Hoping on the hopeful - Part 1

In recent weeks I've come across many the article on the controversy (I call it that to see what the reaction might be) on the idea of the possibility of transferability of the state of the soul. Peter Kirk, author of the 'Gentle Wisdom' blog, brought to my attention the comments of Mark Driscoll from his recent appearance in Edinburgh, preaching on atonement in the church leaders meeting before the Men Makers conference on Saturday 17th November. Adrian Warnock, equally, comments and publishes the notes he took from the preach. The link comes as Driscoll says "I murdered God", and Warnock is publishing articles on John Piper's book in a response to N. T. Wright's theological insights. I'm throwing a lot of names around, but it's important to know that all these high profile thinkers are simply trying to understand an unfathomable God.

So, Driscoll claims he murdered God, which, by generality, means I did too. In fact, everyone did. What Driscoll is getting at is that, as I posted on 'Gentle Wisdom.'

Surely to claim we all had a part in murdering God is not on the level that you see in the gospels. At that level Pilate was the one doing the final sentencing, with the Jews telling Pilate it was the right thing to do (lucky Barabbas). But if it wasn’t for all of us, past us’, present us’, and future us’, Jesus would have never had to have gone through what He did. What I can see Mark Driscoll saying is, our lives are part and parcel of Jesus death. He didn’t die despite our sin, but because of it.

Our sin puts us at a point where we deserve to die, but Jesus came along and became sin for us. He took the punishment for our sin on the cross. And this is where problems arise. Did our sin transfer to Him and His righteousness to us in that moment? If Jesus takes the punishment for our sin, that doesn't mean our sin is on Him, only that Jesus propitiates (a posh word for divert) God's wrath from us onto Him. He is the only one who can take the wrath in our place because (2 Corinthians 5:21 for those interested) 'He made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.' The words become sin have always confused me; this is how some translations portray this passage. Peter in his first epistle says something similar; 'He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree.' Paul's letter to the Galatians tells us Jesus became a curse on our behalf. There is a definite relationship between Jesus and sin on that cross and it's a lot bigger than some people are trying to shrink it to.

In one simple illustration we can see that the idea of Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA) - the correct terminology for Jesus death on the cross as a sacrifice for sin - is not 'cosmic child abuse,' as Steve Chalke suggested in his book 'The Lost Message of Jesus.' Firtly, at the level to which Chalke has reached, to punish a child for disobeying a comman from his father would be completely within the parents rights as the one responsible for his upbringing. The argument against this is that Jesus did nothing wrong. Ever. This is most definitely true. So, without further research we can conclude simply that Jesus death on the cross was of no concern. He did not have to die because there was no reason for him to. To see more than his unfair trial and death sentence, he did die for his cause. He was teaching outrageous things that provoked, not only the religious leaders, but also the officials and authorities of the day, and the political movements as a whole as well. This was the main reason for his death, perhaps. It was prophesied some 700 years before. This 'Messiah' would come and die. But why die? According to Paul (becoming a curse; dying for our sin; dying for us), Peter (1st epistle 2:24) (bore our sins), and other New Testament authors, he died for us. At this level, he did have to die.

Without our sin, he didn't have to even come to earth. But our sin means he did. He had to come, because he loves us and wants to save each one of us. What was going on on the cross? It's important to note, here, that Jesus' life is just as important as Jesus' death. Jesus whole life pushed the inevitability of his death to a level beyond comprehension. He was never afraid to die, and, in fact, chose to talk about his death a lot. This message of his death was supposed to be hopeful. No wonder he spoke about it so much.