Several years ago, an author named Rob Bell released a book titled “Love Wins”. Before the book was released, Bell used a promotional video (Link) as a teaser for the book. In this video he asks the question, “Will only a select few make it to Heaven, and billions and billions of people burn forever in hell?” His book openly promotes the idea of universal reconciliation; the false idea that everyone, in their sin and depravity, will ultimately be reconciled to God because of His divine love, grace, and mercy. In the end… Love Wins.
This simple two-word phrase has also become the slogan of something that has happened more recently. Yesterday, our Supreme Court ruled it legal for homosexual couples to be legally married in any state in the USA. I’ve seen this celebrated all over social media. I’ve seen parades, concerts, festivals, people screaming with excitement, people crying tears of joy, and people running up and down the streets in celebration. Love and marriage are no longer confined to one man and one women, so… Love Wins.
As I sat this morning reading and watching all that has unfolded in our nation, my heart broke and my mind began to go crazy. First off, I began to think about my 7 month old son growing up in a world where “love is love”. Whether that be between a man and women, a man and man, or a women and women. He may go to school and have classmates with 2 mommies or 2 daddies.
Now, many people will think positively about these circumstances. They will say it’s good for him to grow up in a world with an open mind about these things. However, here is my concern and what I WILL communicate to my son… The Bible is the number one authority in our home and our lives; not the government, not a national document, not popular opinion. So, where the Bible says, “sin”, my son will be taught “sin”. I am not naive enough to think anything and everything I teach him will become absolute truth in his mind. He will make mistakes. He will fall into mindsets of popular opinion; but I will not shy away or back down from the truth and standards that scripture teaches. I will pray fervently for his salvation and for the gospel of Jesus to penetrate his life and heart so he too will see the world in it’s lost and dark state.
This decision by the Supreme Court has also made me want to reevaluate by own marriage. Marriage according to the Bible is a beautiful picture of the gospel and the love that Jesus has for His bride, the church. Because of the world my son will grow up in, I commit to letting him see God-honoring, gospel-centered marriage between his parents. As his parents, I want the number one influences in his life to demonstrate for him the love of Jesus. Let this decision by our government be a call for us to dig deeper and strive harder as gospel-centered parents, families, and believers in Jesus.
Back to Mr. Bell, he also makes a statement in his video saying, “What is God like? Millions and millions of people were taught that the primary message, the center of the gospel, is that God is going to send you to hell unless you believe in Jesus. And so what subtly gets caught and taught is that Jesus rescues you from God. But what kind of God is that that we would need to be rescued from this God?” Other than the obvious theological issues denied in that quote (such as the trinity), Jesus did not come to this world to rescue us from God. We are a people, according to John 3:18, who are already condemned. God is not “sending” us to hell. Our sin condemns us to hell. God sent Jesus, out His great love for us, to save us from our own condemnation (John 3:16). Unfortunately, we continue to see John 3:19-20 lived out in our world today, “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.”
Church, in situations like yesterday, what more should we expect than for people living in sin and darkness to celebrate their sin. Let’s remember who our God is. God is love. God is just. God is sovereign. God is in control. God is not caught off guard. Let’s further remember, our calling is the same. Our God is the same yesterday, today and forever. His truth is the same. His victory over sin is the same. Our victory in Him is the same. The ending remains the same.
Church… Love Wins!
