At last we put all of the pieces together, and I offer my explanation of the atonement – how it is that Jesus’s death and resurrection fulfills the covenant with Abraham and accomplishes the salvation of the world. It was not by satisfying a wrathful God (as though God was saving us from himself!). Nor was...
Tag: why did jesus have to die
Understanding the Bible 29: The Crucifixion – God Loves His Enemies
Why was Jesus crucified? Was the cross an act of God (to satisfy the divine wrath)? Was it simply the inevitable result of Jesus’s challenge to the Sadducees and Pharisees? Was he betrayed by followers who felt he had failed his promises to deliver a political kingdom? Or was this an act of sin itself...
Understanding the Bible 28: How We Misunderstand the Cross
No symbol is more associated with Christianity than the cross. And for good reason. As we will see, the cross is indeed where God’s salvation is accomplished. But too often the cross has been interpreted mainly in terms of Jesus’s physical suffering – as though the means of salvation is the physical torture of the Messiah....