The Solution
Notes
Transcript
Did you catch it? Did you hear the judgment of he who hangs on the tree?
6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”
Why do bad things happen? Why must I sin?
Why do bad things happen? Why must I sin?
When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”
The judgment of one Jesus of Nazareth for making himself the Son of God: Death by crucifixion. Why must the Son of God die? Because He is the solution to the cosmic conundrum: God’s law is good, but we are stained with sin.
When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”
The sentence of one Jesus of Nazareth for making himself the Son of God: Death by crucifixion. Why must the Son of God die? Because He is the solution to the cosmic conundrum: God’s law is good, but we are stained with sin.
In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. By his Word, he said, “Let there be light” and there it was. And it was good. And all creation was good. God made everything and it was so. Evening and morning, day and night, water and sky, land and sea, plants and trees, fish and birds, beasts and human beings, man and woman. Order out of chaos, goodness and beauty, right and no wrong, the Creator’s design and the Almighty’s order. The law was the imprint of the eternal and loving God on his creation, a law of love that ruled man and creature. And it was very good. Truth, goodness, and beauty overflowing in the cosmos. A creation made to grow and teem, to be explored and to be thrived upon, for eternity—made to live forever.
In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. By his Word, he said, “Let there be light” and there it was. And it was good. And All creation was good. God made everything and it was so. Evening and morning, day and night, water and sky, land and sea, plants and trees, fish and birds, beasts and human beings, man and woman. Order out of chaos, goodness and beauty, right and no wrong, the Creator’s design and the Almighty’s order. The law was the imprint of the eternal and loving God on his creation, a law of love that ruled creature and creation. It was very good. Truth, goodness, beauty overflowing in the cosmos. A creation made to grow and teem, to be explored and to be thrived upon, for eternity—made to live forever.
But we traded in eternity for an expiration date; thriving for wasting; exploration for isolation; truth, goodness, and beauty for lies, evil, and seduction; the Tree of Life for the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; God’s law and design and order for sin and destruction and chaos. We, the kings and queens of creation became the stewards of sin and ushers of the curse. The sons and daughters of God would become the agents of demise, Satan’s accomplices in sabotaging serenity. The beloved of God would be the benefactors of death.
But we traded in eternity for an expiration date; thriving for wasting; exploration for isolation; truth, goodness, and beauty for lies, evil, and seduction; the Tree of Life for the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; God’s law and design and order for sin and destruction and chaos. The kings and queens of Creation, humanity and creation’s crown, became the stewards of sin who would rob Creation of its goodness and usher in its curse. The sons and daughters of God would become the agents of demise, Satan’s accomplices in sabotaging serenity. The beloved of God would be the benefactors of death.
And therein lies the cosmic conundrum: what does a loving, almighty God of love do with those whom he loves who sin and rebel and destroy? He is the God of eternal love. He is the God of eternal law. Which does he forfeit? Justice and order and law is who God is. Mercy and life and love is who God is. Does God contradict himself? Does God declare sin and lies and decay as good and right and salutary? Does he sweep sin under the rug? Does he blow the fallen creation all away? Does he simply declare it all okay? Does he sentence it all to hell? What does he make of his creatures designed for eternity but doomed to die? What does he do with his contradictory creatures, sinners made by a good God?
And therein lies the cosmic conundrum: what does a loving, almighty God of love do with those whom he loves who sin and rebel and destroy? He is the God of eternal love. He is the God of eternal law. Which does he forfeit? Justice and order and law is who God is. Mercy and life and love is who God is. Does God contradict himself? Does God declare sin and lies and decay as good and right and salutary? Does he sweep sin under the rug? Does he blow the fallen creation all away? Does he simply declare it okay? Does he sentence it all to hell? What does he make of his creatures designed for eternity but sentenced to die? What does he do with his contradictory creatures, sinners made by a good God?
You and I, who yearn for other gods, idols, and statues of ourselves. You and I, who delight in mocking God’s name. You and I, who despise his teaching and church. You and I, who rebel and mutiny against all his authorities. You and I, who murder and hate and harm. You and I, who lust and desire and divorce and cheat and crave dark satisfaction. You and I, who steal and exploit and rob. You and I, who gossip and glee with ruined reputations. You and I, who scheme and manipulate and horde. We are destroyers of God’s creation, mutilators of goodness, truth, and beauty, criminals of the law, guilty in every sense of the word. We are contradictions: minions of hate made by the God of love.
You and I, who yearn for other gods, idols, and statues of ourselves. You and I, who delight in mocking God’s name. You and I, who despise his teaching and church. You and I, who rebel and mutiny against his authorities. You and I, who murder and hate and harm. You and I, who lust and desire and divorce and cheat and crave dark satisfaction. You and I, who steal and exploit and rob. You and I, who gossip and glee with ruined reputations. You and I, who scheme and manipulate and horde. We are destroyers of God’s creation, mutilators of goodness, truth, and beauty, criminals of the law, guilty in every sense of the word. We are contradictions: minions of hate made by the God of love.
Why must the Son of God die? Because He is the solution to the cosmic conundrum: God’s law is good, but we are stained with sin. Jesus is the solution; atonement is the antidote to iniquity; crucifixion is the key to resolve, weakness is his strength. The Son of God fulfills his destiny. The Christ takes on flesh so that his flesh might take on our sin. The Son of God takes on your sin as if it was always his own. The innocent becomes the guilty, and the guilty becomes the innocent. To be the Son of God is to be the one to die. To be the Son of God is to be the atonement for your sin. Your sin on him, his righteousness on you; your guilt his, his life yours. On the cross hangs the crossroads of atonement, the great exchange: his life for yours. At Golgotha, the immovable object meets the unstoppable force; at the place of the skull, eternal justice meets eternal love; the cross is the end of all things and in the Son of God all things hold together. The Son of God dies in your place, he suffers your hell, he pays your price, he carries your shame, he bears your guilt, he takes your iniquity. Atonement is the solution. His verdict is guilty. Yours is absolution. He is the Son of God, crucified, for you.
Why must the Son of God die? Because He is the solution to the cosmic conundrum: God’s law is good, but we are stained with sin. Jesus is the solution; atonement is the antidote to iniquity; crucifixion is the key to resolve, weakness is his strength. The Son of God fulfills his destiny. The Christ takes on flesh so that his flesh might take on our sin. The Son of God takes on your sin as if it was always his own. The innocent becomes the guilty, and the guilty becomes the innocent. To be the Son of God is to be the one to die. To be the Son of God is to be the atonement for you. Your sin on him, his righteousness on you; your guilt his, his life yours. On the cross hangs the crossroads of atonement, the great exchange: his life for yours. At Golgotha the immovable object meets the unstoppable force; at the place of the skull eternal justice meets eternal love; the cross is the end of all things and in the Son of God all things hold together. The Son of God dies in your place, he suffers your hell, he pays your price, he carries your shame, he bears your guilt, he takes your iniquity. Atonement is the solution. His verdict is guilty. Yours is absolution. He is the Son of God, crucified, for you.
“We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”
“We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”
7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”
“We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”
