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25 results for “Eternal love”
Clear searchWhat the Father's love for the Son reveals about God
Eternal Love Before Creation What the Father's love for the Son reveals about God Before there was a universe, what was there for God to love? There were no angels, no human beings and no cr…
Read article →What mercy, holiness and the cross reveal about God
Two Revelations of Divine Love What mercy, holiness and the cross reveal about God Love is easily claimed. Its character is revealed by what it does when the beloved is undeserving and the cost is real. Islam and Chr…
Read article →Born, begotten and firstborn in the eternal identity and saving work of the Son
Was Christ Begotten at the Resurrection? Born, begotten and firstborn in the eternal identity and saving work of the Son “This day have I begotten thee” appears to be applied to Christ’s resurrection. Did Jesus become the Son of God when He rose—or does Scripture dis…
Read article →Seeing God, bodily resurrection, and life in the renewed creation
…pain, beautiful surroundings, or endless activity considered by themselves. The heart of eternal life is God dwelling with His people. Paul contrasts our present partial knowledge with the future: “now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12).…
Read article →The incarnation, the limits of created perspective and the love philosophy could not imagine
…he Temple of the Philosophers The Incarnation, the Limits of Created Perspective, and the Love Philosophy Could Not Imagine “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” — Colossians 2:9 A conversation with my son brought the strangeness of the incarnation freshly…
Read article →Eustathius of Antioch, the human soul of Christ and the pictures created by our words
…d entered a body as a driver enters a vehicle. God filled a human body as a hand fills a glove. Such comparisons are memorable. That is precisely why they require care. A theological statement may be qualified in the next sentence, but a picture can remain in the imagination long…
Read article →Not escape from the body, but its redemption
…removing everything which corrupts the person. Indeed, only then will we be fully free to love God and one another without distortion. Creation will share in the deliverance Paul places bodily redemption within a larger renewal: "Because the creature itself also shall be delivere…
Read article →Why Israel's failure cannot make the word of God fail
…l's name and promises now refer exclusively to the Church. Instead, the nation remains "beloved for the fathers' sakes", because "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Romans 11:28-29). The phrase does not excuse unbelief. It explains why unbelief will not have th…
Read article →The Gospel, Human Perception, and the Illuminating Work of the Holy Spirit
…isposition towards truth. Paul speaks of people who perish “because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” Our question must therefore include both what a person understood and how he responded to the light he had. 2 Thessalonians 2:10. The gospel can…
Read article →Why the distinction matters when we speak about Jesus
…y suggest: Person tells us who Jesus is. Nature tells us what He is. Who is He? He is the eternal Son of God, the Word who was with God and was God. What is He? He is truly God and truly man. Jesus Christ is one Person possessing two complete natures: a divine nature and a human…
Read article →Christianity, Islam and the verdict of the evidence
…and asked whether He can be contained within the category of prophet. We have considered eternal love, the crucifixion, divine justice, forgiveness and assurance. We have tested the transmission of the Bible, the missing Islamic Injeel, the Qur’an’s miracle claim, alleged prophe…
Read article →The glory philosophy could not contain
…survive; it is glory Christianity alone can proclaim. The Maker entered His creation. The eternal Son made our nature His own. The One whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain was carried in human arms. But what happens when a philosopher encounters that glory and tries to fit i…
Read article →Isaiah, John, and the Divine Identity of Jesus Christ
…are in earth, visible and invisible.” — Colossians 1:15–16 The subject is the Father’s beloved Son, into whose kingdom believers have been transferred and in whom they have redemption (1:13–14). Paul then explains His relation to creation before turning to the church, resurrecti…
Read article →Near-death experiences, neuroscience, and the authority of Christ
…Christ because the figure said so. It cannot infer universal salvation from a feeling of love, or disprove judgement because one survivor did not encounter it. Those are theological claims, not medical measurements. There is also a crucial difference between a mechanism and a me…
Read article →Responding to five common criticisms without defending what Scripture does not require
…ovised after Israel ruined His preferred plan. Paul describes the Church as part of God's eternal purpose: "According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." —Ephesians 3:11 The mystery was hidden in earlier ages and revealed through the apostles, but…
Read article →El, the Exodus, and the God Who Came from Sinai
…e event: He comes with His holy ones and gives His law. The following lines celebrate His love for the people and His kingship in Jeshurun. Habakkuk deliberately carries the same memory into a new crisis: “God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran…His glory covered t…
Read article →Why the Son assumed a complete human nature, not merely a body
…an become less than fully human in our thoughts. Scripture presents something richer: the eternal Son assumed our complete humanity, including a genuinely human mind, affections and will. That truth helps us understand His obedience, suffering, sympathy and saving work. Suggested…
Read article →Fulfilment in Christ, the inclusion of the Gentiles, and Israel's future mercy
…heir sins. Concerning the gospel they are enemies, but concerning election they remain "beloved for the fathers' sakes" (Romans 11:26-28). Paul's explanation is not that the promises have found a new recipient, but that God's calling survives the recipient's present unbelief: "Fo…
Read article →Does John 6 teach the literal eating of Christ's body?
…aining away the plain words of Jesus? Has he mistaken an indispensable means of receiving eternal life for a metaphor? Those are fair questions, and they deserve something better than a reflexive Protestant answer. But they also require us to do what the presentation itself often…
Read article →The covenant son and the sacrifice that points to Christ
…identity and unique status of the son: "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of" (Genesis 22:2). The wording intensifies at every s…
Read article →Two failures, two responses, and the difference between remorse and repentance
…en shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.” —Matthew 26:33 Peter loved the Lord, but he overestimated his own strength. He believed his devotion was sufficient to carry him through the trial. Jesus warned him that before the cock crowed, Peter would deny…
Read article →The divine identity of Jesus across the Gospels
…John's claim is not that a human prophet gradually acquired divine status. It is that the eternal Word entered human life. This explains the authority which follows. The Son gives life, executes judgement and must receive the same honour as the Father: "That all men should honour…
Read article →Why the Trinity is not polytheism—and why Christians confess one God
…Person and three Persons, or one Being and three Beings. We confess one divine Being who eternally exists as three distinct Persons. Christianity begins with one God The Bible's starting point is uncompromising monotheism: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD." —Deutero…
Read article →Creation, judgement, and the coming reign of Christ
…the Creator Romans 1 provides the necessary starting point. The created world reveals the eternal power and Godhead of its Maker, leaving man without excuse. Yet fallen humanity refuses the response creation ought to produce: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him n…
Read article →Labour, purpose, and faithfulness in a fallen world
…useless. It is to turn the able from idleness and selfishness towards responsibility and love. Working under imperfect authority John the Baptist did not tell the soldiers who questioned him to become religious professionals. He told them to reject violence, false accusation and…
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