Someone has asked me what God actually did on that Cross. It's a good question.Amongst theologians, answers to that question are called "theories of atonement."
But then I don't really like theologians.
The short answer is that it is impossible to know. Sure, we acknowledge the effect--our salvation and deliverance from sin and darkness--but does that really explain what happened?
Well, not exactly.
All can I tell you is what I know about myself. You see, I know that I struggle through life. I know that I mess up. Sometimes this is because I accidentally stumble into something. Sometimes it's because my heart and focus are in the wrong place. Whatever the case, I just can't deny how much I fail and invite the spirit that kills into the center of my soul.
And I have tried to fix my own shortcomings, repair the destruction I have wrought...tried to resuscitate those parts of me, those relationships, those situations that are dead because of me. Most of the time, I haven't been able to. Even if I am, they promise never to be the same.
As I said, I speak only for myself. Maybe there are others who do not have such problems. Who don't mess up or when they do can always fix it. But that's not me. All I know is that I have been powerless to control such things and am incapable of stopping the forces of death my actions have unleashed.
What I need? Someone else to intervene, take the bullet. Use His power to absorb the mistakes that will certainly destroy me. For though they're mine to deal with, I can't do anything about them.
In a way, that is the divine nonsense that is the message of the Cross. It's God saying, "Josh, I know you're a putz. You're ruining yourself and have fallen so far under the power of death that I'm going to have to take your place. And don't argue with me about this. I'm doing this because it's the only way and you know it. I'm doing this because I love you."
Now why would someone do that? I don't know. But He did.
And that's a very good thing.
6 comments:
Okay. I'm with you on that "causing deaths to relationships, etc." stuff. And I understand that I can't make things right and that I have to "wait upon the Lord."
So.
You're saying that before the crucifixion, God didn't help out people that way?
Wait. Wait. I might be getting a brainwave here.
Okay. So the old testament with the vengeful fearsome God...with the crucifixion, He's changed the rules, huh?
That's the "new covenant?" And Jesus had to be crucified to seal the deal?
Well, I wouldn't necessarily say "vengeful fearsome God." I admit the Old Testament can be read that way, but I have to believe that in spite of that God's character is steady.
Perhaps a good way to look at it is this: humans beings exist in time, moving forward on a line from point A to B to C, etc. There is no moving backward on the line and no jumping ahead. There is just a steady progression, and we don't know what's going to happen next.
God, on the other hand, is outside of this line. He does not exist on the line, but is looking directly at the line. He doesn't see "before" or "after." He just sees it all at once.
Our separation from God occurs in time, but has an effect that ripples through the entire line of human history. God sees this and enters at a point in the line on our behalf. It might seem like an arbitrary point for us with a "definite" before and "after," but for God that entry into human history has an effect on all of history. He beholds the whole line all at once.
Thus Jesus' sacrifice is God's act of mercy for all human history. All who put their faith in God are covered by the sacrifice of Jesus, even if they happen to exist "before" Jesus came (which seems so only because of our finitude).
That is, I think, one way of looking at it. I'm not contending that it is 100% correct, but that it might get us thinking about a better way to see the Crucifixion.
Jesus' death is thus once and for all time the "new covenant" of God with humanity.
By the way, "anonymous"...Are you anyone I know?
No. We've never met. That's why I feel so free to discuss this stuff with you.
Cool.
Just curious.
Hmm. Thanks.
You've arranged the ingredients in a different way for me. I'll have to think about this.
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