NG Kerk Wynberg

3.4  Die liefde van God

[Kommissie se weergawe: volgende 3 paragrawe]

Die kursus maak veel van die liefde van God. Die Bybel is duidelik hieroor: "God is liefde" (1 Joh 4.8). Alpha leer dit ook. Tog is daar 'n verskil. In Alpha is God liefde en niks meer nie. God kan niks anders as dit wees nie. Aspekte van die wese van God, soos Sy heiligheid en heerlikheid, ontbreek. Al wat die kursusgangers oorhou, is sy liefde.

Die Skrif getuig daarvan dat God liefde is. "God is liefde" is dus 'n synsuitspraak. So is God! Maar'n liefde soos dit konkreet gestalte vind in sy bereidheid om sondaars te red (Joh 3.16). Aan die kruis het God sy hart uitgepraat, sy liefde gedefinieer: Só lief het Ek julle!

Waarom het die Here gekom? Om sondaars te red. Wat het God beweeg om dit te doen? Sy liefde. Dit is wat sy liefde so besonder en wonderbaar maak. Dit is die besef dat so 'n ontsagwekkend heilige en heerlike God sondaars red (Rom 5.8).  God se liefde is duidelik in die daadwerklike verlossing van sondaars. Hierin word die heerlikheid van Christus se liefde gesien. Maar sonder die verband wat met God se heiligheid en absolute volmaakte soewereiniteit gelê behoort te word, gaan die liefde van God vir ons verlore. Dan word dit geromantiseer, omdat in die plek hiervan God die gestalte aanneem van 'n emosionele wese van onvoorwaardelike liefde, gestroop van enige begrip van sy ware wese.  Die Godsbeeld wat die kursus voor ons afteken, wil ons op 'n emosionele hoogte bring en ons spesiaal laat voel. Die God van die Bybel ontsien geen moeite om aan ons die ewige lewe te gee nie. Tussen die twee is daar 'n hemelsbreê verskil.

[Aanhaling uit kursusmateriaal: Gumbel 1995] On the cross, God revealed his love for us. He showed that he is not a God who is aloof from suffering. He is 'the crucified God' as the title of the book by the German theologian Jurgen Moltmann puts it). He has entered our world and knows and understands all about suffering. On the cross Jesus sets us an example of self-sacrificial love (1 Peter 2:21). Each of these aspects deserves a chapter of its own, which space does not allow. I want to concentrate here on four images that the New Testament uses to describe what Jesus did on the cross for us. As John Stott points out, each of them is taken from a different area of day-to-day life…p49

The greater our understanding of our need the more we will appreciate what God has done. The Lord Chancellor, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, wrote:'The central theme of our faith is the sacrifice of himself by our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins.... The deeper our appreciation of our own need the greater will be our love for the Lord Jesus and, therefore, the more fervent our desire to serve him.'23 The good news of Christianity is that God loves us and he did not leave us in the mess that we make of our own lives. He came to earth, in the person of his Son Jesus to die instead of us (2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13)…p47

The illustration I have used is not an exact one for three reasons. First, our plight is worse. The penalty we are facing is not just a fine, but death. Secondly, the relationship is closer This is not just two friends: it is our Father in heaven who loves us more than any earthly father loves his own child. Thirdly, the cost was greater: it cost God not money, but his one and only Son--who paid the penalty of sin…p50

God loves each one of us so much and longs to be in a relationship with us as a human father longs to be in a relationship with each of his children. It is not just that Jesus died for everyone. He died for you and for me; it is very personal. Paul writes of 'the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me' (Galatians 2.20). If YOU had been the only person in the world, Jesus would have died for you. Once we see the cross in these personal terms, our lives will be transformed… p53

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Kopiereg © 2002 Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk Wynberg
Laaste verandering: 09/03/10