I've heard considerable amounts of discussion recently that seem to pit the love of Christ against the wrath of the Father and then go on to conclude that the wrath of the Father must then not really exist since it is incongruent with the love of the Son, and thus with God himself.
Contributing in this conversation of late has been the the voice of Rob Bell and his book Love Wins. (For a review of Rob Bell's book I recommend this article on Denny Burk's blog http://www.dennyburk.com/revising-hell-into-the-heterodox-mainstream/ . Burk also has some good things to say about doctrinal controversy in his post today http://www.dennyburk.com/on-doctrinal-controversy/)
Several possible avenues for dismantling the false dichotomy of God's love v. God's wrath come to mind, but I don't want to discuss them here today.
I just want to share a quotation I discovered.
Last night I was pondering these things in the back of my mind after theology class while preparing a message on John 17. Around midnight I stumbled upon the words of Gary M. Burge in his commentary on the gospel of John. His words helped to clarify my thinking.
...we need to explore a new appreciation for what God has done in and through the Incarnation. We need to see the salvific dimensions of God-in-Christ. God has shown His love for us not simply in sending His Son to the cross, but in coming Himself to be with us. The death of Christ is not the precondition of God's love for us, as if we were despised by Him, as if we angered Him, and only at the cross was His feeling toward us reversed. 'God was in Christ reconciling the world' (ASV, 2 Cor. 5:19). Jesus did not come to change God's mind, instead, He came to express God's mind. If God so loved the world ([Jn] 3:16), He loved us too.
(p. 476, emphasis mine)
