Redeeming PleasureSample

"Christ is Victorious"

Even if you have little to no experience with theology (the study of God), you’ve likely considered the question: Why did Jesus have to die?

Unfortunately, many think God the Father is an angry, wrath-filled judge who demands payment. He’s angry at us for our sin. But then His own Son, Jesus, came and paid the tab we ran up, thus satiating God’s need for blood. There are many problems with this view, even biblically.

In 2 Corinthians 5:19 the apostle Paul says that “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ.” It wasn’t God the Father versus God the Son. They were seamlessly in harmony with one another.

And logically, it doesn’t take much to realize this completely defies the concept of a good God. It’s difficult to argue that a really good God also happens to have a bloodthirsty rage and so He made His own Son die as a result.

If you’ve been a Christian for many years, it may be difficult for you to see how others could have this point of view. Think of it in practical terms. If you knew a dad who forced his child to die because he was angry with the world, would you argue he was a good dad? Especially if that dad was somehow happy, or at the very least wasn’t all that angry after his son died?

Instead, we can focus on Christ’s victory over the power of Satan, not God’s appeasement. Our mistakes and failures, what the Bible refers to as sin, put us into slavery of the devil. When it comes to our separation from God, we are the guilty ones, but our guilt has consequences that extend far beyond us. Our sin sells us into spiritual slavery to the powers of evil, but Jesus buys us back on the cross.

We can therefore celebrate God’s goodness, and the fact that Christ is victorious over the plans of evil! God isn’t an angry father who desires to punish us but a good dad who wants to show us how to thrive.