"God is too holy to even look at sin. His eyes are averted from His Son. The light of His countenance is turned off; all blessedness is removed from His Son whom He loves. And in its place is the full measure of the divine curse. All the imagery that portrays the historical event of the cross is the imagery of the curse. Jesus needed to be delivered into the hands of the gentiles so He could be crucified outside the camp so the full measure of the curse and the darkness could be visited upon Him. God adds to these details others—God turns out the light of the sun so as God turns His face, even the sun won’t shine on Calvary. Bearing the full measure of the curse Christ screams “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus did not merely feel forsaken; He was forsaken. He was utterly, totally and completely forsaken by the Father.
There is none of this to be found in the pseudo-gospels of our day. When we hear that Jesus loves us all unconditionally, it is a travesty. What pagan when he hears this does not hear that he has no need of repentance? He can continue in sin without fear knowing that all has been taken care of. There is a profound sense that God does love people even in their corruption, but they are still under his anathema. Even in this hall today there are many who are under the curse of God; who have not yet fled to the cross; who are still counting on this idea of the unconditional love of God.
When Jesus was forsaken by God, when He bore the curse, it was as if Jesus heard the words “God damn you.” This is what it means to be under the anathema of the curse. It is far worse, far more powerful, far more profound than we can know. We cannot understand this, but we know it is true. Everyone who has not been covered by the righteousness of Christ draws every breath under the curse of God. If you believe that, you will stop adding to the gospel and start preaching it with clarity and with boldness because it is the only hope we have. And it is hope enough." (A post from Tim Challies, of RC Sproul's sermon)
6 comments:
Sproul is one of my all-time favorite people in the world. (That's a good likeness of him, too.) His teaching on God's holiness left a huge impact on me back in the late 80's or early 90's.
RC is the top theologian in our time methinks Craver. I saw him lecture, and his giftedness is really complimented by his humility.
In 1987 I was attending a liberal PCUSA church, and I found R.C. Sproul's "Holiness of God" in the Who this God really is. Thank God for using and giving to us R.C. Sproul. He is indeed a true blessing for us all.
thelittleweknow.blogspot.com
Thanks for the visit Tom.
Indeed. Without Jesus we are doomed to the curse. Praise God Jesus became a curse for us.....
"But some man will say, it is absurd and slanderous to call the Son of God a cursed sinner. I answer, if you deny Him to be a sinner and accursed, deny also that He was crucified and dead. For it is no less absurd to say the Son of God (as our faith confesses and believes) was crucified and suffered the pains of sin and death, than to say that He is a sinner and accursed. ...God made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." -Martin Luther
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