glory, in both the secondary sense of the spur to endless doxology and the tertiary sense of divine action to glorify the redeemed in, with, and through Christ, so that they bear his image and likeness in a full sense. (p. 14)
Why would I read such a heavily packed sentence to seventh and eighth graders? For one, the students are intelligent enough to wade through the syntax. Secondly, it's important to share the weight and awesomeness of God's love, which leads me to my main motive. It's easy to get caught up in arguments on such a topic or reading doctrine simply to amass intellectual knowledge, but the real meaning not to be missed in this sentence (and the overall book) is life changing - God loves you. Those words put life into perspective - God loves you. Don't miss the delight of those words - God loves you.