Jesus' death on the cross is so central to everything. Yet, we (if we will be honest) struggle to understand why it had to happen.
Did you ever think about how much of Jesus' living, baptism, teaching, even death on the cross, was an act of solidarity? Richard Beck has written a post contrasting the "on-stage" vs. "back-stage" storylines of the crucifixion. Check it out here.
Friday, May 25, 2007
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You know, I think about this stuff a lot. But there are some key things I believe the Spirit is leading me to understand. It's true, God is so big and all powerful that he could will himself to have just forgotten sins without any punishment. But, consider this. God is complete love acting in complete perfection in complete truth. A combination I will never fully realize in the flesh. I consider the intent of God a lot. And personally, here is my conclusion. God is perfectly, love and truth. He cannot help but be those things. It's impossible for him to be anything but perfect. For some reason he values freedom in his creation. He wants us to choose to love him and seek him. When there's a choice involved, the love in a relationship can be real. It's more precious because its chosen. Marraige as God ordained it reflects this. The very fact that God put the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the garden is a testament to His great love as the author of human freedom. If that tree were not there, then there would have been no way Adam and Eve could have disobeyed God. There was risk involved here. God opened himself up to be hurt by the ones he created to have a relationship with. WOW!
Now, heading in a slightly different direction God is perfectly just. We all want things to be fair, but our definition of justice often lags far behind God's definition of justice. He cannot, being perfect, turn a blind eye toward injustice. And the way I understand injustice is any action (wrongdoing) that conflicts with God's will. He cannot just let it go. And nearly every waking moment whether in thought or action we are committing injustices all the time. Physically, we just cannot help it. We can't be perfect.
When I think about the cross, I think about when God made the covenant with Abram and walked through the bloody path. The implications of this litterally had me in tears one day. Because God made a covenant with a man and basically said that if he did not keep this covenant his blood would be spilt. Then a couple thousand years later, when humans couldn't keep a convenant God intervened and shed his blood letting the perpetrators go free for all time! I know, this still doesn't answer the why. In my mind, there is only one why -- He loves us. I don't think there can be any other answer.
Sorry this rambled on.
Excellent discussion point!
That was beautiful, Eric! Thanks for saying what you did.
Jennifer
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