The Gospel Paradox
I shared a while ago about GETTING WHAT I DESERVE. I have the somewhat controversial belief, “I deserve God’s Grace.” I deserve His Love.
This ‘GETTING WHAT I DESERVE’ blog was met with a few well-lobbed truth bombs. 1. Grace is a gift we do not deserve, BOOM! and 2. our goodness is as filthy rags Isaiah 64:6. BOOM!
My only defense of my beliefs is… I am a child of God, and my Heavenly Father is the perfect parent who loves me.
Even Jeff, the imperfect parent, desired to be forgiving, patient, and graceful when I raised my kids, no matter any of their wild-haired prodigal moments.
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Mt 7:11 - Jesus
My perfect Heavenly Father loves and forgives perfectly, and His Grace is Amazing. That’s what a PERFECT father does.
as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. Ps 103:12-14
This, to me, is a Gospel Paradox where I am both a sinner, dead in my sins, AND a repentant child of God with the promise I will live forever in Heaven.
God’s Nature is often a beautiful PARADOX where many seemingly contradictory statements are both true.
IMO God’s Word is a Holy Paradox Treasure Trove.
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Cor 1:18
Think of it… Jesus was CRUCIFIED, as part of God’s perfect plan for salvation. Important note: He is risen!
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Mt 7:13-14
"Who, though he (Jesus) was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. " Phil 2:6-7
That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.
For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Cor 12:10
GOD’S NATURE includes both LOVE & WRATH
- For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jo 3:16
- For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Ro 1:18
If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. …
But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason. Jo 15:18-25
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mt 20:28
“So the LAST will be first, and the FIRST will be last.” Mt 20:16
MIC DROP! MIND BLOWN! God’s Truth is a beautiful PARADOX.
May God speak to each of us when we are in God’s Word, and savor the complex, rich, and far-reaching timeless truths in God’s Word.
Jeff (A True Back Pew Paradox) Larson
