Nietzsche called the greatest of all sins to be the murder of God (deicide). There was nothing more sinful than that. On the reverse, the greatest of all righteousness fulfilled was in the self-giving of the Son of God. This self-giving brought an end to the history of hostility between man and God. It cancelled all debts. Man had committed the greatest of all crimes, and God had allowed it to be done to Him in the ultimate divine sacrifice. The Cross was where Justice and Love met vis-à-vis. It was where man affirmed his estrangement and God affirmed His belongedness. It was where God accepted man as he was. The one act of righteousness by the Son of God nullified forever the writ of accusation against all humanity. The veil was torn away; the entrance is paved, now the ball is in our court. He has accepted us. Do we receive Him or choose to remain estranged? [Estrangement and Belongedness in the Ultimate Sacrifice of God]
When you first hid behind the trees of Eden,
When you first had that sense of shame,
Didn't you just wish God weren't out around?
And when He asked, didn't Him you finally blame?
When a brother lifted his hand against his brother
And slew him hatefully in an outrage untamed,
Didn't he just wish God weren't out around?
And when He asked, didn't he mock both guilt and shame?
Thus, through thought and word and action,
Man bred gods of infinite names,
And in all that he wished God were just obliterated,
So that he could have to God's throne his claim.
"Why be agonized by subservience to the One
When one can decide what's good and what's evil?
Why be traumatized by the fear of the One
When one can switch sides to the kingdom of the devil?
Then, morality could be settled in some selfish game
And immorality disguised in some mystic holy name."
Then He came, God Himself clad in human flesh;
He came to His own and they knew not His name;
And, though amidst them He spoke and worked wonders,
They betrayed and rejected Him to open shame --
Yet, on that Cross of pain and revulsion
God drank man's cup of poisonous hate;
He allowed man to do away with Him,
And in so doing He had mankind embraced.
There on that Cross did Love have the victory
Over selfish sin and prideful shame;
There did God allow the greatest of all crimes
And cover it with His own boundless grace:
The Judge allowed Himself to be executed
By the hands of sinful men;
Thereby, He put an end to all condemnation
And cancelled all writ against our name --
Then, He rose again:
Now, let those who wish God to have remained murdered
Remain forever removed from His power and reign;
But, as many as have repented and to Him surrendered
To them He has given power to be called by His name.
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep." (John 10:11)
"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father." (John 10:17-18)
© Domenic Marbaniang, 1 August, 2012
When you first hid behind the trees of Eden,
When you first had that sense of shame,
Didn't you just wish God weren't out around?
And when He asked, didn't Him you finally blame?
When a brother lifted his hand against his brother
And slew him hatefully in an outrage untamed,
Didn't he just wish God weren't out around?
And when He asked, didn't he mock both guilt and shame?
Thus, through thought and word and action,
Man bred gods of infinite names,
And in all that he wished God were just obliterated,
So that he could have to God's throne his claim.
"Why be agonized by subservience to the One
When one can decide what's good and what's evil?
Why be traumatized by the fear of the One
When one can switch sides to the kingdom of the devil?
Then, morality could be settled in some selfish game
And immorality disguised in some mystic holy name."
Then He came, God Himself clad in human flesh;
He came to His own and they knew not His name;
And, though amidst them He spoke and worked wonders,
They betrayed and rejected Him to open shame --
Yet, on that Cross of pain and revulsion
God drank man's cup of poisonous hate;
He allowed man to do away with Him,
And in so doing He had mankind embraced.
There on that Cross did Love have the victory
Over selfish sin and prideful shame;
There did God allow the greatest of all crimes
And cover it with His own boundless grace:
The Judge allowed Himself to be executed
By the hands of sinful men;
Thereby, He put an end to all condemnation
And cancelled all writ against our name --
Then, He rose again:
Now, let those who wish God to have remained murdered
Remain forever removed from His power and reign;
But, as many as have repented and to Him surrendered
To them He has given power to be called by His name.
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep." (John 10:11)
"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father." (John 10:17-18)
© Domenic Marbaniang, 1 August, 2012
The book is another one among those who might gain from the market because of its controversial nature. The claim to 24 years of research would spur curiosity. However, the death of Jesus and the belief of the early disciples in His Messiahship and deity has been spoken about by secular authorities like Josephus Flavius and Pliny the Younger, who lived in the 1st century. Yet, biblically speaking, the revelation of Christ being the Son of the Living God is the work of God in the heart of man. It is not a matter of mere argumentation alone. It is the Holy Spirit who bears witness inside. Christian faith is a spiritual experience.
ReplyDelete