Today I ran across the following posts on Facebook. The second was a response to the first. It seems to me that the real meaning of Easter is the answer to this challenge, so I wrote back my own response.
“Jesus was crucified for standing up to the empire, not to atone for the sins of humanity.” Rev. Dr.Caleb J. Lines
“If you have trouble believing this, it’s because you have internalized the idea that you are inherently unlovable. Believe that you are loved unconditionally.” Joy Aldrich
Jesus never stood up to the empire. The Jewish leaders wanted him dead because too many people were turning to him rather than them. You do not realize how much God loves you. But he does insist that you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength, and that you love your neighbor as yourself. Have you done this? Has anyone ever done all this, especially the first commandment? The answer is “no”. If you love your children, do you let them get away with anything they want to do? It is because you love them that you discipline them and expect good behavior from them. Would not God’s love be similar? How was God to get justice in the case of your disobedience? His love for you is so great He took the punishment upon Himself for you. There is no greater love than that. You are lovable; God paid your penalty for you because He loves you so much. The next time your child does something wrong, instead of spanking him have him spank you instead. Then you might understand God’s love. Go ahead and scoff at Him, reject His love, reject His payment on your behalf, do your own thing the way you want to do it. You have the right to do that; God is not forcing you to accept His gift. Just don’t expect to be the beneficiary of His love when you reject Him and it.
Jacques LaFrance the only thing I’m rejecting is the idea that anyone is deserving of punishment to start with. EVERYONE is loved UNCONDITIONALLY. Saying that anyone needs to do X, Y or Z to receive love are CONDITIONS. It’s your belief that you are unworthy, less than, and/or a “sinner” that makes you think that there must be requirements to receive love. There is no need for punishment. A parent who actually loves a child will never intentionally inflict trauma on them. We learn from the consequences of our actions, but we are never judged for anything we do, only loved.
It is not punishment we are speaking of. It is the right of access to all God has for us because we are loved and we love Him. God loves us so much He wants us to choose Him and what He plans for us. His love IS unconditional. Also it is not forced upon us, we get to choose to receive it or not. If we freely choose to reject Him, we are allowed to do that. He is not required to take us back, but He would any moment we are willing, even up to the last second of our lives, as Ian McCormack discovered. It is not a requirement or condition that we love him; we can choose not to and to ignore him. Man has been rebellious against God for all his existence. God longs to have us back, but we choose not to love Him and go our own way with our own opinions. Good Friday was God’s way of saying I want you back in a love relationship with me. I assume you love your children unconditionally, and therefore would not respond to any behavior of which you disapprove with anything that might be traumatic. If you plan a trip to Disney World and one of your children decides not to go. How would you respond in a way that is not traumatic to the child? Could he or she just stay home and get into anything he or she wants while you are gone? Are there are no conditions or limits imposed because of your unconditional love? Tough love is better love than letting the other person get away with anything they want. Disagreeing with someone does not mean not loving them. We can still love that person and if we have some authority over them we can exercise our love in a way that makes them better. So it is with God. If we will come back to Him and accept His love, all sorts of wonderful things can happen, all because He loves us unconditionally. He loves us even when we rebel against him just as you would keep loving your children if they rebelled and ran away from you. You would covet to have them back, but you would not cause them trauma. That is the same as God’s love for you. I don’t expect to persuade you, but I love you anyway, even when I disagree with you. God is the same with us. You are free to act toward me any way you want and I will still love you. God will allow you to go your own way without Him, but will still love you and hope you will come back to Him.