Knowing God
J I Packer
Class notes #8 –
- Review from last time
- Toon+ critique of Zahl’s book:
- What do you think about Fr Toon’s comment that Zahl seemingly looks for Christ’s “not in sacraments, not in preaching of the Word, not in church fellowship, not in the gifts of the Spirit etc., but he is found in ‘works of love’”.
i. Assume for a moment Toon’s critique is accurate…what does that mean about Jesus? How might it add to or subtract from our encounters with Christ? How is it true? In what ways is it false?
ii. Re-look at the double “flow” or procession. Again, how does understanding this flow impact our worship or pray life (or does it at all?)
- What do we mean by “sin” (pp 190 – read 2nd paragraph)
- Sin is ALWAYS committed against God – not against others.
- Compare & contrast Pagan propitiation with the Christian concept:
- Pagan God’s are unreliable, capricious, callous, and cruel.
- The Creator God of the bible is good, moral, loving, righteous, reliable.
The distinctions sometimes seem hard to see…how do we know that they are true? Our God asks just one penalty for sin and that is the offering of His son as the only perfect and complete offering though which all of creation is redeemed. The penalty is never paid again – there is only one crucifixion.
- What is propitiation? – “the removal of wrath by the offering of a gift”.
What is Expiation? “the removal of a sin” - Expiation is directed at a sin
- Propitiation is directed towards a person (or, really, towards God).
If sin is a ‘thing’ it can be expiated. If sin impacts a relationship than it must be propitiated.
What do we have if expiation is all that is offered? - How is propitiation effected? (pp 185)?
- By His own action – man is incapable of doing so himself.
- By the death of Jesus on the Cross (pp 186)
- Propitiation is effected through Christ and is necessary because of God’s holiness.
i. For God NOT to act to punish sin would be to deny His own goodness and righteousness – God’s moral being would have no meaning or value.
- Given the above, how do we understand Christ’s life? What was His role and how was it necessary?(pp 191)
- How can we understand God’s ‘anger’ or ‘wrath’? – righteous anger: the right reaction of moral perfection in the Creator toward moral perversity in the creature.
- What of those who reject God? What is Universalism? What is one consequence of the reality of hell for those who reject God?
- “loneliness, pain, a killing sense of human malice and callousness, and a horror of great spiritual darkness” (pp 195)
- What is the heart of the Gospel?! Christ’s propitiation.
- Next Week – November 16 – Chapter 19
- What is adoption? Why is it important?
