My wife and I are fans of the sitcom called “The Middle.” It’s about a family in a fictional town in Indiana called Orson. It’s your typical family of five – Mom, Dad, and three kids. The middle child is a daughter named Sue. Sue goes out for everything in school – cheerleading, cross country, tennis, volleyball, school play – you name it, she’s tried out for it.
And poor Sue makes almost nothing. When she does manage to make a team, it’s purely by accident. For example, she made the cross country team because it was a “no-cut” team. She made the volleyball team only because she broke through the gym floor during try outs, hurt herself, and the coaches were afraid her parents would lawyer up and sue the school.
To make matters worse, almost no one seems to recognize her or know her name. It’s almost like she’s invisible. Does this get Sue down? Nah! She’s the most upbeat and positive kid any parent could ask for. And she never gives up either. She simply moves on to the next team or function she wants to be a part of.
This, of course, is all done in good humor. But could you imagine that happening to you in real life? Could you imagine no one recognizing you or wanting you to be on their team?
That’s the way some people see it when it comes to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. They think there are some Sue’s out there in the world for which Jesus’ sacrifice did not apply. He neither knows them or wants them on his heavenly team.
Is it true? Is it possible that Jesus did not die for everyone? Could it be that his death was only for a select few?
We began examining that possibility last week when we took a look at some Bible verses that seem to say otherwise. However, knowing that others can point to verses that seem to support their view, I thought it would be appropriate to look at this from the vantage point of God’s character. Would God seek to save only a certain number of people or would He want to save everyone?
Anytime you’re going to discuss God’s character, you have to go straight to the heart of His nature. Fortunately, we’re not left to guess what that is. As John says twice in his first epistle, “God is love (1 John 4:8,16)” So from that starting point, what does that tell us about God?
Again, we’re not left in the dark. We have a perfect description of what God is like in a passage that is often read in weddings. In what is commonly called “The Love Chapter,” Paul goes beyond telling new brides and grooms what it means to truly love each other. He also describes God in a beautiful way. In 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, we read, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
Since God is love and love is patient, God, therefore, is patient. The fact that He is patient is an extremely important point, because as Peter informs us, “he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).” Did you catch that? God doesn’t want anyone to perish. In a similar fashion, Paul says that God “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).“ So already we can see that God’s heart is for everyone to be saved. If that’s the case, then wouldn’t it make sense that Jesus died for everyone?
Paul also said that love is kind. Therefore, God must be kind. In what universe would we call God kind if He didn’t have Jesus die for everyone? If there are indeed some Sue’s in this world who will never have a chance to be saved, how could they ever possibly see kindness in God? Would you?
We also see that love is not easily angered. This certainly must be true of God or how could we make sense of what happened at the cross. Despite some of the most brutal beatings and excruciating pain that man could dish out, we’re told, “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life (Romans 5:9-10!” Even when we were His enemies, He was not angry with us. Instead, he brought about reconciliation and peace between us by His sacrificial love through Jesus on the cross. In fact, it was not God who was mad at us; it was man who was mad at God. And yet, He still loves us. What remarkable and unprecedented love our God has!
The reconciliation that occurred at the cross also reveals another aspect of God’s love – that He keeps no record of wrongs. Again we turn to Paul. He made this point clear when he wrote, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them (2 Corinthians 5:19).” How is that for a loving Father?
Bringing all this together is the fact that love perseveres and never fails. Think about that for a moment. God perseveres through everything, including all our sin and ugliness. He will never give up on us. He pursues us relentlessly and woos us with His love. And through it all, His love will pierce and penetrate our stubbornness and rebelliousness. Our hard hearts will ultimately melt in the face of God’s persevering love. How can I know that? Because God’s love never fails. If indeed Jesus died for all, and the preponderance of Scripture bears this out, then it will ultimately be effective.
But what about those who cling to unbelief? Again, God’s love will never fail! To repeat the verses I quoted above, God desires that all men be saved and that all come to repentance. Will He fail? Will His love not ultimately win us over? If it won’t, then what Paul wrote about love seems to be a lie to me. Let’s remember, God is love. So if love never fails, then how can God, the one who is the very embodiment of love, possibly fail? It doesn’t add up. The only way that He could fail is if He gave up on people. If He gave up on people, then we would still be dealing with a lie because love would not have persevered. So if love perseveres and never fails, then could God fail by not persevering?
From all this I’m left to draw one conclusion – Jesus died for all! If we were left to our own inclinations, would we draw close to God? Probably not. Like Adam and Eve when they tasted the forbidden fruit, humanity has been running and hiding from God ever since. I am therefore convinced that the story of the Bible is not man seeking after God, but God seeking after man. The entire story since the Fall has been about God’s steady, relentless pursuit to find and restore what was lost, which most definitely includes the broken relationship between us and Him due to our sin and shame. And isn’t that what was happening at the cross? Wasn’t Jesus showing us all that God loves us so much that He was willing to lay down his life in order to bring about reconciliation? He’s done more than forgive us; He’s reconciled us to himself in Christ. Since he pursues us, rather than the other way around, doesn’t that demonstrate how essential His grace is? If it weren’t for his love and grace, we’d still be hiding from Him in the bushes, just like Adam and Eve. It’s time to stop hiding and let His grace show you how wide and long and high and deep His love is.
Essential Grace 