I have heard it said that when God sees us, who He really sees is Christ. I have probably heard it said thus because I've grown up in an evangelical culture, but my closest friend, who comes from a Lutheran background, has harped on me that "we all have individuality," in response to a statement like the previous. I have now come to agree with him that individuality is extremely important in how God sees us, not in the sense that any aspect of our person impresses Him, but that He looks at us as individuals. I think Kirk put it well when he says:
In other words, Piper’s view seems to be that God continues to hate humans, except for the only one he actually loves, Jesus Christ. And if he does love Jesus, he showed that in a very strange way, by killing him. Also, in this case, as Polycarp asked in a comment here,
If God hates sinners, then why Christ?
I think that is a legitimate question and a sensible argument. When God looks at us, can He not see us as wretched individuals who love Him?
2 comments:
I like the overall point you are making here (about God seeing us as individuals) but I am pretty underwhelmed by Kirk's arguments against Piper's point of view. I think the whole "Does God love sinners or hate sinners?" thing is a false dichotomy. Piper is right that God hates our sin and exercises his wrath against it when we are unrepentant (see Eph. 2:3 and John 3:36), and Kirk is right that God loves everyone and doesn't want anyone to perish (see John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 2 Peter 3:9).
I think what is going on here is a classic case of worldview collision. Piper's view of the world (in my imagination, at least) is that most people have heard the milk toast statements about God loving them without ever being convicted of their sin. So he preaches on that. Kirk's view of the world is that people have been lambasted by conservative preachers thundering about the dangers of hell and need to be reminded that God loves them. Both are partially right, and both sides need to be there for a full presentation of the gospel.
The more subtle argument (does Piper think God hates "sin" or "sinners"?) is, I think, mostly semantic, although neither side would agree with that!
Good point. I sometimes feel annoyed however that most answers seem to lie in the middle ground. It's easier and feels more right sometimes to be at one extreme or the other.
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