July 22, 2002

EDITORIAL:
Jesus' death and resurrection bridges gap to God
___Opening a Baptist newspaper editor's e-mail always is an adventure. No one can guess what might pop up. Here's part of a letter that arrived just last week, followed by my response:
___Your website stated:
___1. Romans 6:23--For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
___2. Although humanity through sin has separated itself from God, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross bridged that gap.
___Question: How did Jesus' death and resurrection bridge this gap?
___This is the third e-mail I've sent to a Baptist organization. I've also tried going to a Baptist church. Maybe one day I'll be able to find a Baptist who can give me the courtesy of an answer.
___The Bible teaches that ...
___ "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), as you noted.
___ "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).
___ "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life" (Romans 5:8-10).
___ "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:8).
___Christians understand that God created all people to enjoy a loving relationship with God. In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, the writer explains that God created all things but still wanted something more--a person made in God's own "image" (the ability to reason, relate and reciprocate God's love)--so God made people.
___In order for that relationship to be authentic, people had to be free either to accept or reject God's love. Consequently, God made people with a free will.
___Unfortunately, the first people sinned--or departed from God's divine plan of loving relationship--by attempting to know and do things set aside for God alone to know and do. All of us have followed that path.
___While God is completely loving and created people for the purpose of a loving relationship, God also is completely just or righteous. (This is what's behind the word "wrath" in Romans 5:8-10. We commonly define "wrath" as anger or resentment. In fact, in the sense it is used to describe God, it is the idea of fulfilling or bringing about justice.) In the larger context, this means God is careful to see that actions have consequences. Specifically, that means when people reject God for whatever reasons they have, God honors that decision. "Hell," whatever physically it is, really is God's honest acceptance that a person has rejected the loving relationship God has offered, and God allows that person to spend eternity apart from God. What could be worse than spending "forever" away from the God who made you and designed you to be fulfilled through a divine love relationship?
___Now, we know from Scripture as well as personal experience that all people sin. Everyone does things that are outside of God's will and hurtful to our relationship to God. And since God is just, those actions have logical consequences. If we got what we deserved, we would be eternally separated from God.
___Since God is just, God's integrity demands that the consequences of human sin be fulfilled. We deserve punishment--specifically separation from God--for our sins. But since God also is loving, God devised a wonderful but costly plan to restore our relationship.
___And that's where Jesus comes in. The consequence of sin demands sacrifice. Normally, left to our own merit, that would be our own souls' eternal separation from God. The only way to make up for that fault and restore the divine-human relationship was for God alone to make the ultimate, perfect sacrifice. So, Jesus--God in human flesh--came to Earth and lived a perfect, sinless life. For his efforts, he was put to death and died the spiritual death we all deserve. While on the cross, he cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He experienced complete separation from God. Christians traditionally have understood Jesus descended to hell, the place of God's absence where all sinful people deserve to experience eternity.
___But since God is all-powerful and Lord over all things, Jesus defeated death. He died on a Friday but rose up from the grave on Sunday morning. Since that moment, death and separation from God have not had eventual or ultimate claim on people who love God, call Jesus their Lord and believe God the Father raised him from the dead.
___Jesus paid the debt caused by our sin and offers that payment as a gift to us. When we accept that gift, we are reconciled--brought back to a loving relationship--to God.
___Blessings on you, especially as you seek answers to your very important questions.

___--Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

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