I find myself thinking about the Crucifixion quite often lately. It’s usually in the context of considering the Communion, or as some call it the Lord’s Supper. This morning as I was reading my daily Oswald Chambers devotional, the Crucifixion was once again front and center. In particular, I was struck by the quotation from Revelation 13:8, “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world”.
It reminded me that God had Jesus’ death on a cross planned even before He began the creation process. He knew what mankind would do, how because of sin there would be a separation between us and Him, and what needed to be done to overcome the curse of sin and give us an opportunity to once again live in His presence. Jesus knew His purpose when He became human; he was born to die on the Cross as the one sacrifice that could break the power of sin forever.
It’s breathtaking to consider, and beyond any understanding I can muster. But there’s more to it, much, much more. It touches on other questions that plague mankind: why am I here, how did I get here, and what gives me worth? I have friends, family and acquaintances who have asked me about my reason for belief in God, and I have sometimes struggled to give an answer. But as I begin to understand more about the Crucifixion I have a little greater clarity about the other questions as well.
The Crucifixion shows how much God cares about us-all of us. He was willing to give Himself in the person of His son to suffer the punishment that belonged to us. Furthermore, the Crucifixion was always His plan A; it was never a fallback when the original design went south. God had this in mind even before the words, “Let there be light”.
From that I can conclude that God places worth on each of us. Why would he do such a thing if He created us as something He could simply throw away and make another? 2 Peter 3:9 tells us, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promises as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” God intended that every one of the billions of people that have ever lived or will ever live would be His, living in His presence for eternity. But He left the choice to us.
If God cares that much, I can’t help but understand that I am no accident or random occurrence. I was made with meaning and purpose. There’s no place in that for ego, because I don’t understand exactly what my purpose is, but I can take joy and comfort in knowing there is a reason I exist. The more I willingly surrender my will and choices to God’s direction, the more meaningful my life becomes, because He knows His purposes for me, and the more peace, joy and contentment I experience daily.
I honestly struggle to understand why someone would choose to reject a belief in God, the creation, and the Crucifixion, and instead choose to believe in a random series of events that somehow led to humans showing up. It is a belief that holds no meaning or purpose for life. Instead, we simply exist until we no longer exist. There is a concept that treating each other fairly and kindly is sort of a good thing, but is not truly a universal belief. It is a belief system that contains no hope.
The Bible tells why people choose to live and believe this way. From the very beginning, men and women have been lied to and deceived by Satan, blinded into believing that we can be our own gods, that we get to define our own reality and moral code, and that the true God is just a narcissistic bully that wants to take the fun out of life. Most people live in darkness but fail to realize, or just flat out deny, their situation.They believe that they have freedom to do what they want, not realizing how heavy the chains of slavery are that they wear.
As is usually the case with my “I think, therefore I write” approach, I’ve wandered around a bit, reflective of how my thought processes tend to work (it tends to be rather noisy and chaotic in my head). The conclusion I wish to leave is this: choose God. There’s light and hope there. He created you, and He wants you back. You’re not an accident, not hopeless, and worth the death of His son to God. For my Christian brothers and sisters, let us be bold in proclaiming the one who we call Lord and Savior. Let us shine the light into the darkness, and live our lives consistent with what we say we believe. There are people depending on it.
Memoirs of a Geezer 