[Lee Grzywinski]

Hello, faithful readers!

I love how Packer begins by discussing how God is not a God of our imagination, but a revealed God. I think that this is why we sometimes struggle with the ideas of wrath (which he addressed last week) and jealousy. I like his second kind of jealousy: “zeal to protect a love-relationship.” While God’s jealousy is not human jealousy, this helps me understand – and appreciate – that God is a jealous God. I look at myself and my jealousy for my wife, and how I want to protect her and our covenant relationship, and how I want to be the one who loves and protects her. God wants to be the One to love us and provide for us and protect us. Unlike me, however, He does it perfectly and completely! How can we not respond to our jealous God with our zeal and loyalty?

As for chapter 18, I have always believed that Romans passage (Rom 3:21-26) to be one of the most important in all the Bible. I have heard people say there may have been other ways God could have saved us, but chose this way for whatever reason – maybe to show us more love or something. But I think that is not so. God had to come as human, or He would be unjust to save us. Here is where a right understanding of both His wrath and His holiness is necessary. Propitiation reveals both, even as it saves us from one (wrath) and brings us into the other (holiness). And “justice has been done, for the sins of all that will ever be pardoned were judged and punished in the Person of God the Son, and it is on this basis that pardon is now offered to us offenders.” It was the only way, and that is the Gospel.

[Matt& Donna]

Better late than never again.
Gods wisdom shown through anthropomorphic communication is for our understanding without a doubt. Packer’s points about jealousy help us avoid conflict in terms and confusion IF we understand He (God) is holy and therefore OTHER than just human even though expressed in human terms. God is above all. There is no other so how could the ultimate creator accept our devotion to any lesser god, idol, possession or relationship? God is patient and slow to anger. Great news for us. His patience is mercy and grace as we learn to love and appreciate His perfection throughout man’s history of folly. God is great and God is good. We should be jealous of His holy name as well

[Lynne Mazza-Hilway]

It’s amazing how an emotion like jealousy, when felt and filtered through sinful human flesh is so dark, “one of the most cancerous and soul-destroying vices” yet when understood and expressed through our perfect Creator and Redeemer becomes the light of holy, moral glory, a positive virtue, an aspect of His covenant love for His people. The jealousy of God “requires us to be zealous for Him, to become men of one thing, to please Him; to say along with Jesus ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work’ ” His Spirit revives us, sets our hearts on fire, gives us clean hands and pure hearts -let us not lift our souls to another!

Again confusion and distortion of truth, where man tries to envision or make God into His own image and then tries to propitiate his sin by doing good works. The heart of the Gospel is such a love story – our Creator who first loved us then redeemed us from sin and death to reconcile us to an eternal, personal relationship with Him. He did so by offering His one and only Son to not only die the most horrific death of crucification but also, taking upon Himself all the sins of the world to atone for ours, He felt the depth of separation from His Father, “the deepest of all human problems. ‘Never man feared death like this man’ ” Perhaps the most incredible demonstration of empathy, that He actually felt what the lost will feel through eternity. Praise God for those who have been chosen and accepted adoption into His family, that we may have peace with God who is always for, never against us! Who loved/loves us with a sacrificial love, the depths of which cannot be measured. Help us Lord to imitate Your love with each other, all for Your glory. May Your praise ever be in our mouths.

[Marie]

Packer reminds us that God’s jealousy is not like human envy but a holy, protective love that refuses to share His people with idols. He likens it to a husband’s rightful jealousy for his wife’s faithfulness. God’s jealousy flows from His deep commitment to us—He desires our whole-hearted love because He knows life is found only in Him. When we turn to false gods, His jealousy is aroused, not out of insecurity but out of covenantal love. This divine jealousy highlights both His justice and mercy, drawing us back to fidelity, worship, and the security of belonging fully to Him. Without understanding this, we miss the heart of Christianity. Packer turns to the results of the atonement, showing that believers are not just forgiven but made children of God.

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