The Evangelical Universalist Forum

The Love of God

Practices
#22

^^^ AMEN! ^^^ thank you Finelinen

#23

Dear Pilgrim: If my old life can please Him in a small measure, the journey will be accomplished.

“And what shall we say of the man Christ Jesus? Who, that loves his brother, would not, upheld by the love of Christ, and with a dim hope that in the far-off time there might be some help for him, arise from the company of the blessed, and walk down into the dismal regions of despair, to sit with the last, the only unredeemed, the Judas of his race, and be himself more blessed in the pains of hell, than in the glories of heaven? Who, in the midst of the golden harps and the white wings, knowing that one of his kind, one miserable brother in the old-world-time when men were taught to love their neighbor as themselves, was howling unheeded far below in the vaults of the creation, who, I say, would not feel that he must arise, that he had no choice, that, awful as it was, he must gird his loins, and go down into the smoke and the darkness and the fire, traveling the weary and fearful road into the far country to find his brother? – who, I mean, that had the mind of Christ, that had the love of the Father?” –George MacDonald

How many ways can we declare it?

El amor de Dios nunca falla

Guds kärlek misslyckas aldrig

Gottes Liebe versagt nie

Jumalan rakkaus ei koskaan onnistu

L’amour de Dieu ne manque jamais

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning great is your faithfulness."

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#24

The steadfast love of the Lord NEVER ceases.

Never

Not ever.

At no time.

Not in any degree.

Not under any condition.

Ceases

To come to an end.

To no longer continue.

To cease to exist/ come to an end.

#25

It is true that confession is not a pre-condition of forgiveness. However repentance is! Jesus taught:

If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. (Luke 17:3)

Indeed forgiveness is a response to repentance. It was obvious to the father that the prodigal son had repented. For if he hadn’t, he would never have returned to the father.

Many people have a weak view of forgiveness. They think it simply means “pardon.” Yes, we can pardon a person without their repentance. For “to pardon” simply means to release a person from his obligation to make up for his wrong. “To forgive” is to go much deeper than this. If you truly forgive a person as a consequence of his repentance, you have restored your relationship with him. That relationship is then just as if he had never committed the offense against you.

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#26

FL… I believe this is right. As for a believer choosing to hold onto unforgiveness on the pretence that an offending party must needs first repent to have forgiveness dispensed to them only demonstrates a conditional tolerance which in reality knows little of forgiveness.

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#27

Father’s Love Letter

#28

Thank God because He’s good, because His love never quits.

Tell the world, His love never quits.

Children of Aaron, tell the world, His love never quits.

And you who fear God, join in, His love never quits.

My God, I lift high Your praise. You are so good.

oudepote= never at any time

His love never quits!

#29

Yes, the apostle John affirmed that God IS love (1 John 4:8 and 1 John 4:16)—not merely that “love” is one of God’s characteristics, but that love is His very essence!

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#30

Indeed! Love is not a characteristic of our God, it is His very essence.

Clearly in Scripture = Krustallizo =

To shine like crystal in crystalline brightness & transparency.

The work of Jesus Christ bringing broken sinners to shine in His likeness.

#31

Two Rules

Rule #1: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, never at any time, it is oudepote.

Rule #2: When in doubt refer to rule #1.

#32

Clearly in Scripture = Krustallizo =

To shine like crystal in crystalline brightness & transparency.

The work of Jesus Christ bringing broken sinners to shine in His likeness.

Saint Stephen posted

I envisioned a rather common drinking glass in a second hand shop. Taken away to be cherished for the hidden beauty. Years of stain and tarnish carefully and expertly washed away. Plunged in the wash water time and again. Every nook and cranny invaded by the hot bubbly brine. The wash rag squeaking when it finds the original material underneath. Then rinsed clean and set aside to dry. A final toweling reveals a treasure once cast aside in the shop. The no longer common-looking glass then placed on a shelf ready for service once more. A gleaming vessel restored to original glory and to the maker’s intent.

