The Love of God is in the Cross
By: Kirk Cameron, August 20, 2002
As I began to understand the use of the Moral Law to bring repentance, the question arose in my mind, “But if we tell unbelievers about the Law, sin, righteousness, judgment, Hell, and then the Cross, are we under-emphasizing God’s love and grace? After all, isn’t love what the gospel is all about?” A few good friends have also asked me this question and I am grateful for their bluntness because it cuts to the chase.
The Bible consistently defines the love of God toward sinners in two words: the cross.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son . . . (John 3:16).
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we sere still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
“This is love; not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10, NIV).
Always and without fail, God uses the cross as the supreme example of His love toward sinners. Surely God offers the saved believer daily comfort, joy, inner peace, patience, self-control, and a safe harbor in times of trouble, but never does He offer it to the unbeliever. Check it out yourself. Look in your Bible to find any instance of Jesus, an apostle, or a prophet offering an unrepentant sinner any form of God’s love other than Jesus’ blood on the cross. Rather, God’s wrath is on them! The cross is love’s masterpiece. The cross is God motivated by love, running toward the sinner to rescue him from the flames of eternal punishment.
If I were to pinpoint a time in my life when my earthly father clearly demonstrated his love for me, I know exactly when it would be. It was the time he saved my life. I was four years old, playing on a boat dock, and I fell into the water and was drowning. I likely would have died if my father had not been there to save me. He dove into the water and rescued me. I know that my father loves me because he saved my life. I don’t need to look any further for proof of his love. I couldn’t want better proof that my father loves me than the fact that he risked his own life to save mine, and every other demonstration of love pales in comparison to that supreme moment of mercy.
So when it comes to telling sinners about the heavenly Father’s love, if we have to point beyond the cross where Jesus rescued them from the waters of eternal death, we are missing the focal point of God’s love. If you feel the simple message of the cross is not enough to describe the love of God… would you say that to the Father who sacrificed His one and only Son? Would you say it to Jesus who loved you and gave His own life for you? Would you say it to the countless martyrs who died for their faith simply because Jesus loved them and died for them? To promise an unsaved sinner anything more than the full mercy and compassion of the cross is to go beyond Scripture. As Paul said to the sinful Corinthians, “When I came to you … I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:1,2, emphasis added) And again, “For Christ (sent me) to preach the gospel…For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:17-18) So Paul determined not to preach anything but “Christ crucified,” because nothing but “the message of the cross” is the power of God to salvation.
Perhaps the problem isn’t that sinners need more than “Christ crucified,” but to hear a better explanation of the One who loved us and gave Himself up for us. As messengers of life to a dying world, we must point people to Jesus and magnify the love of God in Him. We must expound the love that held Jesus to the cross, and fill the mind of the unsaved with the knowledge of God’s solemn promise – written in his own blood – to forgive those who believe in Jesus. Without this rich explanation of the cross, we will no doubt paint God as cold and uncaring. God help us to faithfully proclaim the full love of God in the mercy of the cross.
Believer, do you understand that love yourself? Do you understand what you were saved from? Have you ever looked for yourself into the mirror of God’s Law and seen your own heart’s exceedingly sinful reflection? Do you know how hot the flames burn in God’s eternal prison? Have you ever wept tears of gratitude for the precious blood of Jesus spilled to save you? If not, you will no doubt find it difficult to explain to others.
These are sobering thoughts for me as well as for anyone who has not yet fled to the Savior to escape the wrath to come. A fool will dismiss them as judgmental, but a wise person will examine himself to see if he is in the faith. (2 Corinthians 13:5)
Friday, 24. February 2006
I’m sorry, but as someone who doesn’t believe in hellfire, I find it hard to believe how the God that “is love” could also torture sinners for infinity. (1 John 4:8) The bible describes God as a loving Father. (John 16:27) Now would it sound loving if a father punished his child by holding his hand on a heated element of a stove? Also, the bible describes one of God’s view of justice and mercy. (Deuteronomy 32:3,4; Psalms 116:5; Nehemiah 9:17) How can one explain the justice in eternally tortering a person for the sins of 80-100 years max. Even in our imperfect world with all the injustices people are never abused to such a scale. Is God worse than the scum of the Earth such as Hitler or others?
