It's About Love

"You know that every traitor belongs to me as my lawful prey and that for every treachery I have a right to a kill."... "And so," said the Witch, "that human creature is mine. His life is forfeit to me. His blood is my property." With these words the great Christian author, C.S. Lewis lays out in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe the human condition that gave God His opportunity to reveal His glory in awesome ways. In this description, C.S. Lewis, reveals that he (rightly, in my opinion) held a view of the cross that makes Jesus' sacrifice a ransom paid to set people free from the devil who gained rights to them because of their aligning themselves with him through sin.

Theologians have argued down through the centuries about the exact reasons why Jesus' death was necessary. Now I have my own theories about this, too, but I wonder if it's wise to try to figure all of that out, especially if it leads us away from what Jesus' dying for us is most about: God's passionate, pursuing and relentless love for you and me. A quick review of the scriptures shows us that by far the most frequent company the cross is found in is love and the reconciliation with God that God's love brings to the captive and estranged sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. Consider just a few of the many passages that underscore this.

For God loved the world of men so much that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever trusts in him should not perish but have eternal life. (TW paraphrase)

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13 NIV)

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 NIV)

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:10 NIV -- italics mine)

For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself...(2 Corinthians 5:19a NKJV)

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:19-20 NIV)

I am sure you see it. God's love for each and all of us, infinite in both its measure and its intensity, is what the cross is most about. And that love opened the way for us to be reconciled to the One who treasures us most, treasured you so much that Father, Son and Spirit paid an unthinkable price to make it possible for you to be called beloved daughter/son of the Most High God. This is not theoretical, dear ones, nor is it theological: it is the eternal declaration of the value of each and every person ever to reside on this planet, including you and me. No wonder, then, that those of us who have begun to glimpse just the slightest bit of this are in tearful, joyful awe of this most holy day!

"Nail-pierced hands, a wounded side; this is love, this is love. The holy heart was sacrificed. This is love. This is love." (Lyrics from This is Love by Terry Butler and Mike Young)

Barely understanding His love,

Tom, one of Abba's little children