Have you ever wondered what G_d's love is like? It is something I contemplate a lot. I got to contemplating it again after reading some posts and comments over at Roland's. The posts were initially about who Yeshua would hang out with, but it got me thinking because of those who talk about His love and grace. It got me thinking more about His love and our response to that love. It also got me thinking about how He he loves us.
The thing is that the more I read the more I come to understand that G_d has a single-minded obsession with His creation, namely us. The most popular verse in the Bible is John 3:16. Most of us could recite it without thinking, but have you ever contemplated it? G_d's love is so vast, so great, so amazing, that he willingly gave up His Son for us. Think about that. I would dare say that for the most of us we would give up our lives for our children, but have you ever contemplated the the thought of giving up your children? How hard would that be? What kind of pain, anguish, and grief must be endured? G_d did that for us; for you; for me. When I sit down and really think about it I am awestruck. Having lost a child I think I have had a glimpse into the pain He suffered for us. The thing that really gets me is that it was done willingly. That my friends is obsession: the willingness to do whatever you have too, to get what you want, even if it costs you everything. He wanted us restored to Him so badly, He was willing to sacrifice His Son for us.
How do we respond to that? The Bible tells us one of Yeshua's parables compares to the Kingdom of G_d to a treasure in a field. A man finds that treasure and is so obsessed with it that he goes and sells everything he has to buy the field just so he can have that treasure. Can we even contemplate that level of desire? Do we have that level of love? Are we willing to give our lives for Him? Are we willing to LIVE for Him? Do we have the same kind of obsession for Him that He has for us? This is what He desires, could we offer Him any less?
7 comments:
God knew that his Son would be resurrected and join Him again.
You may take that on faith, and that is probably some comfort. But God knew it without faith.
I'm not trying to throw ice water on your post here, but I am saying that the reason for Jesus' sacrifice was to illustrate that earthly death should not scare us from doing what is right. It may seem frightening from our perspective, but God knew why he incarnated before he was a Holy zygote.
You do what is right, and you get your heavenly reward of being with the Father. Jesus served as God's example and confirmation that this principle holds. That is why Jesus is the path to faith. God himself endured this coil to show the way.
Am I right?
That is not the case Luke. Yes, He knew that there would be a resurrection and that Christ would defeat death, but He had to go through it before He defeated it. If you read the story of Yeshua's death you will see both what Yeshua went through and what the Father endured. Read carefully. For the three days that Yeshua was dead He was separated from the Father because he had taken upon Himself the sins of the world.
His sacrifice was just that, a sacrifice. It was never meant as something to illustrate a principal. If you are being taught that someone is cheapening His sacrifice that He made for us. There is no amount of doing right that we can do that will gain us eternal reward. One sin in our lives is enough to keep us from being with Him. Our imperfection keeps us set apart from that which is perfect (G_d); only a perfect sacrifice to cover our imperfection could possibly allow us in His presence.
Being a Christian has more to do with relationship than it does about us being good. We could never be good enough to be with Him, yet He has provided a way for us to be with Him in a relationship if we only accept the sacrifice He made for us.
Second point.
I too know I will see my son again. It still does not negate the pain I suffer in the now. I still miss him. I still miss the opprotunities I would have had to hold him, to teach him how to be a man ,and to tell him I love him.
Do you not think that sacrifices in the Old Testament were symbolic (illustrative of a principle)?
Due to his love, God suffered our sins before Jesus was born, and he suffers them still today. Jesus' sacrifice was the earthly manifestation of the interface between an imperfect creation and a perfect creator.
I apologize for my imprecise language. I accept that there is no way to always do right. But faith in Jesus will help one to do the right thing, and to aspire to be with God after this life. Whereas lack of faith, the turning away, will lead to separation. Is that not why faith leads to salvation? God wants us to try, no matter what the odds, to be the best we can and to live according to His laws. Jesus is the illustration of how we should aspire, as well as the illustration that God would go to any length to change our hearts and call us home.
Am I wrong?
"Yes, He knew that there would be a resurrection and that Christ would defeat death, but He had to go through it before He defeated it."
You seem to be saying that even a God that transcends the concept of time must still experience something to really have it worked out in their infinite mind... Dangerous territory, limiting God. But I'll grant you that God would limit Himself to the story of the Gospel in the same way that He limits himself to give me the free will to be such a pain in the butt.
"If you read the story of Yeshua’s death you will see both what Yeshua went through and what the Father endured. Read carefully."
I just did reread Luke 23 carefully. I was distracted by Herod and Pilate's fast friendship bound like brothers by sin. Everything else was as I had already noted.
"For the three days that Yeshua was dead He was separated from the Father because he had taken upon Himself the sins of the world."
I just reread Luke 24 again carefully. I noted verse 27 to which we are informed that Eaglewood needs to explain, beginning with Moses and the Prophets, everything that was said about Jesus in the scriptures...
The resurrection is the heart of the matter.
Luke
I will try to answer all of your questions but it will take a little bit of time as my weekends seem to be fuller than my weekdays.
First the animal sacrifices of the Hebrew people were largely symbolic of the sacrifice the G_d would have to make for us. The Hebrew people could not see that at that time but that was the case. It was symbolic in that it showed a pattern of G_d's law that was required for the remission of sin. The problem was that animal sacrifice was never good enough to cover our sins perfectly. G_d knew there was only one perfect sacrifice that would be enough to cover all sins. And yes that meant He had to limit Himself and become one of us to do that.
I will try to answer your more specific questions as I have time this weekend. I will say this that reading Luke does not give the entire picture. Reading all four accounts will. Luke's account was from a different perspective because he was the only one who was not an eyewitness. He was a Greek doctor who wrote his gospel based upon eyewitness accounts and his own investigation. It is very conceivable that Luke appears to gloss over things because he did not know what was said only that He did discuss these things.
Nice post. If you want some more thoughts on it, Luke, try listening to a link from my latest post. I sit in awe of my Lord, more and more each day.
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