John Piper: Carry My Love to My Beloved
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"The foundation of Paul’s profound affection for these people is that he knows that he stood with them on the precipice of the wrath of God called hell, where he and they deserve to be today, and that he and they were snatched to safety by the Son of God as he went over that precipice. And they stand trembling, happy, hugging on solid ground, namely, in Christ. That’s why he says in Christ and in the Lord eight times. That’s where Paul lives with them.
We were in as much danger as we could possibly be in—together. And now, we are as safe in Christ as we can possibly be—together. This was so real for Paul he could still smell the flames. He could feel still feel the ice in this thighs as he looked over the edge of the abyss into the wrath of God. And now, rescued by Christ, and living in Christ, nobody looks the same anymore. Everybody here in Christ is blood-bought and safe.
If we don’t feel a kind of trembling, deep affection for each other in Christ, it’s probably because we don’t feel very deserving of hell and we don’t feel amazed at our rescue. And, therefore, the safety we enjoy together doesn’t feel very precious. It’s as though nobody was ever buried in the mine. And there were no all-night vigils, and no heart-rending prayers. And, therefore, no brothers or fathers or husbands emerging from the elevator shaft. And so no hugging. If we want to understand and experience the warmth and preciousness of Paul’s relationships in this chapter, we have to experience again what it means to be rescued from wrath by the blood of Christ and to be eternally safe in Christ—together."
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