the opposition of God

Here is a powerful line from this week’s reading in Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics, II/1:

“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the God who has sent us His Son, who is the Lord of the covenant sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ, who is the Spirit of grace. In the last resort this is the only thing to be feared. But it really is fearful. For here there is a conflict between God and the creature, a conflict in which the creature can be only the threatened party. The revelation of God, just because it is a revelation of His love and grace, means the revelation of His opposition to man, i.e., of His opposition to the opposition in which man exists over against Him” (362).

Barth is saying that our opposition is no match for God’s grace. God is never surprised, overwhelmed, or in any way impressed by our opposition. Indeed, he was counting on it.