Tag Archives: Atonement

WHOSE NAME WAS ON THE CUP?

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WHOSE NAME WAS ON THE CUP? A Communion Meditation Jack Cottrell, July 2014 [For a recent communion meditation at the church where I serve, I brought a prop to the pulpit with me. It was a fairly large coffee cup that had a name engraved on it: the name of my wife, Barbara. I held the cup prominently in my hands as I gave the following thoughts:] In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39, ESV). What WAS that cup? What was IN that cup? In Bible … Continue reading →

WAS JESUS OMNISCIENT?

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QUESTION: Did Jesus’ divine nature include omniscience? Was Jesus all-knowing? If so, how do we explain Matthew 24:36? ANSWER: Many crucial Christian beliefs are involved in the answer to such questions, e.g., the immutability (unchangeableness) of God, the nature of the incarnation, and especially the divine nature of Jesus, which is the presupposition for the substitutionary atonement. Unless Jesus was fully divine and thus infinite in nature, He could not have been the propitiation for our sins, suffering the equivalent of eternity in hell for the entire human race in the finite event of the cross. (See my book, What … Continue reading →

THE ATONEMENT AND PHYSICAL HEALING

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QUESTION: I have friends who believe that the healing of physical diseases is one of the results of the atonement. They believe that Jesus died to bring us healing of our bodies. Thus if we are Christians, we should receive physical healing and should not be sick. What does the Bible say? ANSWER: This view is found in a variation of the modern Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. It is sometimes called the Word of Faith (or Word Faith) Movement, or the Health and Wealth Movement (or Prosperity Gospel). Worldwide, it is one of the largest and fastest-growing forms of Christendom. … Continue reading →

God’s Foreknowledge in the Bible

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QUESTION: Does the Bible teach that God knows the future? ANSWER: This is the question of divine foreknowledge. One of the main attributes of God is called “omniscience,” which literally means the knowledge of everything. As usually applied, to say that God is omniscient means that he knows everything. This means he knows all possibilities as well as all actualities. In the category of actualities, this means he has complete knowledge of the actual past, the actual present, and the actual future. His knowledge of the future is his foreknowledge. Divine foreknowledge has always been accepted by most Bible-believers. There … Continue reading →

The Righteousness of God in the Gospel

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QUESTION: In Romans 1:16-17 Paul says that the righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel. The word “gospel” means “good news.” In what sense can the righteousness of God be good news for sinners? ANSWER: That God is righteous means that he must always be true to himself; he must always be true to every aspect of his nature. This is his consistency of character. It means that he must be true BOTH to his holy nature (his perfect moral purity) AND to his loving nature. In reference to the former, “righteousness” includes seeing that the requirements of his … Continue reading →

THE SPRINKLED BLOOD: A COMMUNION MEDITATION

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THE SPRINKLED BLOOD: A COMMUNION MEDITATION by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Sunday, February 17, 2013 at 2:35pm THE SPRINKLED BLOOD: A Communion Meditation In the days of the Old Covenant, the Law of Moses required many kinds of animal sacrifices. In such a sacrifice, when the animal’s throat was cut, a priest collected its blood in a basin, then sprinkled the blood on various things—sometimes on the worshipers themselves! For example, regarding the special covenant-making ceremony recorded in Exodus 24, verse 8 describes part of it thus: “So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, … Continue reading →

Communion Meditation: THE LAMB OF GOD

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Communion Meditation: THE LAMB OF GOD by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Monday, December 24, 2012 at 11:34am JESUS: THE LAMB OF GOD A Communion Meditation for a Christmas Eve Service After Jesus’ baptism and temptation, he returned to the place where John the Baptist was preaching and baptizing. John looked at Jesus and said, “Behold, THE LAMB OF GOD, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). What does this mean, that Jesus is “the Lamb of God”? Gary Burge, in his commentary on John, says he once asked a mature Christian why Jesus is called “the Lamb … Continue reading →

Does the Land of Canaan Belong to the Jews Forever?

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Does the Land of Canaan Belong to the Jews Forever? by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Thursday, April 26, 2012 at 4:14pm QUESTION: How do you reconcile your view that national Israel (the Jewish nation) is no longer and never again will be the people of God, with the Old Testament promise that the land of Canaan (once known as Palestine, now known as Israel) will belong to the Jewish people FOREVER? ANSWER: You are referring to God’s promise to Abraham, first recorded in Genesis 12:7 and subsequently repeated to him and to the other patriarchs. In Gen. 12:7 God said … Continue reading →

In the Atonement, Did God the Father Suffer Along with the Son?

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In the Atonement, Did God the Father Suffer Along with the Son? by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Friday, March 9, 2012 at 2:40pm QUESTION: We talk a lot about how Jesus suffered to accomplish atonement for our sins, but did not God the Father also share in this suffering? If Christ’s suffering was separation from the Father (Matthew 27:46 – “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”), did the Father not also experience the grief of this separation, this broken relationship? Thus it seems that not only did Christ pay for our sins, but so did the Father … Continue reading →

The Cross and the Resurrection

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The Cross and the Resurrection by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Friday, March 9, 2012 at 10:16am QUESTION: We talk a lot about Jesus’ death on the cross as the event that brings about our salvation from sin, but was not his resurrection from the dead just as important as the cross? Isn’t his resurrection part of the dying for the sins of the world? In his resurrection did he not take the keys of death and hell away from Satan? If there were no resurrection would we not still be in our sins? ANSWER: Without a doubt the resurrection of … Continue reading →