Why was Jesus Christ (Prince of peace) killed on the cross?
(this teaching is by no means perfect or 100%, but we are trying to allow ourselves to look at this truth from a different perspective and disover that truth might be multi-faceted and deeper than our 1 way of looking at it.)
Was it because God was crazily in love with us, or He just wanted to be ‘satisfied’ and be ‘content’ with us?
This new series will help you get a more clear revelation of the Father heart of God and overcome your struggles with receiving His love. So many Christians sub-consciously believe that Jesus loves them more than the Father loves them, because Jesus rescued them from the Father’s wrath.
To help us understand, let’s have a look at 2 illustrations of an traffic offense:
1. Today, you drove 150km/hr through an big area set aside for an blind children’s conference. There were 10 signs along the way that said “20 km/hr only”. What you did was extremely dangerous for the children. The police caught you and gave you a big fine $50,000 fine. You can’t afford to pay, you will have to goto jail. Later, someone you don’t even know, came and pay the fine for you so you can go free! The judge didn’t really forgive you, but was satiasfied because the fine was paid. There was no love on the judges part, it was a judicial transaction.
2. Today, you drove 150km/hr through an big area set aside for an blind children’s conference. There were 10 signs along the way that said “20 km/hr only”. What you did was extremely dangerous for the children. The police caught you and gave you a big fine $50,000 fine. You can’t afford to pay, you will have to goto jail. Later, the judge said ‘Forgiven!, I love you, your fine has been weaved, there is no more need to pay for it! you are debt free and forgiven with no conditions!! now don’t do this again.” This is great news!! It shows love on part of Judge that he took the initiate to clear your debt because of His mercy.
Views on the atonement
The so called “traditional view??? that most people have been taught in the church, is that Jesus came to pay the debt we owe to God for breaking His laws (similiar to illustration 1. Also known as Penal Substitution). In order for us to be forgiven, Jesus had to take the punishment for our sins from God who is an angry judge. Is like that God has anger problem, and He needs payment in order for His anger to be appeased and satisfied. Is that really the case?
I mean, if God IS love as mentioned in
1John 4:8 The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Love is defined as keeping no record of wrongs,
NIV 1 Cor 13:5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
NASB© 13:5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
NRSV© 13:5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful
Love has no ‘unforgiveness’, hence does He require payment or punishment in order to forgive us? Why can’t he just forgive us unconditionally without any payment? In fact, He already has before time began in eternity past, because Love is forgiveness. An merciful judge can weave the debt because He is love. If an friend wrongs you, you can just love and forgive them, without them ‘paying’ for it by suffering in anyway.
Love doesn’t require any payment, it is unconditional forgiveness.
God is Pure Love, it keeps no record of wrongs, no unforgiveness, God IS forgiveness. There is no need to do anything for forgiveness because we are already all forgiven because forgiveness is Who He Is.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His One and only Son…
Traditionally we’ve taught that the reason God sent Jesus was so that He could forgive us, but the reason why He sent Jesus to rescue us is because He already forgave us!! because HE IS LOVE!!
Forgiveness is not an event, it’s a Person.
The life of God is in His Blood
Leviticus 17:11 for the life of every living thing is in the blood. So I myself have assigned it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives, for the blood makes atonement by means of the life.
Jesus didn’t die to pay the payment for our debt to get us forgiveness from God, but He died to pour out His blood so we can drink of it, which is love/life/forgiveness/healing personified. In order for us to be joined to Him, He has to pour out His blood.. Jesus allowed Himself to be killed by wicked man so that we can drink of His blood and His blood would become our blood.
Jesus’ death on the cross was not so that God could forgive us, but to open up God’s forgiveness to us which was always there in eternity so we could take and drink of it; human beings thought that God had unforgiveness and was against us, but this is the lie that caused us to turn away from God Who is Love and Forgiveness.
Hebrews 9:22 Indeed according to the law almost everything was purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins; we think that in order for our sins to be forgiven, someone has to pay by dying; but that’s not what it’s saying here, its the blood that is/brings forgiveness, not the death.
We have already been forgiven from all eternity because Forgiveness is found in God Himself, His character, Who He is. So If you want to receive experience His forgiveness, you need to be joined to Him by drinking His blood, His life, Himself.
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
Jesus gave His life because he has already considered you as his friend because he already forgave you.
Jesus could forgive sins even before He died on the cross-
Mark 2:10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,??? – he said to the paralytic
Jesus died to destroy our sinful nature, the power of sin and deliver us from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light.
Jesus rose from the dead, to make us new creations in union/oneness with God our Father, giving us New life and His Perfect record, making us children of God by reconciling us to Him in this wonderful relationship
In summary,
God forgave us before time began (because God IS LOVE- love keeps no record of wrongs; Jesus is ‘the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world’), but that forgiveness was made available when the blood was poured out 2000 years ago (life, love, healing, forgiveness is in the blood
We will dig deeper into the coming weeks…
Grace Revolution 