- Jul 9, 2002
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So, why the cross?
Adam's rebellion broke our relationship to God, and the loss of this connection to Him resulted in spiritual death (defined as the separation of our spirit from fellowship with God), and physical death (separation of our soul and spirit from our bodies). Spiritual death was simply the inevitable result of our broken relationship to Him, yet I think physical death is a merciful punishment for our sin... imagine an eternity of physical life without spiritual life! That is hell!
In a way that I am not sure I understand fully, our spiritual nature was changed at the fall to being prone to selfishness and pride. We are utterly incapable of consistently living out agape, and therefore unfit for fellowship with God. Yet God, in His mercy and love, desires to restore fellowship with us. This requires that our spiritual nature be changed, but that can only be accomplished by restoring our fellowship with Him... quite the conundrum! How can fallen man be restored to fellowship while being completely incapable of consistently acting in agape, which makes us unfit for that fellowship? Stated in more conventional terms, God's character was on trial... His justice and righteousness required Him to condemn sin (failure to love) , while His love and mercy required our reconciliation to Him.
From the very beginning, God began to establish the concept that atonement for sin required the death of a substitute (Genesis 3:21; Genesis 4:3-5; Genesis 8:20-22; etc... not fully developed until the Law of Moses). A deep understanding of substitutionary atonement is beyond the scope of this post, but the basic idea is that sin is covered (atoned for) by sacrificing a suitable animal substitute for the offender in the prescribed way. Animal sacrifices didn't permanently solve the sin problem, though. As the author of Hebrews wrote, it pointed forward to the once for all time offering of Jesus as our perfect substitute. The point is that sin requires the death of a substitute that is "without spot or blemish". The implication is that we cannot resolve the problem of sin by ourselves, because we are not "without spot or blemish".
In His perfect wisdom, God has always had a solution: Jesus Christ. First, Jesus was able to live a perfect life of love towards God and man because He was God. He was (is, and always will be) without spot or blemish in God's eyes. Second, He was able to be the completely perfect substitute for us because He was human in every way. Finally, His complete obedience to the Father in going through with His offering of Himself replaced Adam's disobedience to the Father as the defining act of humanity (Roman's 5).
At the cross, Jesus took our place and endured God's wrath against all the sins of all humanity for all time. Having done this, He was buried (correlating with the High Priest entering the Most Holy Place on the day of atonement), and rose again on the 3rd day (correlating with the priest coming out of the Most Holy Place, indicating that the offering was accepted).
Now, we are offered fellowship with God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. By faith we are credited with Christ's righteousness, allowing God to move into our hearts through His Holy Spirit, which brings our spirit to life (fellowship with God), and He enables us to overcome our old nature (selfishness and pride) and become a new creation, in the image of Christ (love and obedience).
Now redeemed humans know why good is good and evil is evil, having lived in the consequences of evil. This will ensure we will never again rebel against God once we are in our eternal bodies, completely free from the old nature's desire to sin. Also, God's character (holiness, goodness, righteousness, justice, love, mercy compassion, and wisdom) is made manifest to the angels, ensuring that they will remain faithful to God. Heaven is now made secure from another rebellion for all eternity! The new heavens and the new earth will be free from sin forever! Praise God!
Hope this helps;
Michael
Adam's rebellion broke our relationship to God, and the loss of this connection to Him resulted in spiritual death (defined as the separation of our spirit from fellowship with God), and physical death (separation of our soul and spirit from our bodies). Spiritual death was simply the inevitable result of our broken relationship to Him, yet I think physical death is a merciful punishment for our sin... imagine an eternity of physical life without spiritual life! That is hell!
In a way that I am not sure I understand fully, our spiritual nature was changed at the fall to being prone to selfishness and pride. We are utterly incapable of consistently living out agape, and therefore unfit for fellowship with God. Yet God, in His mercy and love, desires to restore fellowship with us. This requires that our spiritual nature be changed, but that can only be accomplished by restoring our fellowship with Him... quite the conundrum! How can fallen man be restored to fellowship while being completely incapable of consistently acting in agape, which makes us unfit for that fellowship? Stated in more conventional terms, God's character was on trial... His justice and righteousness required Him to condemn sin (failure to love) , while His love and mercy required our reconciliation to Him.
From the very beginning, God began to establish the concept that atonement for sin required the death of a substitute (Genesis 3:21; Genesis 4:3-5; Genesis 8:20-22; etc... not fully developed until the Law of Moses). A deep understanding of substitutionary atonement is beyond the scope of this post, but the basic idea is that sin is covered (atoned for) by sacrificing a suitable animal substitute for the offender in the prescribed way. Animal sacrifices didn't permanently solve the sin problem, though. As the author of Hebrews wrote, it pointed forward to the once for all time offering of Jesus as our perfect substitute. The point is that sin requires the death of a substitute that is "without spot or blemish". The implication is that we cannot resolve the problem of sin by ourselves, because we are not "without spot or blemish".
In His perfect wisdom, God has always had a solution: Jesus Christ. First, Jesus was able to live a perfect life of love towards God and man because He was God. He was (is, and always will be) without spot or blemish in God's eyes. Second, He was able to be the completely perfect substitute for us because He was human in every way. Finally, His complete obedience to the Father in going through with His offering of Himself replaced Adam's disobedience to the Father as the defining act of humanity (Roman's 5).
At the cross, Jesus took our place and endured God's wrath against all the sins of all humanity for all time. Having done this, He was buried (correlating with the High Priest entering the Most Holy Place on the day of atonement), and rose again on the 3rd day (correlating with the priest coming out of the Most Holy Place, indicating that the offering was accepted).
Now, we are offered fellowship with God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. By faith we are credited with Christ's righteousness, allowing God to move into our hearts through His Holy Spirit, which brings our spirit to life (fellowship with God), and He enables us to overcome our old nature (selfishness and pride) and become a new creation, in the image of Christ (love and obedience).
Now redeemed humans know why good is good and evil is evil, having lived in the consequences of evil. This will ensure we will never again rebel against God once we are in our eternal bodies, completely free from the old nature's desire to sin. Also, God's character (holiness, goodness, righteousness, justice, love, mercy compassion, and wisdom) is made manifest to the angels, ensuring that they will remain faithful to God. Heaven is now made secure from another rebellion for all eternity! The new heavens and the new earth will be free from sin forever! Praise God!
Hope this helps;
Michael
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