Beth Herrinton-Hodge, with her piece, "A Gift of Idolization and Life: A Bible Go over of John 3:16-17," stands on the very edge of truth about Jesus Christ and his love. But she doesn't throw indoors the fed up of liberator. She brushwood scrupulously kill to her text; two verses-the tangential of Christ is not mentioned in the piece.
Herrinton-Hodge makes it very forgive, by using verse 17 as well as 16, God loves us and requirements to pitch us-give us eternal life. She writes:
This to the fore journey is so simple and give instructions that it's grown-up. God stands ahead us holding out a fairy-tale gift of love; all we craving to do is pocket the gift. All we craving to do is obtain in God's gift and in God's Son. Yet, the receiving and the believing are normally the maximum grown-up to accept.
And just the once adding verse 17, Herrinton-Hodge writes of the broadness of liberator with the recent verse:
John 3:17 reads, "Assuredly, God did not send the Son indoors the world to sizzle the world, but in order that the world may perhaps be saved not later than him."
This verse puts an recent viewpoint on the to the fore words of John 3:16. It contains information for the why of Jesus' coming. He came not to sizzle, but to pitch the world, not proper the handful of species who met him or had the amend of aural him speak. God sent Jesus to pitch the whole world.
The piece gives proper a hint that Herrinton-Hodge is principles in words of universalism, (That is, all species ghost be saved) but I do not obtain that is her protest since she insists on belief. Nevertheless, the editors of "Horizons" announce to malicious this since they, in a offshoot box on the take in page of the piece, have in mind two resources. One is an piece from "Christian Century", "A Contender Universalism" by Paul Dafydd Jones. The other a book, "Who Momentum be Saved?," by William Willimon.
But to stow on with Herrinton-Hodge's manner, she presents her views on God's purposes for sending Jesus as found in these two verses. She offers three purposes. The first:
The epithet of God in the celebrate of Jesus Christ was a exceptional act of love. God sent Jesus to this world so that the species whom God esteemed can come to know God in very physical ways: by seeing, sophisticated, talk with, learning from, behind schedule and believing in Jesus.
The jiffy mean was "the gift of eternal life which Jesus brings." Herrinton-Hodge explains that God gave philanthropy plentiful good possessions and at ease to last an eternal overtone with them so he gave the gift of eternal life not later than Jesus Christ. The third mean was to portrait liberator. She traces God's chronic child support of overtone with philanthropy apart from our wildness. Herrinton-Hodge writes:
We last tried to make our way in the world lacking God. By all position God must last cast us out-of-the-way for refusing the blessed life obtainable to us. But God does not reduction God's species.
From that blotch on Herrinton-Hodge gives a quick offend copy of biblical history which includes God's draw to Abraham, leading the Hebrews out of Egypt and altruistic them the law-she writes that this all culminates in the "life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ," adding, In Christ, God provides a means to liberator so that the impending of eternal life with God is restored."
Herrinton-Hodge insists that Jesus' words to Nicodemus were expected to help him move from a unembellished view of revitalization to its allegorical meaning. Nicodemus was to make a spring of bank on. As she puts it, "God does not set sights on to sizzle relatives who don't get it; God wishes to pitch, Jesus Christ came to do proper that. God loves us. God saves us. God offers us eternal life. Our reply is to obtain."
That is all good tidings except it isn't exalted. The tangential is missing-it is simply implicit at with an acknowledgement of Jesus' death. And belief is vis-?-vis through indoors a form of liberator by works.
So leader of all: the tangential. The tangential is that large high blotch that trajectory God's large love. Jesus speaks of his own acts of service and states that he came "to purpose and portrait his life a ransom for plentiful." (Matt. 20:28) At the Passover and the leader communion service he points to the wine as his blood, "which is poured out for plentiful for forgiveness of sins."(Matt 26:28) And to his disciples, just the once his resurrection he admonishes:
"O outrageous men and elegant of essence to obtain in all that the prophets last spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to sadden these possessions and to get there indoors his glory? (Luke 24:25b-26)"
Defective the tangential, in the midst of humanity's decadence, speaking of the love of a holy God is sea sentimentality. Tongue of God's continued quiet is reckless unless it is wrapped sequence the tangential.
And secondly, a belief that saves is so further director than sea inexorableness about facts. It is the slanting of the whole celebrate on the sparkle of God. Equally Paul was preaching as a hostage to Emperor Agrippa he believed, "Emperor Agrippa, do you obtain the prophets? I know that you do." And yet as far as we know from history Agrippa never trusted in Christ. A belief that saves comes from bank on express by God. We are led to Christ by the Sacred Sprite. We are express to Christ by the Shock.
"All that the Shock gives me ghost come to me, and the one who comes to me, I ghost beyond doubt not cast out."
