Monday, September 15, 2008
Why did Christ die/
According to Romans 3;25-26, He died to vindicate God's Righteousness.
For centuries God had been forbearing [passing over] man's sin. And this demeaned His glory. It said His Glory and Righteous Rule is of little, or no value.
So God rather than vindicating His Glory by slaying His people, vindicated it by slaying His Son.
God could have settled all accounts by punishing all sinners with Hell.
But He did not Will to destroy.
Now we know that God is for us. We know that our salvation is His goal in sending Jesus.
But, do we know that there is a deeper goal, in sending the Son/
Do we know that God's love for us depends on a deeper love, God's love for His Own Glory/
Do we know that God's passion to save sinners, rests on a deeper passion, namely His passion to vindicate His Righteousness/
The vindication of God's Glory is the GROUND of our salvation, and the exultation of God's Glory is the GOAL of our salvation.
The cross is the pinnacle of God's love for sinners, because it vindicates the value of God, for sinners, to enjoy. It is a call to exultation in God's exaltation.
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It is true that God could have settled all accounts by punishing all sinners with Hell. It is also true that He could have spoke into existence a creation where free choice was not possible, free will did not exist, and where hell therefore was not necessary.
ReplyDeleteWe must not forget that good and evil are not evenly matched in Scripture. Unlike other religions like Zoroastrianism, evil was created by God and serves His purpose. Satan is not a rival of God per se. He is a created "employee" who tests the integrity of those who profess to love God.
So how could the Creator deal with the evil He Himself has created? Who will be worthy to break the last seal of final judgment on this world? Will it be the Great Dread Sovereign who flexes his mighty muscles and appears like a bully to destroy, with no other credentials than the strength of His Mighty Arm? Nope. The only one worthy to open that seal of final judgment is the One who took upon Him the form of a Servant, was slain and has redeemed us to God by His own Blood.
It is true that God could have settled all accounts by punishing all sinners with Hell. It is also true that He could have spoke into existence a creation where free choice was not possible, free will did not exist, and where hell therefore was not necessary.
ReplyDeleteWe must not forget that good and evil are not evenly matched in Scripture. Unlike other religions like Zoroastrianism, the Bible teaches that evil was created by God and serves His purpose. Satan is not a rival of God per se. He is a created "employee" who tests the integrity of those who profess to love God.
So how could the Creator deal with the evil He Himself has created? Who will be worthy to break the last seal of final judgment on this world? Will it be the Great Dread Sovereign who flexes his mighty muscles and appears like a bully to destroy, with no other credentials than the strength of His Mighty Arm? Nope. The only one worthy to open that seal of final judgment is the One who took upon Him the form of a Servant, was slain and has redeemed us to God by His own Blood.
Dear Amos,
ReplyDeleteI agree with all you said. But the verses in Romans deal with God's viewpoint not ours. We see things with the secular mindset that sees man as the basic reality, and then relates everything to man's basic needs and desires.
The Biblical Mindset sees God as the basic reality, and everything relating to Him and HIS PLANS AND GOALS.
In Romans 3, God's Righteousness which was called into question, for OVERLOOKING THE SINS IN The OT,
WAS VINDICATED THROUGH Christ's death. It justified God, and those who believed in Him.
Adam was created with free will. this caused him to sin. Eve was deceived, Adam wasn't. When he ate he died spiritually, and his will became attached to, and was a slave of his old sin nature.
ReplyDeleteWe were born physically with our wills enslaved to our old sin nature.
That's why it takes power and blood to deliver us. John 1;13 says we are not saved by our will, but by God.