#33

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#34

In a certain quarter of London, one of the many evangelists employed for that purpose, had gone forth to preach to the people. When he had concluded an eloquent address, he was thus accosted by one of his hearers: Sir, "said the man, “may I ask you one or two questions?” “Surely,” said the preacher. “Your have told us that God’s love for us is very great and very strong.” “Yes,” “That He sent His Son on purpose to. save us, and that I may be saved this moment, if I will.” “Yes,” “But, that if I go away without an immediate acceptance of this offer, and if, a few minutes after I were to be by any accident killed on my way home, I should find myself in hell for ever and ever.” “Yes.” “Then,” said the man, “if so, I don’t want to have anything to do with a Being Whose love for me can change so completely in five minutes .” -Christ Triumphant by Thomas Allin-

#35

“The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease.”

Jeremiah’s Hope=

“…Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s loving devotion we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!…”

Psalm 86:15

“But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.”

Micah 7:18,19

“Who is a God like unto You, that pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retains not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy…”

Never = oudepote = never at any time

Dear friends: These are facts! Our Father loves us beyond all we can ask or even think. His love and mercy are without end, they are His essence. We can trust Him!!

#36

Mercy Upon All?

The “wild olive tree” is a symbol for the ethnic multitudes (non-Israelites), and the “them” refers to the holy branches that were NOT broken off, i.e., those of Israel who believed – including Paul and the other sent-forth representatives of the Kingdom. This olive tree is a figure for the means through which God brings forth the oil of His anointed presence and activity. Paul takes this figure from Zech. 4. In this vision, Zechariah sees two olive trees (the two anointed ones, vs. 14), which in vs. 12 are described as “branches,” “empty the golden [oil] out of themselves.” They empty their oil into the receptacle (bowl, vs. 3) of the lampstand (a figure of the called-out community, or, church – see Rev. 1:20).

As an aside, I suggest that the mountain of olives in Zech. 14:4 refers to God’s anointed kingdom, since “mountains” are symbols of kingdoms in OT apocalyptic literature.

The picture which Paul gives here is not “replacement theology,” but rather a picture of those from the ethnic multitudes being inserted (grafted) into God’s program for bringing His anointing to the world. The branches of this tree now include the believing Israelites, and the believing non-Israelites, both now partaking of the same Root, ALL being children of Abraham. -Jonathan Mitchell

Continued below

Mercy Upon All

Mercy= eleos =

The outward manifestation of pity; it assumes need on the part of him who receives it, and resources adequate to meet the need on the part of Him who gives it.

But God who is rich in mercy

#37

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Is God’s holiness greater than His love?

Why are fundamentalists so afraid to let love reign supreme and over and over limit it by claiming He is holy?

“and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge , that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” -Ephesians 3:19

God’s love surpasses any “knowledge” you may think you have of His holiness. And understanding that fills one with all the fulness of God.

Not sinning doesn’t get one to heaven. It never has and never will.

But God’s LOVE will, not His holiness, nor His righteousness, nor His immutability–
His LOVE.

All those other attributes are PRODUCTS of His love. Not the other way around.

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#38

"God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus.

Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it.

It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work -He does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing." The Message

Can you say munificent?

#39

"God who is rich in mercy for His great love wherin He loves us." -Eph. 2:4

His great love = His megas love.

Megas = Great in degree & intensity.

The word for today = munificent.

Munificent = great generosity/ extremely liberal.

God loves us with a megas munificent love surpassing knowledge!

#40

The Father Who Lost Two Sons

This is about what’s normally called The Parable of the Prodigal Son . That’s only one of the two sons in the parable, the younger boy. The older boy is the one—the other son—who is lost. And the point about changing the name of the parable is that the parables are almost always misnamed.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep is not about the lost sheep.

