I don't believe some of the things die hard Christians believe. Particularly fundamentalist types, that seem to project God as a vengeful "Gonna GETCHA" type of Deity...
The thing that gets me, is that whole concept of "Jesus died to pay the price for our sins...He satisfied the righteousness of the Father...He died on the cross so that we can be made right with the Father..." and on and on ad nauseum...
I don't see it that way! I think of the parable of The Prodigal Son. What kind of father is being presented here? Only one kind...a compassionate, merciful, kind father... who holds no grudges! There's no score to settle!
The father in that parable could have said to his son..."Oh no you don't...You're not coming back here until YOU PAY THE PRICE! Get down and grovel! I don't have enough love to accept your kind of garbage-actions! NOW GROVEL!!!"
But there's none of that in the parable...only LOVE to the nth degree.
I heard something on a talk show once that has stuck with me. A teen gang member was talking about who he chose to hang with...
"I want to talk to those that have bled like I've bled..."
Because those are the people that impact the most on us, on our lives. Those that we know have walked that walk of pain... and not merely talked about the journey. Similarly to how we bereaved feel... that unless one has experienced the death of one's child...a Mom hasn't a clue just how utterly devastating that experience is. Sure, one can book-learn all they want about the topic...that still doesn't cut it. You need to walk through the fire to feel the heat of the fire...no sitting on the sidelines on this one...
I firmly believe that Jesus died not so much "for" our sins, but as a way of bringing us back to God the Father. Mankind's sinful behavior has wreaked havoc upon the world. Jesus "became sin" and shouldered the supernatural experience of all sinful actions and resultant human pain from those actions...so He can be THE consummate IDENTIFIER of our own pain. In simpler terms...He can "relate"...because He's been there and done (experienced) that!
Had a child die? He's felt the pain, having supernaturally experienced it. Had physical suffering of any sort? He knows what it's all about. Either physical, verbal or spiritually abused? He's experienced all of it firsthand. Those were drops of BLOOD that He sweated. His "Agony in the Garden" was literally that..
When all others around us have NO CLUE about whatever we're going through "pain-wise"--Jesus Christ is Whom we can turn to, to "get it" and to understand COMPLETELY. Because He's "bled like we've bled..."
Get off the bandwagon, you Fundamentalist finger waggers in my face...There's no way I'll ever believe that God our Father is anything but like the father in The Prodigal Son parable. One who joyfully RAN TOWARD his son... after anxiously and eagerly awaiting his hoped-for return...
A Father Who is more concerned about alleviating our pain, than satisfying His Own Righteousness...
A Loving God more concerned about our welfare than His own...One that doesn't turn off people because of His projected harshness, but One that turns on people, because of His Love.
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