Don't Muck Things Up By Doing Something

 As a child, I wondered why Jesus had to die?  Jesus seemed from Sunday school stories to be a kindly man, who magically healed the sick, the crippled, even raised the dead.  Who but the most wicked could possibly want to execute Him.  But, as a child, I did not understand sin.  Oh, I knew about the 10 Commandments, but understanding that I was a sinner, from birth, the child of sinners: that the God who created us could not bear to look at us as we were, such understanding would come later.

Trevor Thomas has an article today entitled To Rightly Understand The Resurrection, One Must First Understand Sin. From time immemorial, the Hebrews, later the Israelites had sacrificed a lamb in atonement for their sins. For only the death of one without blemish, which is what sin is on our souls, can atone for our sins. Clearly, no body can do this necessary act if we are to be reconciled to God.

The late-great Oswald Chambers provides one of the best descriptions of why Jesus went to the cross:

The Cross of Christ is the revealed truth of God’s judgment on sin…There is nothing in time or eternity more absolutely certain and irrefutable than what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross— He made it possible for the entire human race to be brought back into a right-standing relationship with God. He made redemption the foundation of human life; that is, He made a way for every person to have fellowship with God. The Cross was not something that happened to Jesus— He came to die; the Cross was His purpose in coming. He is ‘the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world’ (Revelation 13:8). The incarnation of Christ would have no meaning without the Cross. Beware of separating ‘God was manifested in the flesh…’ from ‘…He made Him…to be sin for us…’ (1 Timothy 3:16 ; 2 Corinthians 5:21). The purpose of the incarnation was redemption. God came in the flesh to take sin away, not to accomplish something for Himself. The Cross is the central event in time and eternity, and the answer to all the problems of both.

One of my favorite Scriptures that explains the death of Jesus is near the end of the first chapter of the book of Colossians. Colossians 1:19-20 reads:

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him [Jesus], 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.

So, once one understands why Jesus had to die, indeed wanted to do this for us, one has to ponder why would the God who created everything that is and everything that is not, care so much? And the answer is that He loved us that much. He loved us such that He entered the world as a child, born to a poor carpenter and a young virgin who laid him in a manger. He grew up as do the rest of us. He was tempted with the things that we are all tempted. He led a sinless life, thus without blemish. In dieing on the cross, He became the sacrifical lamb to reconcile everyone to God

Jesus last words on the cross were "It is finished." Everthing that needed to be done to reconcle us to our God was done. We don't have to do anything, God has done it all for us. And this is what many people who claim Christianity have the most trouble with. They want to do something to deserve salvation. I can't tell you the number of books I have seen that purport to tell a person how to be a saint. In these books, you must pray the rosary every day, three times for more merit. You must say Holy Offices each day, fast, pray often, perhaps scourge yourself. One wonders when a person is supposed to work to take care of his family.

Jesus tells us there will be many who say "Lord, Lord. I cast out demons in your name." I will say I never knew you. Why? Because of the claim to do something in hopes of doing enough, when in fact He has done everything.  We must only acknowledge that fact.  We must surrender.

As I noted several years ago, the greatest lie ever told is that there is no God. The second greatest lie ever told is that the devil does not exist. The third greatest lie ever told is that your (and my) sin is not really sin. One of the greatest debates within the church today surrounds the question of what is sin. If we can’t answer that question well and accurately, then we will fall short of understanding and appreciating all that Jesus did for us.

As Oswald Chambers reveals above, Jesus came for no other reason than to redeem us, to save us. Save us from what? From the sin that leads to death, hell, and eternal separation from God. We don’t get to come to God and accept Jesus on our own terms. It must be unconditional surrender. We must be willing to lay down everything that is an affront to God. He created us, He sustains us, and He alone can save us.

Jesus says that unless we become as babes, we can not enter the Kindom of God. And in truth, we are as babes. Babies must be fed, burped, have their butts cleaned, comforted and...well...everything. They can do nothing for themselves.  So it is with us and God.

So, the message this Easter is: don't muck it up by trying to do something. Stop doing and let God be God.