# “The Gospel is a joyful tiding for the whole groaning creation” by Herman Bavinck

- Link: https://tollelege.net/2020/08/05/the-gospel-is-a-joyful-tiding-for-the-whole-groaning-creation-by-herman-bavinck/
- Published: 2020-08-05T12:00:01-05:00
- Author: tollelege

“God so loved the world, the cosmos, that He sent His only Son, the one by whom 
all things were created. Granted, the word ‘world’ can have unfavorable connotations
in the New Testament.

It can signify the organic unity of all created reality as instrument of sin in 
opposition to the kingdom of Jesus Christ. This ‘world’ lies in wickedness (**1 
John 5:19**), has ‘the devil as its prince’ (**John 14:30; 16:11**), who is ‘the
god of this age’ (**2 Cor. 4:4**).

This world knows neither God nor His children (**John 17:25; 1 John 3:1**). In fact,
it hates the followers of Jesus as it hated Him (**John 15:18,19; 17:14**). For 
this reason ‘the world and its desires’ must be resisted and overcome by faith (**
1 John 2:15-17; 5:4**).

It is undeniable that Jesus and his apostles after Him were drawn to the ‘foolish
and the weak’ of the world, to ‘publicans and sinners.’ There is a real fear reflected
in their repeated admonitions to be alert to the temptation found in abundance of
possessions and in the reminders that this life is one filled with anxiety.

Christianity is the religion of the cross; the mystery of suffering is its center.
An aesthetic enjoyment of the world as in the Hellenic tradition is not possible.

This single notion of ‘world’ shows us clearly how wide a gulf exists between the
Christian and the classic worldview. And yet, the reverse side is not absent.

It is true that the Cross casts its shadow over all creation but so does the light
of the Resurrection.

On the one hand, the kingdom of heaven is a treasure hidden in a field and a pearl
of great price for which a man sells everything he has in order to buy it; at the
same time it is also a mustard seed that grows into a tree in which the birds of
the air build nests and a yeast that a woman takes and hides in three measures of
flour until it is all leavened.

While the world is thoroughly corrupted by sin, it is precisely this sinful world
that is the object of God’s love.

In Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting its sins (**2 
Cor. 5:19**).

Jesus, who came to the world not to condemn it but to save it (**John 3:16,17; 12:
47**), is the light (**John 1:12**), the life (**John 6:33**), the Savior of the
world (**John 4:14**).

Jesus is the atoning sacrifice not only for our sins but for the sins of the whole
world (**1 John 2:2**).

In Christ all things are reconciled to God (**Col. 1:20**), and under Him brought
together in unity (**Eph. 1:10**).

The world, created by the Son (**John 1:3**), is also created for Him as its heir(**
Col. 1:16, Heb. 1:2**).

The kingdoms of this world shall eventually become the kingdom of our Lord and of
His Christ (**Rev. 11:15**).

A new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells _is_ coming (**2 Peter
3:13**).

It is impossible to express the thoroughgoing universal scope of the Christian faith
in words more powerful and beautiful than these. Christianity knows no boundaries
beyond those which God Himself has in His good pleasure established; no boundaries
of race or age, class, or status, nationality, or language.

Sin has corrupted much; in fact, everything. The guilt of human sin is immeasurable;
the pollution that always accompanies it penetrates every structure of humanity 
and the world.

Nonetheless sin does not dominate and corrupt without God’s abundant grace in Christ
triumphing even more (**Rom. 5:15-20**). The blood of Christ cleanses us from all
sin, it is able to restore everything.

We need not, indeed we must not, despair of anyone or anything.

The Gospel is a joyful tiding, not only for the individual person but also for humanity,
for the family, for society, for the state, for art and science, for the entire 
cosmos, for the whole groaning creation.”

–Herman Bavinck, “[The Catholicity of Christianity and the Church](https://bavinckinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Bavinck_Catholicity_CTJ27.pdf),”
_Calvin Theological Journal_ 27 (1992): 223-224.

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