Charles and Sandra are walking along a beach on their honeymoon. Feeling relaxed and happy Charles turns to Sandra and says, ‘I love you!’ What does he mean?
He probably means, ‘Sandra, I need you, you complete me. You are so beautiful. Your smile knocks me out. Your good humour, your laugh, your beautiful eyes, the scent of your hair—everything about you transfixes me.’
What he certainly does not mean is, ‘Sandra you have the worst case of bad-breath—you would embarrass a herd of garlic-eating elephants. Your nose is so bulbous it deserves to be in a cartoon. Your hair is so greasy you could lubricate an old Massie-Ferguson. Your knees are so disjointed you make a camel look elegant. Your personality makes Genghis Khan look like a wimp. But despite all this I love you!’
What does the God of love mean when he says he loves this world?
He doesn’t mean, ‘I need you, you make me complete. Heaven would be boring without you. Your personality transfixes me.’
No! Rather he means something like, ‘Morally speaking, you have the worst case of bad-breath. Your sins have made you disgusting. It is as if you are people of the bulbous nose, greasy hair, disjointed knees and abominable personality. You are morally repugnant. But I love you despite your sin. I love you not because you are attractive. I love you because it is my nature to love.’
He probably means, ‘Sandra, I need you, you complete me. You are so beautiful. Your smile knocks me out. Your good humour, your laugh, your beautiful eyes, the scent of your hair—everything about you transfixes me.’
What he certainly does not mean is, ‘Sandra you have the worst case of bad-breath—you would embarrass a herd of garlic-eating elephants. Your nose is so bulbous it deserves to be in a cartoon. Your hair is so greasy you could lubricate an old Massie-Ferguson. Your knees are so disjointed you make a camel look elegant. Your personality makes Genghis Khan look like a wimp. But despite all this I love you!’
What does the God of love mean when he says he loves this world?
He doesn’t mean, ‘I need you, you make me complete. Heaven would be boring without you. Your personality transfixes me.’
No! Rather he means something like, ‘Morally speaking, you have the worst case of bad-breath. Your sins have made you disgusting. It is as if you are people of the bulbous nose, greasy hair, disjointed knees and abominable personality. You are morally repugnant. But I love you despite your sin. I love you not because you are attractive. I love you because it is my nature to love.’
Cheer up! We are worse than we think but God is more gracious than we have realised! Because of his love we can experience assurance. We can come to him knowing that he will forgive all the evil that we have done. We can trust him knowing that he is committed to changing us. We must have him as our king and then he will delight in us as his children.
6 comments:
I have significant concerns with such an understanding of God's love... Stocki wrote an interesting piece on this recently http://stocki.typepad.com/soulsurmise/2009/09/surmising-the-error-of-the-bad-news-first.html
Thanks VM
I am not sure that Jesus was out to preserve our self-esteem. After all he labelled the disciples 'evil' (Matthew 7:11)and the prophets were not afraid to talk of evil in pictoral ways. Surely the greatness of the message is love for the unlovely rather than love for the lovely. I am not saying that on another level it is not true that we are a precious and beautiful part of his creation, and that when redeemed he makes us his 'masterpeice' (Eph. 2:10) but surely in our sin we have given him ample reason not to love us. As Rico Tice says, 'We are more wicked than we ever realised but more loved than we ever dreamed.'
Paul
This is not a self-esteem issue... and to dress it up as such is patronising... however, as a side issue, there are those who have been so heavily hit with the "we are worms" thing that they don't believe they DESERVE to be loved and so have huge difficulties with relationships with God and with human beings... Jesus used strong language with the disciples only AFTER they were called and knew that he wanted them to be with him... the Jesus and the prophets used strong language with those who believed that they were the chosen people, but had forgotten that their position in God's affections was an act of grace, not a right...
Thanks for your reply VM
I am sorry that you thought it was patronising of me to talk about self-esteem. I did so because that I thought that Stockie had talked of it (he actually talked of self-worth).
I would have thought that God's love is something that we don't deserve. 'While we were still sinners Christ died for us.'
I do want to affirm that we are fearfully and wonderfuly made, unique among creation being made in the image of God and loved by him more than we can realise. I would also want to affirm that when he redeems us he makes us a masterpiece.
Paul
I would suggest that the problem sometimes lies in not just what is said but how it is said. Like the child I knew who asked his dad why the speaker at a mission was angrt with them. If we speak about the love of God in an unconvincing way people may not hear with their hearts what their ears are hearing.
You're right... I don't think there would be a huge difference between you and me in terms of the theology of God's love and grace in the face of our sin, but often it is a question of tone and emphasis. But sometimes a picture can speak more loudly than words... and on that point, check out today's imonk posting at http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/a-picture-of-the-fathers-grace
You are expanding my journey into the blogworld, thanks.
p
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