Analogy of the Gospel
To be honest, I thought this a little clumsy, but when I used it in a message not long ago it seemed to be received with favour. So, here is an analogy of how we can understand God loves us through Jesus' death and resurrection.
A father and son begin a law firm. Through hard work and commitment to quality and integrity the pair build their firm into one of the largest and most prestigious lawyer’s companies in the city. Their clients range from government officials to the man on the street.
One day, the father and son become aware of a section in their company where every junior employee has been using the company name for their own illegal purposes. So the father has his son resign from his position in the company and sends him as a junior employee to that section of the company. He then has all the junior employees in that section arrested – including his son.
When in custody, the son pleads guilty to all the charges and so was brought before the court. His father was the prosecuting lawyer and made sure he was sent to jail for a number of years allowing all the other junior employees to go free on condition that they returned to the law firm and accepted a promotion.
What sense does that make? The junior employees had no claim on the affections of the father. They were employed in his company and they betrayed his trust. It would have meant nothing to him to send them to jail. Yet he sent his own son to take the punishment on condition that they return to the law firm and accept a promotion?
Isn’t that exactly what God has done for us in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? We have no claim on the affections of God. We were part of His good creation but we corrupted ourselves. It would have meant nothing to Him to scrap us and start again, yet, because He is love, He sent His Son Jesus Christ to take our punishment on condition that we return to Him and be made new.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God send His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:9)
A father and son begin a law firm. Through hard work and commitment to quality and integrity the pair build their firm into one of the largest and most prestigious lawyer’s companies in the city. Their clients range from government officials to the man on the street.
One day, the father and son become aware of a section in their company where every junior employee has been using the company name for their own illegal purposes. So the father has his son resign from his position in the company and sends him as a junior employee to that section of the company. He then has all the junior employees in that section arrested – including his son.
When in custody, the son pleads guilty to all the charges and so was brought before the court. His father was the prosecuting lawyer and made sure he was sent to jail for a number of years allowing all the other junior employees to go free on condition that they returned to the law firm and accepted a promotion.
What sense does that make? The junior employees had no claim on the affections of the father. They were employed in his company and they betrayed his trust. It would have meant nothing to him to send them to jail. Yet he sent his own son to take the punishment on condition that they return to the law firm and accept a promotion?
Isn’t that exactly what God has done for us in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? We have no claim on the affections of God. We were part of His good creation but we corrupted ourselves. It would have meant nothing to Him to scrap us and start again, yet, because He is love, He sent His Son Jesus Christ to take our punishment on condition that we return to Him and be made new.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God send His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:9)
posted by Ali at 8:51 AM
3 Comments:
Kewl!
Very good illustration.
Aw, shucks. (Kicks ground with one foot and blushes). Thanks guys.
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