Knowing God: Chapter 16

Knowing God:

Chapter 16: Goodness & Severity

REVIEW

• Anger (Righteous Indignation or Sin?)
• Justice (Judicial, Fairness, Human Choice)
• Bad News of the Gospel (Final Judgement, God's rich mercy)

2 Corinthians 5:21

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

CELESTIAL SANTA CLAUSE

• Modern Muddle-Headness
  • Scripture

Philip Schaff
"It is more than a book; it is an institution, an all-pervading omnipresent force, a converting, sanctifying, transforming agency; it rules from the pulpit and the chair; it presides at the family altar; it is the sacred ark of every household, the written conscience of every Christian man, the pillar of cloud by day, the pillar of light by night in the pilgrimage of life."

• gods of tolerance and equality
• Total Depravity
• Packer
  "the habit of disassociating the thought of God's goodness from that of his severity...since nothing but misbelief is possible as as it persists"

• ? What effect do these habits have on Christianity? Why?

• Santa Clause
  • 'Twas the night before Christmas...

He was dress'd all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnish'd with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys was flung on his back,
And he look'd like a peddler just opening his pack:
His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry,
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow.
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face, and a little round belly
That shook when he laugh'd, like a bowl full of jelly:
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laugh'd when I saw him in spite of myself

• Packer
  • "...on the basis of the Santa Clause theology, sins create no problem, and atonement becomes needless...a kind God who means well but cannot always insulate his children from trouble and grief. When trouble comes, therefore, there is nothing to do but grin and bear it."
  • "...the substance of Christianity is faith in the forgiveness of sins through the redeeming work of Christ on the cross."

• ? Do you think this is a fair assessment of Santa Clause (to link him with liberal theology - the separation of goodness & severity)? Why?

GOD'S GOODNESS (Compassion of Christ)

• Generosity
  • Packer
    "Generosity is, so to speak, the focal point of God's moral perfection; it is the quality which determines how all God's other excellences are to be displayed."

• ? What does that mean? Please explain?

• Exodus 34: 6-7

6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."

• Packer
  "...these things together make up God's goodness in the overall sense of the sum total of his revealed excellences."

• Psalm 18: 6 - 19

6 In my distress I called to the LORD;
I cried to my God for help.

7 The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled because he was angry.

10 He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.

16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.

• ? How is God's generosity displayed?
• Matthew Henry
  "Little appeared of man, but much of God, in these deliverances...Every part of so solemn a scene of terrors tells us, a greater than David is here"
• ? What stand out to you as the main blessings God has given you?
• ? How is God's severity displayed?

GOD'S SEVERITY (Passion of Christ)

• Patience
  • Packer
    • "Those that decline to respond to God's goodness...cannot wonder or complain if sooner or later the tokens of his goodness are withdrawn...and retribution supervenes"
    • "The patience of God in giving a chance to repent before judgement finally falls is one of the marvels of the Bible story."

• 2 Peter 3: 3 - 10

7By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

• Calvin - v9
  "But the order is to be noticed, that God is ready to receive all to repentance, so that none may perish; for in these words the way and manner of obtaining salvation is pointed out. Every one of us, therefore, who is desirous of salvation, must learn to enter in by this way."

• Common Grace
  • ? What is the difference between common & special grace?
  • Van Til
    • Total not absolute depravity
      "Total depravity has two aspects, one of principle and one of degree"
    • Limiting Principle
      "As there are the remnants of sin in the believer, so there are the remnants of the image of God in the unbeliever."
    • Deferred Wrath
      "When they do not see their own sins punished...men ought to conclude that punishment is deferred, not that it is not coming. Thus there is a tendency toward a climax of wrath and a deferment of this climax in order that the climax may truly be a climax...that process of crucifixion is still incomplete."

OUR RESPONSE

• Appreciate the
  • goodness of God
  • patience of God
  • discipline of God

• ? What specifically do you have to appreciate about His goodness, patience & discipline?
• ? How can you apply these considerations to your life today? Give specific examples.

CARROT & STICK

• Teddy Roosevelt
  • "Speak softly and carry a big stick"
  • "No people on earth have more cause to be thankful than ours, and this is said reverently, in no spirit of boastfulness in our own strength, but with the gratitude to the Giver of good who has blessed us."

OPEN DISCUSSION