- He (Father God) supposedly HAD to have His perfect sinless son die while God Himself turned His back on Jesus at the cross
- He (Father God) HAS to have proper "payment" for being wronged
- Religion (conformity tool - fear-based) is pushed more than relationship, Sin-management vs. His process
Try taking "Eternity" away and then reflecting if God is approachable or lovable .. or an endearing presence. Jesus seemed to emphasize that knowing the Father is in fact true freedom.
Is God the Father that type of father that left your mom years ago and sends you a letter once in a while?
Religion's message is God was offended and Jesus dies for God to make Him happy. Bad things and shame in superstitious times as indication that something needs to be appeased. Performance then keeps God "happy". Religion uses shame to manipulate us ..
How can Jesus be our friend and God be the "bad cop"?
The view of the cross then becomes a key concept in how life is lived with a Father who is so very fond of me. Perfect love drives out all fear. God is Love at His core.
Jesus comes (God comes) and does not shame people .. He is in proximity with "sinners" and they did not feel fear in His presence.
Jesus came to LIVE first .. and God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) removes the ROOT of sin .. through Jesus' death on the cross. Father WAS there and did not turn His back .. NO DAD DOES THAT. (IMHO of course)
So is the Christian life duty .. or is it life with a loving Father and Friend?
His love sets us free from this shame management religion that man has built ... religion has gotten God wrong .. misunderstood!
[option: The Misunderstood God by Darin Hufford ".. THE MISUNDERSTOOD GOD tells the truth about who the Creator is. This book analyzes what religion says about God's heart and personality and measures it up to what God calls Himself: Love. It simplifies a generation's tangled perceptions of God by taking a journey through the sixteen aspects of love described in one of the most well-known Bible passages in the world: 1 Corinthians 13, also known as "the love chapter." So many Christians have been bombarded with confusing teachings and doctrines that their understanding of God resembles a tightly tangled ball of Christmas tree lights. This book takes that twisted mess and replaces it with one soft, warm light of truth that anyone can embrace: God is love..."]
French translation of the Bible, Paul comes off as a grandfather talking to his grandkids .. THAT is a better translation.
If God scares you .. check it .. ask yourself why! Why does Jesus not scare you? Ask God why this does not line up.
“We do not think ourselves into new ways of living, we live ourselves into new ways of thinking.”
― Richard Rohr
Living loved by the Father makes all the difference in the world .. it is no longer performance .. and we no longer measure ourselves by those around us .. win-win!
"... [this podcast discusses] how the Gospel is presented in our day and how it is perceived by the world. Do we serve a God that needs to be appeased, either by the death of his Son, or by us trying to ingratiate ourselves to him? The more Christianity paints the Gospel as God's need to be appeased rather than our need for his affection, the more the Gospel gets distorted. Why has appeasement become the overriding view of our relationship with God? And isn't it the opposite of what the Incarnation and the cross accomplished? If we live by appeasement we'll never discover the wonder of his affection for us."
A listener to this podcast reflected:
"...I asked friends for their thoughts to this; “What separates us from a relationship with God?”
Most responded with the standard institutionalized response centered on “sin.”
As I re-read the passages, it seems God had a relationship with His children up until the point that they felt SHAME.
Shame gets in the way of healthy relationships.
Looking over the Old Testament, God tried to help us appease our sense of shame.
Religion taught us to appease God (which kind of worked to FEED shame).
Jesus taught and sacrificed himself to REMOVE shame..."
What do you think?
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