Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Was The Cross Child Abuse?
I just read a remarkable book by Steve Chalke, The Lost Message of Jesus. It’s a powerful book, especially if you love reading about, and living, the Kingdom. In the last part of the book, Steve talks about the cross—was it an act of love or the act of a vengeful Father showing wrath on His son for something His son didn’t do. Steve opts for a loving God caught in the throes of sinful man.
Having heard so many people who preach with anger and enthusiasm on such subjects as Hell and God’s wrath, I understand why he opts for the loving Father. It seems to contradict all that Christ talked about. Those men who preach with such enthusiasm on such subjects, I believe, are objects of wrath!
I went to the famous verse in Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God." Propitiation was the act of a sacrifice paying with its life for the sin of someone else.
Can’t deny it’s not there. The old discussion about the potential of Paul creating a different, more legal, version of Christianity doesn’t hold up here because the disciple who knew and loved Jesus wrote:
-1 John 2:2:1 "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world . . . 1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
-8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
-11Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 12No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. KJV
So, where does that leave us with the cross--child abuse or love taken to the max? After looking at the Scriptures, it’s love taken to the max. But, love taken to the max does not do away with the penalty of sin. Propitiation is real! Sin must be paid for--it’s a sick virus that undermines and undercuts the character and nature of God. If it isn’t dealt with, then it’s not real. But, it is real. So, God took it on Himself on the cross. If holiness is not real, then love has no meaning. Love means purity, intimacy, and the abandonment of self for another. There is no such thing as unholy love--it’s an oxymoron.
The point is simple--love and holiness both went into the cross and resurrection. He was the host sacrifice that had the venom that will ultimately cure us. Love without holiness has no character or integrity and cannot be trusted. Holiness without love is a mad, red-faced person screaming God. Only when love and holiness are combined is there any hope of something being truly authentic. Just some thoughts--still processing…
Having heard so many people who preach with anger and enthusiasm on such subjects as Hell and God’s wrath, I understand why he opts for the loving Father. It seems to contradict all that Christ talked about. Those men who preach with such enthusiasm on such subjects, I believe, are objects of wrath!
I went to the famous verse in Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God." Propitiation was the act of a sacrifice paying with its life for the sin of someone else.
Can’t deny it’s not there. The old discussion about the potential of Paul creating a different, more legal, version of Christianity doesn’t hold up here because the disciple who knew and loved Jesus wrote:
-1 John 2:2:1 "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world . . . 1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
-8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
-11Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 12No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. KJV
So, where does that leave us with the cross--child abuse or love taken to the max? After looking at the Scriptures, it’s love taken to the max. But, love taken to the max does not do away with the penalty of sin. Propitiation is real! Sin must be paid for--it’s a sick virus that undermines and undercuts the character and nature of God. If it isn’t dealt with, then it’s not real. But, it is real. So, God took it on Himself on the cross. If holiness is not real, then love has no meaning. Love means purity, intimacy, and the abandonment of self for another. There is no such thing as unholy love--it’s an oxymoron.
The point is simple--love and holiness both went into the cross and resurrection. He was the host sacrifice that had the venom that will ultimately cure us. Love without holiness has no character or integrity and cannot be trusted. Holiness without love is a mad, red-faced person screaming God. Only when love and holiness are combined is there any hope of something being truly authentic. Just some thoughts--still processing…
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