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Signs of the Times Australia / NZ edition — lifestyle, health, relationships, culture, spirituality, people — published since 1886 |
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Signs of the Times Australia / NZ edition — lifestyle, health, relationships, culture, spirituality, people — published since 1886 |
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The Easter 2004 cover of Time asked, “Why did Jesus have to die?” The story was prompted by the worldwide popularity of Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of The Christ. It proposed three reasons. First, the debt Jesus pays for humanity is to the devil; second, the debt of sin was so great that humanity could not possibly pay it—only God, in the person of Christ could; and, finally, Jesus’ death was the crowning example of His perfect love. “It was in imitation of this love that humanity could overcome its alienation from the Father.” But what does the Bible say?
Romans 5:6-8 “When we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. . . . But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for [Greek “in place of”] us.”
Jesus took the blame for our mistakes so that we could be forgiven and treated as if we were innocent.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for [“in place of”] us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Paul says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for (“in place of”) us” (Galatians 3:13). It was God paying the debt to the law sin caused. Peter says: “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for (“in place of”) the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
1 John 2:2 “The atoning sacrifice for our sins, and . . . for the sins of the whole world.”
The word atonement is made up of three syllables: at-one-ment. Jesus’ sacrifice took away our sin that separated us from God and made it possible for us to be “at one” or reconciled with God. The atonement, says Giles Gasper (a religious historian in Time), “is the centrepiece of Christianity, and it’s what distinguishes it from all other religions.”
Matthew 20:28 “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for (Greek “instead of”) many.” Paul says Jesus “gave himself as a ransom for all men” (1 Timothy 2:6).
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.” Wages are what we earn or deserve. A gift is undeserved. It ceases to be a gift if we have to do anything for it!
1 John 2:1 “If anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence—Jesus.”
Just as a defence lawyer speaks in defence of his or her client, so Jesus speaks on our behalf in the judgment.
Romans 4:1-6 “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (v 3). “God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead” (v 24).
Philippians 3:20. “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Citizenship gives all the rights and protections of a citizen, even when living in another country. A Spanish court once sentenced a US citizen of English birth to death. The American and British consuls declared Spain had no right to take his life, but their protests went unheeded. They wrapped the prisoner in their respective flags, then issued a warning: “Fire if you dare! But if you do, you will bring the powers of two great nations upon you!” There stood the condemned. But the rifleman would not shoot. Protected by those flags and the governments they represented, the man was invulnerable.
When we accept Jesus as our Saviour and commit our lives to Him, we receive the gift of eternal life and become citizens of heaven, with all its rights.
Colossians 2:15 “He [Jesus] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
Time quotes Stephen Prothero, chairman of the religion department at Boston University: “The atonement is back on the agenda of American culture,” thanks to Gibson’s Passion. The article concludes: “The film’s stance on the atonement could best be described as substitutionary. . . . The question of why Jesus died requires some sort of response from anyone who reasons out his or her faith.”
The question for every reader is: how do you respond?
Extract from Signs of the Times, August 2004.
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