I am a sinner. That fact I cannot deny. As a sinner I have
broken God’s law. Now that Law, according to some, demands my death and the
only way out for me is for someone else to die in my place – to pay the penalty
for my crime. Because all mankind are in the same boat they must die for their
own sin. The only way out for me is to find an innocent person, that is,
without sin, to die in my place and that someone is Jesus Christ, the sinless
Son of God. As I understand it, that is orthodox Christianity and the view
commonly held among Seventh-day Adventists.
This view raises some troubling questions:
- Is justice, that is, the demands of the Law, served if an innocent pays the debt of the guilty? Is there any civilised culture that would condone such a practice?
- How is justice served if the innocent goes free and another suffers the penalty?
- Does granting mercy to the guilty negate the demands of the Law? Does granting mercy in our legal systems today weaken the intent of the law or should we demand the full force of the law is applied without mercy to transgressors? or
- Is it only legalism that demands the sentence be meted out without mercy?
Biblical Christianity is built on love. ‘Dear
friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone
who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But
anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love’ (1 John 4:7,8). This
raises another question: Can a loving God not forgive without first extracting
a penalty? Or is the following only true if certain prerequisites are
met?
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not
irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It
does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is
always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (1 Cor 13:4-8).
Computers may do everything we expect of them, but they
cannot love, for they only do what they are programmed to do. Love requires freedom
of thought and action, when I know that my choices will impact on others either
positively or negatively. When God chose to create us in His image and likeness
He chose to create a community that would reflect His love to one another. In
order to achieve this He took the risk that we would make the wrong choices and
consequently harm one another.
Actions have consequences. As Scripture says, we reap what
we sow (Gal 6:7). If every time a drunk drove through a red light, a criminal
fired a gun, we smoked a cigarette or had casual unprotected sex with a
stranger God intervened to prevent the unwanted consequences would we know what
love is? Or would we remain as infants, wrapped up in cotton wool, without ever
knowing adult responsibility and the satisfaction that comes with putting
ourselves out for others? In allowing us to see and experience the consequences
of our choices and that of others God treats us as adults. It is only as adults
that we experience mature love.
The common law of negligence is based on this principle. We
are expected to give reasonable thought to the impact our actions may have on others and take the necessary steps prevent harm. Negligence can be attributed
to things that we do, or things that we fail to do, that result in injury to
someone else. We find examples in the Bible.
When you build a new house, you
must build a railing around the edge of its flat roof. That way you will not be
considered guilty of murder if someone falls from the roof. (Deut. 22:8)
If an ox gores a man or woman to death,
the ox must be stoned, and its flesh may not be eaten. In such a case, however,
the owner will not be held liable. 29 But suppose the ox had a
reputation for goring, and the owner had been informed but failed to keep it
under control. If the ox then kills someone, it must be stoned, and the owner
must also be put to death ... Suppose someone digs or uncovers a pit and
fails to cover it, and then an ox or a donkey falls into it. 34 The
owner of the pit must pay full compensation to the owner of the animal, but
then he gets to keep the dead animal. (Ex.
21:28,29,33,34)
Jesus had an active role in creation (John 1:3,4;
Col. 1:15-17; Heb 1:2). God claims the ability to foretell the future sets Him
apart from all others (Isa. 46:10). Paul, in Ephesians 1:3-14, tells us God had
a plan before the world began for our salvation. Does this mean God was
negligent when He created the world, knowing that it would turn out the way it
did?
Risk and reward is part of everyday life. Some people take
few risks and gain little. Great advances in human achievement have involved
varying levels of risk. Think of the risks taken to put a man on the moon, by
the great explorers of the past, of our early aviators and modern day
adventures. Human beings, made in God’s image, take risks. In the parable of
the talents it was those who took the investment risk that heard the words ‘Well
done, my good and faithful servant’ (Mat. 25:21, 23) while the risk averse
servant ultimately lost everything (Mat.25: 14-30). The writer of Hebrews
states Jesus ‘endured the cross’ because He looked to what lay beyond it (Heb.
12:2). God knew from the beginning that to create a community built on the
foundation of love involved enormous risk but there was no other way to achieve
His aim. This was not negligence, for if the risk was not taken nothing
worthwhile could be achieved. And God, in the person of Jesus Christ, was prepared
to do whatever it took, regardless of the cost to Himself, to right things when
they went wrong.
Regarding the Law and the Prophets, Jesus said 'I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them’ (Mat.5:17, NIV).
This no doubt includes the fulfilment of prophecy, but it also includes the
living out of the moral law of God, such as not killing, stealing, lying of
committing adultery. ‘Love does no
wrong to others, so love fulfils the requirements of God’s law’ (Rom. 13:10).
Jesus, in one of His disputes with the Jewish leaders asked: ‘Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin?’ (John 8:46).
Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, touched the
untouchable, mingled with the social outcasts, and challenged the hypocrisy,
abuse of power and corruption of the ruling class, which just happened to be
the religious hierarchy of His day. Their response was to kill Him. Jesus could
have opted out. Remember His words at His arrest: ‘Do you not
think that I can pray to My Father? At once He would send Me more than 70,000
angels’ (Mat. 26:53). But love compelled Him and the only sinless human being
who has ever walked this planet was sent to His death. When Adam was tempted,
Adam failed. Jesus endured a greater temptation and refused to yield, choosing
the humiliation, suffering and shame of the cross rather than transgress the
Law of Love. He demonstrated that our failures – and that of Adam – are without
excuse.
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| The Crucifixion, Andrew Mantegna, 1457-1459 http://christimages.org/images_crucifixion/Crucifixion_Andrea_Mantegna_1457.jpg |
Since you have been raised to new
life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits
in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things
of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and
your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who
is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
(Col. 3:1-4)
And in Acts 17:25,28 ‘… He himself gives life and breath to
everything … For in him we live and move and exist.’ Paul says of God ‘He alone can never die …’ (1 Tim 6:16). We have no life apart from
Christ. At the Creation God ‘… breathed the breath of life into the
man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.’(Gen 2:7). When that breath
departs we cease to exist.
God alone is immortal. We are totally dependent upon the
Creator for our continued existence. When we, as human beings, nailed Jesus to
the cross we committed communal suicide. We reaped the wages of our sin (Rom.
6:23) and demonstrated to the onlooking universe sin’s ultimate
destructiveness.
Sin was a foreseeable consequence of Jesus’ act of creation.
Unlike humans, who often look to shift the blame to someone else when things go
wrong, Jesus accepted full responsibility for righting the mess that eventuated.
Jesus died demonstrating to the universe that there was no excuse for Adam’s
failure. His death was the natural consequence of sin, of Adam’s failure, a
foreseeable consequence of His act of creation.
In His humanity Jesus was mortal, in His divinity, immortal.
‘No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the
authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this
is what my Father has commanded.’ (John 10:18). The grave would not, could not,
hold Him. He rose victorious, defeating sin and its consequences. Today, as
humans always have, we can choose life or death, for we have the God-given gift
of free will. If we hold to the doctrine of free will we must accept that Jesus
did not have to die at human hands. The world could have turned to God in
repentance and refused to kill Him. Like Adam, those that sent Jesus to His
death choose to do so of their own free will. They chose death.
When Jesus rose from the grave He rose, as He always was,
our life. When we choose to unite our lives with His, we choose eternal life.
When we choose not to unite with Him, we choose death. The choice is yours, and
the choice is mine. What is your choice?
All Bible quotes taken from the New Living Translation
unless otherwise indicated.
