Ministers of the gospel are instruments of God’s plan to renew the world, delivering humanity from its curse, said R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, at the school’s 220th commencement exercises, December 8.
“Go and preach. Go and tell. Teach the good news that Christ has redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us. Take the message of the gospel of Christ far as the curse is found.” — R. Albert Mohler Jr.
During the ceremony in the seminary’s historic Alumni Memorial Chapel, 156 master’s and doctoral students received their degrees as members of a 211-person graduating class.
Mohler tied his address to the December graduates directly to the Christmas season. Many musicologists and worship leaders affirm that “Joy To the World,” published by Isaac Watts in 1719. The hymn, which is a bold and ecstatic declaration of God’s rule and reign over creation, is not fundamentally about Christmas, said Mohler in his commencement address, titled “Far as the Curse is Found.” It instead points to Christ’s second Advent, when he will make everything new. “Go and preach,” said Mohler. “Go and tell. Teach the good news that Christ has redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us. Take the message of the gospel of Christ far as the curse is found.”
— Andrew J.W. Smith