Plus, if the hellfire belief were true how does one explain Acts 2:25-27 where Jesus rejoices because God won’t leave his soul in Hades (if your bible translation doesn’t use the word Hades, please refer to the Greek text from which your translation was made). Why would God allow his son to be tortured in Hades when he never sinned. Also I would like to know why many translations use the word “hell” in places where Hades isn’t in the Greek text. For instance Mat 5:22 is actually “Gehenna” in Greek and 2 Peter 1:4 is actually Tartarus. Does your bible explain the difference between these words and how they aren’t Hades or not? One more thing, if hell is a place of “eternal” torment, how does one explain Revelation 20:13,14? How can someone be tormented eternaly when Hades is emptied out? Also, if people are tormented while in Hades, why are they judged after Hades is emptied out? Does God torture innocent people until they are judged rightous?
Just one more thought. I have heard some say that the lake of fire is where the unrightous are tormented for eternity. If that is true, that it is a real lake of fire used for torture, how are the beasts also destroyed in it when they are clearly symbols used in the book of Revelation? Wouldn’t that mean that the lake of fire itself is actually a symbol of something such as a total destruction from which there is no return just like an object thrown into an incinerator?
Friday, 24. February 2006
Hi Jordan, thanks for leaving a comment about Kirk Cameron’s article. You brought up some excellent questions about God’s Love and hell. I don’t have enough time to dive into that subject at this momement, but I encourage you to read some of the stuff I’ve posted under the category “Love“. Could you tell me a little about your religious background?
Friday, 24. February 2006
Brian:
I have long since stayed out of the conversation about a person’s motivation for repentance, and beyond this one comment, I’m STILL staying out of it. However, your statement is not a wholy accurate one.
“Always and without fail, God uses the cross as the supreme example of His love toward sinners. Surely God offers the saved believer daily comfort, joy, inner peace, patience, self-control, and a safe harbor in times of trouble, but never does He offer it to the unbeliever. Check it out yourself. Look in your Bible to find any instance of Jesus, an apostle, or a prophet offering an unrepentant sinner any form of God’s love other than Jesus’ blood on the cross. Rather, God’s wrath is on them! The cross is love’s masterpiece.”
It warrants further study on the “kingdom of heaven.” When Jesus said “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” the Bible tells us that he was referencing more than simply “the wrath of God is at hand,” because he gives us further explanation of what “the kingdom of heaven” is, and in many cases, it is a rather sweet picture. I’m not saying that the wrath of God is not one part of it, but it is not the whole of it. Again, this picture you have of the wrath of God leading to repentance is simply one bullet in the gun…not the entire gun. It is God’s KINDNESS that leads us to repentence ultimately. The gun that that the wrath bullet rest in is a kind gun, not the other way around. I would recommend any of John Wimber’s books for further study on the kingdom of heaven. (I’m not coming back to check on this thread, so please do not respond to my comment). I know that you are a good student – and I know that there will something to be found in the further study of the kingdom of heaven for you. Have fun!
Friday, 24. February 2006
(Brian – I know that you didn’t write the article above…that you simply posted Kirk C.’s article… Sorry if I wrote my post sounding like you wrote it.)
Friday, 24. February 2006
Hi Angie, I’m not sure if I understand your comment. Kirk’s article was not discussing the motivation of the sinner to repentance, but rather the message an evangelist should use to fully communicate the full extent of God’s love.
Kirk makes the observation that, “To promise an unsaved sinner anything more than the full mercy and compassion of the cross is to go beyond Scripture. As Paul said to the sinful Corinthians, ‘When I came to you … I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.’” (1 Cor 2:1-2)
Paul made the focus of the gospel message to be about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ for our sins. In order to truly understand the significance of Jesus’ death, and how sin is so contrary to God’s righteous character, Kirk suggests that those who are lost must, “hear a better explanation of the One who loved us and gave Himself up for us.” If we don’t reveal the love and mercy and KINDNESS of God’s *character*, Kirk says, “we will no doubt paint God as cold and uncaring.”
In order to truly understand God’s love, we must paint a complete picture of God’s righteous character and how he demonstrated his love to those who DO NOT DESERVE mercy. Sinners do not deserve mercy. We can’t preach a message that leads a person to believe that they deserve it.
Romans 5:8-9
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s judgment.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.