At the cross, God was not outside of Christ reconciling himself to the world. Rather, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (2 Cor 5:19). God was not inflicting a punishment on Jesus from the outside. Rather, God was taking humanities punishment in Christ. It is not the Crucifying God but The Crucified God. God was IN Christ reconciling the world by offering the world forgiveness, and vindicating the radical way of love that Christ showed by raising him from the dead on the third day. Gods action on Christ was not crucifying him. Gods action on Christ was RAISING him from the death WE inflicted on him. God vindicated Jesus and made Him Lord and King. Jesus is Lord. Right now. That is the Gospel. A strange yet serious proposition. The way the apostles preached this Gospel throughout the book of Acts is reflected well in Acts 3:13-15, The GOD of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, HAS GLORIFIED HIS SERVANT Jesus. YOU handed him over to be KILLED, and YOU DISOWNED him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. YOU DISOWNED the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. YOU KILLED THE AUTHOR OF LIFE, BUT GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD. We are witnesses of this. The horrific events of the cross were mans doing. God was in the business of forgiving, bringing new life, and vindicating Jesus by raising him from the dead. We THOUGHT he was being punished, attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done. He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins (Isaiah 53:4-5, NET). Some still think Jesus was being attacked by God. We need to think again. When we look to the cross we see horror and beauty. The horror of man killing the Author of Life, and the beauty of God in Christ reconciling the world to himself through the power of forgiveness. The Author of Life humanity killed has been resurrected with the words peace by unto you on his lips. Praise the Lord!!! We are forgiven, made new, and restored in the love of the Lord who would rather be crucified than crucify.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 03:20:17 +0000
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