All the sheep ever did was get lost. The parable is about the passion of the shepherd who lost the sheep to find the sheep. His passion to find is what drives the parable; and consequently it isn’t the Prodigal’s lostness , wasting all his money on wine, women and song in the far country; and it isn’t the elder brother’s grousing and complaining and score keeping that stands against him. What counts in the parable is the father’s unceasing desire to find the sons he lost—both of them—and to raise both of them up from the dead.

The story, of course, you know. The story begins with the father having two sons and the youngest son comes to the father and says, “Father, divide the inheritance between me and my brother.” What he’s in effect saying is,

"Dear Dad, drop dead now, legally.

Put your will into effect and just retire out of the whole business of being anything to anybody and let us have what is coming to us." So the youngest son gets the money and the older brother gets the farm. And off the younger brother goes. What he does, of course, is he spends it all—blows it all—on wild living. When he finally is in want and working, slopping hogs for a farmer and wishing that he could eat what he’s feeding the pigs, he can’t stand it. When he finally comes to himself he says, “You know, I’ve got to do something. How many hired servants of my father’s are there who have bread enough to spare and I’m perishing here with hunger? I know what I’m going to do.”

Almost every preacher makes this the boy’s repentance. It’s not his repentance.

This is just one more dumb plan for his life.

He says, “I will go to my father and I will say, ‘Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and before you.’” That’s true. He got that one right. “And I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.” Score two. He gets that one right. But the next thing he says is dead wrong. He says, “Make me one of your hired servants.” He knows—he thinks he knows—he can’t go back as a dead son, and therefore he says, “I will now go back as somebody who can earn my father’s favor again. I will be a good worker or whatever.” This is not a real repentance, it’s just a plan for a life. What it is, is enough to get him started going home, and consequently when he goes home, what happens next is an absolutely fascinating kind of thing.

What happens next?

What happens next is that the father (you must remember this) is now sitting on the front porch of the farm house. The farm house doesn’t belong to him anymore. The front porch doesn’t belong to him. He’s sitting in the rocker that belongs to his oldest son who is now, you know, the owner of the farm. He’s sitting there and he sees the Prodigal, the younger boy, coming down the road from far away. He sees him coming. What does he do? He rushes off the porch, runs a half mile down the road, throws his arms around the boy’s neck and kisses him.

Now, this is all that Jesus does with this scene. The fascinating thing in this parable is that in the whole parable the father never says one single word to the Prodigal Son. Jesus makes the embrace, the kiss, do the whole story of saying, “I have found my son.” The fascinating thing also is that when the father embraces the boy who has come home from wasting his life, the boy never gets his confession out of his mouth until after the kiss, until after the embrace. What this says to you and me who have to live with the business of trying to confess our sins is that confession is not a pre-condition of forgiveness. It’s something that you do after you know you have been forgiven. Confession is not something you do in order to get forgiveness. It’s something you do in order to celebrate the forgiveness you got for nothing. Nobody can earn forgiveness. The Prodigal knows he’s a dead son. He can’t come home as a son, and yet in his father’s arms he rises from the dead and then he is able to come to his father’s side.

What happens next is that the father, saying not a word to the Prodigal, turns to the servants and says, “Bring the best robe, bring a ring for his finger and shoes for his feet, kill the fatted calf and let us eat and be merry for this, my son, was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.” Now this is the point in the parable at which everything is going well. The dead son, the no-good Prodigal Son, is home. He has been raised from the dead by his father’s embrace. He has done nothing to earn it, but now all that matters is that the father has called for the party to celebrate the finding of the lost and the resurrection of the dead.

It’s the party. Every one of Jesus’ parables of grace—not every one, but most of them—end with a party.

When the Shepherd finds the lost sheep, he doesn’t go back to the 99, he goes home and has a party with his friends in order to celebrate the finding of the lost. The father’s will to have a party is what the parable is all about. That’s why you must always do, not the human race characters in the parable like the Prodigal and the elder brother, why you must always do the God character first, because it’s the God character who drives the parable.

All right, now, what we’ve got now is everybody dead in the parable.

