God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
I think this verse sets people apart. It divides people because either you believe it or you don't. On one side of this verse you have people who believe and are confident that Jesus is Lord and their savior. On the other you have people who think that Jesus was just a great prophet and someone who achieved the spiritual level we should all strive for.
So Jesus, as portrayed in the Bible and this verse is God humbling himself as a human being to come to earth to not only to be our model of perfection but actually be a sacrifice to serve as a way to fulfill the punishment we deserve for our lack of compliance with the law.
So I've been wondering lately, how do we reconcile these sides? Wars have been fought for thousands of years as a result of these opposing views. While I don't even consider the possibility of putting this issue or argument to bed, I would like to offer my views.
Let's start with common areas of agreement:
1. Does God exist?
Many people in the world can agree that their is a God or at least a supreme being who created this universe. I'm a believer that it actually takes more faith to believe there is no God. When you go outside on a dark star filled night and look up, to not believe there is a God is amazing to me. If you fall in this category maybe you would have hit the back button already.
Try Google search for "does God exist" and you will see lots of support (even scientific) for God's existence.
2. Did Jesus model God's intent for us perfectly?
Even non-Christians will agree that Jesus is a great person to model and he is a perfect example of compassion, humility, love and purpose. Many agree that if our society exemplified the traits Jesus modeled, the world would be a much better place.
There are many examples of great men and women (including non-Christians) who not only understood these traits but lived them through their actions (Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, etc)
Now for some more challenging questions:
1. Was Jesus God in the form of a human?
Today's verse addresses this directly with an emphatic yes. But so many do not consider this to be true. From their perspective questions arise such as why would God do such a thing?
One way I explain this is with an analogy of an ant hill. Let's say you are God and you have created an ant colony. A vibrant place full of activity in which you gave all the ants free will. You want to see them flourish, grow and do great things, and most of all, worship you.
But when you see their endless toil and quest for self reliance, you have two choices. You could destroy them. I remember as a kid using a magnifying glass and frying ants. That would be fitting punishment for some of us!
It would be easy to stomp on the hill and drown the ants in water and insecticide. As God, you could just start all over.
Or you could make yourself into an ant, personally talk to your creation, model a perfect life and be sacrificed for all their wrong doings.
Its a very simplistic example but after all, I don't think the concept of Christianity shouldn't be complex at all.
2. Was Jesus perfect?
Yes. He never sinned. That doesn't mean that he wasn't tempted. He was charismatic & attractive, I'm sure he was tempted specially by many women who were involved in his ministry.
He was tempted more than any of us will ever be, but never sinned. That means if a beautiful woman was walking by, he was tempted with all kinds of thoughts but he never succumbed to them.
3. Did he actually die for our sins and resurrect? Why would God come up with a plan like this?
Very much the same as a parent would rather take chemo themselves rather than see their baby suffer from a battle with cancer, our father in heaven could not stand to see us pay for our sinful ways.
So at the very moment of the cross, Jesus took on every sin, all sickness and all poverty with him. In other words, he became our sin, our sickness and our poverty and it was nailed to the cross.
4. But you may ask: why are those three things still around today?
Jesus paid the ultimate price for these three things which is death. This act of love ended the war but battles still rage.
History is filled with accounts of wars that have been declared over but battles and skirmishes continue to flare afterward. The devil and his demons would like us to think that the war is not over. So to a great extent, we live our lives believing lies and deceptions that draw us into these battles.
One day, we will know for sure that the war is over. We will know the extent of the lies that have caused us so much hate, so much sickness and trouble.
(Note: This message took me over two weeks to compose. I meditated over issues that separate so many people. I don't believe my opinions are always perfect so I welcome comments. )
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