Morning all, yesterday was a bit of a restful day, A beautiful lie in and then just hoovering out the cars because they were a bit of a state.
I also managed to fit in a trip to the woodcutters (the pub!) with Phil which is always rather nice.
On Monday we had study group and a few simple questions were posed which someone else had posted on their blog... I thought I'd see if any of you oaks could come up with some good answers to the question!
Simple Question, Profound answer... (quotes please)
Why did Jesus have to die? Does that limit God's power?
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Matty
ReplyDeleteSome thoughts from an oak!!
1. Jesus died as the supreme expression of God's love for us.
John 3 v 16 "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (we even have an OT example of the serpent on the pole to explain what that means: we have all been bitten by the serpent of sin and are in desperate need of saving)
Rom 5 v 8: "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
2. From the beginning God has demonstrated that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins (Heb 10 v 22). Sin leads to death. In His mercy God has decreed that if we believe in the sacrificial death of His son, and are baptised into him, then we are buried by baptism into Christs death. This serves in God's sight as our our own death. Our sins are washed away:
Rev 1 v 5: "Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood"
3. As with all sacrifices, the onlooker is made to realise the enormity of sin and the fact that he or she is the one that ought to be paying the penalty. We are onlookers along with the other discisples etc of those terrible events at Calavry. We can't look up without feeling ashamed at our own wickedness and the lovely innocence of this perfect Son of God. By beaking bread and drinking wine each week we are repeatedly confronted with this fact and with our own sins and unworthiness:
1 Cor 11v 28: "But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup"
4. No flesh can glory in God's presence. (1 Cor 1 v 29). Not even Jesus! After all, he was born of a woman, and inherited human nature. It was possible for him to sin, and his human nature had to be put to death.
Throughout his life he successfully fought against this nature and he finally destroyed it on the cross.
Heb 2 v 15 - 15 " Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil; and deliver them who throgh fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."
Clearly Jesus could destroy nothing external to him when he died. His death was ceetainly no way to destry a supernatural being. The only realistic explanation of the devil is that it was the very nature that Jesus bore. When he said "it is finished" he was proclaiming that the great struggle was finally over. In fact Jesus had to die because the sentence of death was on all human flesh, and he was no exception to this.
5. The other side of the coin, is that Jesus rose from the dead: if he didn't die, he could not have risen again. The resurrection is the great proof of the power of God. Therefore no death, no resurrection and no proof of God's power! (1 Cor 15 v 16 - 23).
Jesus overcame the devil of human nature, and because he did not sin, the grave could not hold him. No one else has ever been in this position: everyone else has sinned and when dead are held by the power of the grave. The death of Jesus was in fact a wonderful release for him from the shackles of human nature. When he awoke he was free from it:
Ps 17 v 15 "as for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied when I awake, with thy likeness."
6. The resurrection of Jesus is a proof that God will judge the world:
Acts 17v 31: "..He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised him from the dead" Again no death, no resurrection, no judgement, no purpose of God with the world.
Hope these thoughts help. Well worth turning up he passages: I have missed out lots of relevant context.
love Dad
Yo bro.,
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure of the context of your question, but here's some musings that might be of interest.
I like the question! Just by asking it, it cuts away some basic misunderstandings about the reasons for Jesus' death.
Sometimes Christians (believing in a "ransom theory" of Jesus' death) can think that God /required/ Jesus to die so that the devil, who holds the souls of all people because they sin, could be bought out (one perfect life for the life of many sinners). But this, like you said, limits God's power: God is all powerful, so this can't be true (as if anything -- a supernatural devil included -- has power enough to demand how God does anything!).
Sometimes Christians (believing in a "satisfaction" or "substitution theory" of Jesus' death) can think that God /required/ Jesus to die so God could expend the righteous anger he has towards sin; once his anger was out of the way then God was satisfied and he no longer needed to punish other people for their sins (Jesus having taken the punishment instead). But God is forgiving and just, and these type of ideas about Jesus' death make God unforgiving and unjust (someone literally (instead of figuratively) "paying the price" leaves no room for forgiveness (if something's been paid then there's nothing left to forgive)); and someone taking a punishment instead of someone else is unjust). So, these types of ideas incorrectly limit God, too.
More than that, though: these types of ideas put the fault on God: God finds himself needing to pay a ransom to the devil; or, God is angry with sin and has to be satisfied by punishing for it. This also highlights that these ideas are incorrect. God is perfect, so he doesn't need to change.
A more correct idea is that the problem is with *us*: after all, we are the ones who are limited in our love and goodness, and /we/ need changing. So, Jesus' death is part -- the main part -- of God's method to transform us.
Peter sums up Jesus' mission like this:
>>
...[God] sent [Jesus] first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.
>> (Acts 3:26)
I'd take this as a summary of Jesus' life, death, and continued mission. It was never to change God (as if, as you put it, God was/is somehow limited), but to change us.
Two books that I'd recommend on this are:
- Change Us, Not God, by John Launchbury (WCF, 2009): http://bit.ly/cyhIr6
- The Language of the Cross, by Graham Jackman (2008): http://bit.ly/dnUMTy
In my opinion, G.J.'s book is fuller, but J.L.'s has better stated conclusions, so I'd read G.J.'s first, and then have J.L.'s as a summary (J.L.'s is also easier to read).
I just re-read and realised I'd not been too clear with my conclusion. I said:
ReplyDeletePeter sums up Jesus' mission like this:
>>
...[God] sent [Jesus] first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.
>> (Acts 3:26)
I'd take this as a summary of Jesus' life, death, and continued mission. It was never to change God (as if, as you put it, God was/is somehow limited), but to change us.
So, a good step towards a healthy answer to "Why did Jesus have to die?" would be: "Jesus died to change us, to 'turn each of [us] from [our] wicked ways'".
gerrit?
ReplyDelete