The father died at the beginning, the Prodigal died in the far country: he came home dead and the father raises him. Everything is fine. And now what we’ve got is Jesus’ genius as a storyteller. The party is in full swing, so Jesus brings back in the only person in the story left who still has a life of his own: Mr. Responsibility, Mr. Whining, Mr. Elder Brother. He comes up and hears the music and the dancing and he probably sees the waiters scurrying around with roast veal platters and everything else. And he asks one of the servants, “What is this all about? I didn’t commission a party.” The servant says, “No, no, your brother has come home and your father has killed the fatted calf because he received him safe and sound.” And the older brother is angry and he will not go in. He will not go into the house. He is right out there in the midst of the party. He is part of the party but he will not join the party. And the next thing that happens in this: when he comes in with all this bookkeeping he says, “Look,” to his father, “all these years I served you and I never broke one of your commandments and you never even gave me a goat that I could make merry with my friends. But when this your son (notice he doesn’t say, this my brother) cuts off his relationship, this your son has wasted your substance with riotous living, has wasted your substance with harlots, when this son comes home you kill the fatted calf!”

I think that one of the things you could do with this is make up a speech for the father.

The father goes out in the courtyard to plead with the older son. He goes out there in order to find him as he is and to raise him from the dead. He never gives up on any of them. He says to him, “Look, Arthur (let’s call the older brother Arthur), what do you mean I never gave you a goat for a party? If you wanted to have a great veal dinner for all your friends every week in the year, you had the money and the resources. You owned this place, Arthur. You have the money and the resources to have built 52 stalls and kept the oxen fattening as you wanted them to come along, but you didn’t. Why didn’t you do that, Arthur? Because you’re a bean counter, because you’re always keeping track of everybody else. That’s your problem, Arthur, and I have one recipe for you.” (The father is pleading with this fellow to come out of the death of bookkeeping.) He says, “I have one recipe for you, Arthur. That is, go in, kiss your brother, and have a drink. Just shut up about all this stuff because, Arthur, you came in here already in hell, and I came out here in this courtyard to visit you in the hell in which you were.”

This is the wonderful thing about this parable, because it isn’t that there was a Prodigal Son who was a bad boy and who, therefore, came home and turned out to be a good boy and had a happy ending. Then the elder brother—you would think Jesus, if he was an ordinary storyteller, would have said, “Let’s give the elder brother a rotten ending.” He doesn’t. He gives the older brother no ending. The parable ends with a freeze frame. It ends like that with just the father, and the sound goes dead—the servants may be moving around with the wine and veal—but the sound goes dead and Jesus shows you only the freeze frame of the father and the elder brother. That’s the way the parable has ended for 2,000 years.

My theory about this parable is that if, for 2,000 years, he has never let it end, then you can extend that indefinitely, that this is a signal, an image of the presence of Christ to the damned. When the father goes out into the courtyard, he is an image of Christ descending into hell; and, therefore, the great message in this is the same as Psalm 139, “If I go down to hell, You are there also.” God is there with us. There is no point at which the Shepherd who followed the lost sheep will ever stop following all of the damned. He will always seek the lost. He will always raise the dead. Even if the elder brother refused forever to go in and kiss his other brother, the Father would still be there pleading with him. Christ never gives up on anybody. Christ is not the enemy of the damned. He is the finder of the damned. If they don’t want to be found, well there is no imagery of hell too strong like fire and brimstone and all that for that kind of stupidity. But nonetheless, the point is that you can never get away from the love that will not let you go and the elder brother standing there in the courtyard in his own hell is never going to get away from the Jesus who seeks him and wills to raise him from the dead. -Robert Capon-

#41

I find the Father of all fathers to be a constant. His will is to have sons and daughters who love Him for who He is. He constantly moves to bring each and every one of them to His point of view, it is called at-one-ment.

Steadfast =

Firmly loyal/ constant/ unswerving.

Fixed/ unchanging.

Immoveable.

Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!