Coffeehouse: WHY did God give his son for us?

Well, no one else seems to have jumped on this one yet, so I'll go first.

I've got to admit, the only explanation that I could ever come up with was that God must be a little nutty and/or masochistic. I mean, if a person came up to us and told us they were going all out for someone who didn't care about them, we'd tell them that was an unhealthy relationship that they should just walk away from. We'd point out all the logical and tactical reasons why this was a bad idea and a lost cause. We'd try to steer them away however we could. And if they even hinted that this ultimate display of love for the uncaring might involve hurting themselves, I think most of us would take away their sharp objects and try to get them to a professional. And yet, that's pretty much what God did for us. Something that would net a mortal a trip to a nice padded room.

Kind of pretzels your brain, doesn't it?

Yeah, this is a tough one. More than tough. Personally, I can only guess.

A respected theologian whose name escapes me was once asked near the end of his long life of scholarship "What is the most profound theological concept you've wrestled with in your years of study?" He paused for a moment and answered, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

Hehe...I really like the irony of this being a children's song.

I don't have a real answer either; it's the great mystery. There are some hints that we get from the Bible but He wants a relationship with us...for whatever reason. It's certainly not because we deserve it, as was the point of this week's verses. He is creating a bride for His Son and it is all ultimately to glorify Him. I guess the way that He is accomplishing this will bring the most glory to Him.

It definitely pretzels the brain.

God loves you me and Billy Grahm as much as he loves Manson Hitler and Ben Ladin. God hating someone is like one of us not sinning it's his very nature to love and a God of love can't just let someone go to Hell without having away to coming to Salvation and it's such an easy way too

Rickster wrote:God loves you me and Billy Grahm as much as he loves Manson Hitler and Ben Ladin. God hating someone is like one of us not sinning it's his very nature to love and a God of love can't just let someone go to Hell without having away to coming to Salvation and it's such an easy way too

Yeah. It's amazing to me when I think about how you can't have perfect love and perfect justice outside of the Cross. All other religions lean toward one or the other, but because of the Cross, God is able to exercise both complete love AND complete justice in his dealings with us.

Yeah. It's amazing to me when I think about how you can't have perfect love and perfect justice outside of the Cross. All other religions lean toward one or the other, but because of the Cross, God is able to exercise both complete love AND complete justice in his dealings with us.

Awesome to think about!

Paeter wrote:A respected theologian whose name escapes me was once asked near the end of his long life of scholarship "What is the most profound theological concept you've wrestled with in your years of study?" He paused for a moment and answered, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."

This anecdote is most often attributed to Karl Barth, famous in part for his rejection of liberal protestantism, his views of biblical inerrancy, his explanation of Election as a doctrine. I've not found a reliable original source for this quote, however. And it has been attributed to several other theologians, including Spurgeon and Wesley.