From Wayne Jacobson .. revisiting what the cross was all about .. consider:
What if we have understood the cross all wrong?
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46
What if we have understood the cross all wrong? In an attempt to explain the necessity of the crucifixion and provide a rationale for why Christ had to suffer such a brutal, agonizing death, many have looked at the problem of sin and suggested it was the only way appease the wrath of a Holy God, so offended by our sin that he had to brutalize his only Son to satisfy his need for justice.
The only problem is Jesus didn't refer to the cross that way.
Yes, "sin" is a very real problem. But what is it? A simple dictionary definition would be "an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law", but that does little to pain a picture of the real damaging and painful affect that sin has on our lives.
Sin destroys us from the inside out, fills us with shame and makes us turn from God. It blinds and separates us from the love of God. That's the impact it has on us. And thus, we assume that a Holy God could not possibly look upon sin, but rather must turn his back. Infected by the disease, we are left feeling abandoned, forsaken!
This is what Jesus felt, hanging on the cross, when he cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He, who was sinless, was made to be sin itself, and in bearing the full weight of all our sins, they blinded him to his Father. For the very first time, he was unable to sense God’s presence. But God did not abandon Jesus on the cross, just as he does not abandon us.
2 Corinthians 5:19 "namely, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself." He was there!! In Christ! He didn't turn his back, or look away. Something deeper is going on.
Jesus wasn't just made guilty of our sins; he became infected with the disease of sin, so that in his body sin would be finally condemned and consumed. As a sinless man, he was the only suitable host for God in which to destroy sin and shame. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whomever believes in Him, should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him." John 3:16-17
In Christ, the love and zeal of God confronted the lies and bondage of sin. Finally, we can see God's wrath for what it truly isnot an angry need for vengeance, but the full weight of the Father's love to cure in the Son what was destroying the people he had made.
The wrath of God poured out on the cross is the brutal chemotherapy that provided the antidote to human brokenness.
What if God was offering to us a CURE? an actual antidote for sin, that worked! ... what if?
To read more please click here
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:37-39
The linked article "The Greatest Command" appears in A Man Like No Other, a beautifully illustrated gift book that unveils the life and teachings of Jesus, painting a more complete picture of the most engaging person who ever lived! Let him become more than just the character in a book or some an empty religious icon. In Him, the God of the universe came and took up residence in His own creation. The world has never been the same since.
Copyright © 2018 WindBlown Media, All rights reserved.
You have signed up for this on our website
Our mailing address is:
WindBlown Media
4680 Cale Norte
Newbury Park, CA 91320
What if we have understood the cross all wrong?
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46
What if we have understood the cross all wrong? In an attempt to explain the necessity of the crucifixion and provide a rationale for why Christ had to suffer such a brutal, agonizing death, many have looked at the problem of sin and suggested it was the only way appease the wrath of a Holy God, so offended by our sin that he had to brutalize his only Son to satisfy his need for justice.
The only problem is Jesus didn't refer to the cross that way.
Yes, "sin" is a very real problem. But what is it? A simple dictionary definition would be "an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law", but that does little to pain a picture of the real damaging and painful affect that sin has on our lives.
Sin destroys us from the inside out, fills us with shame and makes us turn from God. It blinds and separates us from the love of God. That's the impact it has on us. And thus, we assume that a Holy God could not possibly look upon sin, but rather must turn his back. Infected by the disease, we are left feeling abandoned, forsaken!
This is what Jesus felt, hanging on the cross, when he cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He, who was sinless, was made to be sin itself, and in bearing the full weight of all our sins, they blinded him to his Father. For the very first time, he was unable to sense God’s presence. But God did not abandon Jesus on the cross, just as he does not abandon us.
2 Corinthians 5:19 "namely, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself." He was there!! In Christ! He didn't turn his back, or look away. Something deeper is going on.
Jesus wasn't just made guilty of our sins; he became infected with the disease of sin, so that in his body sin would be finally condemned and consumed. As a sinless man, he was the only suitable host for God in which to destroy sin and shame. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whomever believes in Him, should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him." John 3:16-17
In Christ, the love and zeal of God confronted the lies and bondage of sin. Finally, we can see God's wrath for what it truly is
The wrath of God poured out on the cross is the brutal chemotherapy that provided the antidote to human brokenness.
What if God was offering to us a CURE?
To read more please click here
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:37-39
The linked article "The Greatest Command" appears in A Man Like No Other, a beautifully illustrated gift book that unveils the life and teachings of Jesus, painting a more complete picture of the most engaging person who ever lived! Let him become more than just the character in a book or some an empty religious icon. In Him, the God of the universe came and took up residence in His own creation. The world has never been the same since.
Copyright © 2018 WindBlown Media, All rights reserved.
You have signed up for this on our website
Our mailing address is:
WindBlown Media
4680 Cale Norte
Newbury Park, CA 91320
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