IS GOD AGAINST US?

In Part 4 of his book Christian Doctrine (entitled GOD IN CHRIST AND RECONCILIATION), Shirley Guthrie pens a chapter (pages 250-269) labeled “Is God Against Us? The Doctrine of Atonement”. I have read and re-read this journey through biblical theology. Let’s see if little snippets might draw our collective attention:

The work of God in the death of Christ has shaped what we have said about the nature of God and human beings, the relationship between them, and the meaning of God-with-us in the birth and life of Jesus. We do not really take up a new topic now but only concentrate on a topic that has run through everything we have been saying from the beginning of our study. First we will look at the various biblical images that describe the meaning of Jesus’ death. Then we will try to understand the underlying truth these images seek to describe in different ways.

When Jesus died, a dream died in the hearts of his followers …. Only after Easter morning and their experiences of the presence of the risen Christ did the first followers of Jesus begin the understand that his death was good news and not just a tragedy. In order to interpret the positive meaning, they used various images or analogies already at their disposal from everyday life. If we are to understand their significance, we need to remember two things about them.

First, the images do not describe a “theory of atonement” or “plan of salvation” that explains what God must do and what must happen to Jesus if God wants to save the world. The first Christians had been forced to give up all their theories and plans, because God did not act according to their calculations and expectations. They used these images not to explain what God must do in order to save us but to interpret what God actually did do.

Second, it is no accident that in the New Testament several images are used to interpret the meaning of Jesus’ death. No one of them is adequate by itself. Every one of them has its limitations and needs the emphasis of the others for a grasp of the total picture, [Then we are treated to a discussion, with biblical citations of The Financial Image, The Military Image, The Sacrificial Image, The Legal Image.] …..

Christians also know that sinful human beings are alienated from God. It is our fault. We have disobeyed God’s commandments. Even worse, we have rejected God’s love. But strangely enough, it is not the guilty but the injured party who acts to restore the broken relationship. God does not demand that we first do something to make up for what we done or not done before God reluctantly agrees to forgive us again. God makes the first move. Exactly the opposite of the procedure in pagan religions, it is not God who is reconciled to us but we who are reconciled to God. It is not we who make peace with God but God who makes peace with us. That is what the death of Jesus is all about.

Prayer

Loving God, we thank you for taking the first step toward us on a cross outside of Jerusalem. And we thank you for not only making us, but also loving claiming us in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.