what follows is a series of thoughts and expressions which bear no necessary relation to each other; i simply wrote them down as they came to mind ..
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someone wisely wrote recently
. . "the cross wasn't so we could walk in the power of the resurrection
. . the resurrection was so we could walk in the power of the cross" ..
resurrection is so i can bear my cross
Jesus spoke to that once; he said that i must be willing to deny my self and pick up my cross each day in order to follow him (Mark 8:34)
so i die to me and my falleness (in baptism it is represented as my death 'in Christ'), and my resurrected self is purposeful in dying for the rest of my life ..
it's sometimes been referred to as a 'cruciform' life, a life of cross ..
it is in dying that the love of God is able to abound in me and flow out of me in abundance, for God's sake ..
Jesus said this: "if you're holding on to life, you'll lose it; but if you're willing to release your life for me and the gospel's sake, you will find life-to-the-fullest"
it's in the dying
that way Christ gets to live in me and through me, to the fullest
"my old self has been crucified with Christ.
it is no longer i who live, but Christ who lives in me" (Galatians 2:20)
. . i am 'in Christ' (Paul)
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the eucharist/Lord's supper is seen by many as the central aspect of a christian gathering ..
this significant ritual has a most distinctive purpose: in Paul's words, "every time you eat this bread and drink this cup you are announcing the Lord's death until he comes again" (1Corinthians 11:26)
. . the very perpetuation of eucharist is on the basis of Jesus' death ..
Jesus said this at the Last Supper, where the eucharist was instituted - "this is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
tell me something, how do we get Jesus doing this just days before his death, and it not be of God's design?
a well-known preacher recently posted an article in which he said ..
- "It was not God who required the sacrifice of Jesus, it was human civilization."
- "God did not will the murder of his son. He simply knew it would occur."
(B.Z., Jesus Died For Us .. not for God)
how could this be if Jesus said his blood was the institution of the New Covenant?
seems that Jesus' statement makes his blood an integral and indispensible aspect of the Covenant, and of the 'forgiveness of sins', just like he said ..
d'you mean he simply decided to use his blood for that purpose since he was going to be killed anyway? .. "it's not Father's will, but since they're going to kill me i might as well use my blood for this .." .. like that?
are you kidding me???
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seems to me people are simply fed-up with the idea of an angry God ..
the Old Covenant seems to portray a God who's always angry at somebody, and wants to hurt people to exact punishment .. .
we're simply sick of all the anger stuff ..
i don't want to deal with the specifics of that here, but i will say this ..
if i get angry at injustice and abuse, child prostitution and rape, homelessness and discrimination, and people slanderously lying about me .. how come God can't be angry?
God is angry .. angry at the satan; angry at the powers of darkenss, the wicked spirit-authorities; angry that sin has wounded the cosmos that Godself created, angry that sin abounds ..
why on Earth does that freak people out?
but that Godly anger does not injure or exact punishment .. it loves, a love that calls for sacrifice, the sacrifice of Godself for the creation, for the 'imago dei' people
God's anger is a loving anger that cries out for fixing stuff, setting things right, making the cosmos the Godplace God intended it to be where the goodness of Godself abounds and is shared with others ..
that's the difference ..
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Jesus' sacifice was not for retributive justice, it wasn't exacting punishment for an offense ..
Jesus died for cleansing
his death was the firstmove in God's reconciliation
"there is one God and one mediator who can reconcile God and humanity - the man Christ Jesus" (1Timothy 2:5)
"God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them" (2Corinthians 5:19)
"God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood on the cross" (Colossians 1: 19,20)
note that verse ..
- the fullness of Godself lived in the Christ - Jesus was completely indwelt by God
- God used Jesus to bring reconciliation of all things
- God did this through Jesus' blood shed on the cross ..
what is it i'm missing?
how is the sacrifice of Jesus not a Godmove in the direction of cosmic reconciliation ..? ..
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there's tons more going on than we are aware of in the Earth and in the cosmos
the scriptures speak regularly to this ..
- eg. the church is teaching the angels stuff ..
"I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning. God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord." (Ephesians 3:8-11)
- eg. although we're quick to posit "God is in control", it's evident that God is in a struggle with other spiritual powers ..
"Just then a hand touched me and lifted me, still trembling, to my hands and knees. And the man said to me, “Daniel, you are very precious to God, so listen carefully to what I have to say to you. Stand up, for I have been sent to you.” When he said this to me, I stood up, still trembling. Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come. (Daniel 10:10-14)
- eg. Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:10-12)
so while we run around in the think that we're the centre of the cosmos, let's acknowledge that there's stuff happening that we are hardly aware of ..
point is, what God is doing through Jesus' ministry, culminating here with his death and resurrection, extends far beyond this world to the reaches of the spiritworld where the forces of good and evil rage ..
Jesus' cross had a profound impact on the entirety of all that exists everywhere
and he's even using us, his church, to demonstrate that ..
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Isaiah 53 ..
Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.
He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.
Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!
But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.
Unjustly condemned, he was led away.
No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream.
But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people.
He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone.
But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.
But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.
I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
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Phlippians 2 ..
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
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it's in the piled-up dirt at the foot of the cross that we come face to face with a recognition ..
this love is vast! this love is deep! this love is boundless!
it is not wrath we find here .. it is love
love abounding to all
even me
the chief of the rebels
peace and love
in Jesus' name
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