I cried aloud to the Lord,

and he answered me from his holy hill.

Psalm3:4

Here is an unusual prayer: I pray that today will have been the worst day of my life. No, nothing catastrophic happened, but rather I have come to the point where the same old thing must not continue. I may seem rather religious to others, but to those who know me, I may seem like a complete fraud. Why the disconnect? Do I know God? If I do, the fruit of my life should be love, joy, peace, patience . . .  Not a callous inconsideration for the needs of others! Can anyone else relate to this?

I know enough about life to identify cycles. Coming off a mountaintop experience, a valley beckons every time. So what seems so nascent today is not necessarilly the whole truth. However, I've ID'd the pattern. It's not good. Heaven help me. 

Aspects of God's Love - D.A. Carson

 I am reviewing the first chapter of Carson's book, "The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God". 

First of all, he states, the only way to know the facts about God's love is within a Biblical worldview. However, in today's context, this can be difficult. There is no appreciation in our now post-modern world for just how unbelievable it is that God loves us. In today's society, God loves everyone, unconditionally, regardless of what they are doing. No religion is "correct" to the exclusion of all others. We are all God's children. Kumbaya. 

Moving from this post-modern milieu to a Biblical perspective, however, creates some apparent contradictions. Carson cites five aspects of God's love from the Bible. First, the love within the Trinity. Second, God's general love for all creation. He causes rain on the just and the unjust, without discrimination. Third, God's love for a world that is hostile to Him, regardless of election. Fourth, God's special love for those He has chosen. Finally, God's conditional love for his own, depending on their obedience. Jude 21 - "Keep yourselves in God's love". 

So which is it? How to understand what God's love means when all these are true? I have not yet read the rest of the book. I'm sure Carson will elaborate. For now, though, I must acknowledge that I can't simply camp out in the election theology and forget there is an aspect to God's love that loves not only the elect, but the whole world. When we were yet his enemies, He sent His Son to die for us. All of these are true, as the Bible so teaches. If our minds can't reconcile the apparent contradiction, we just need to hold things loosely. Have patience. We don't know everything yet (I Corinthians 13:12). One day we will.