God HAD TO stack the odds against Jesus ENORMOUSLY and PUBLICALLY so that we COULD BELIEVE in His GREATER POWER when He OVERTHREW them! He needed a sufficient FOIL and BACKDROP of EVIL in order to sufficiently dramatize and play out His own GREATER POWER OF JUSTICE by contrast. [10/09/08]
The logic of the Crossurrection is simply this: IF GOD COULD RAISE JESUS FROM THE DEAD, HE MOST CERTAINLY POSSESSED THE POWER TO PREVENT THE CRUCIFIXION IN THE FIRST PLACE, YET DID NOT USE IT TO DO SO! OTHERWISE WE WOULD NEVER HAVE KNOWN THAT HE POSSESSED SUCH POWER OR THAT HE WAS EVIDENTLY REFUSING TO USE IT FOR SOME REASON. BUT HEREBY EVEN THAT ASTONISHING REASON STARTS TO DAWN WITH NUCLEAR ILLUMINATING FORCE: GOD WAS NOT ACCOUNTING THAT OUTRAGE OF SIN—CRUCIFYING HIS PRECIOUS SON—AGAINST THEM, BUT FORGIVING THEM INSTEAD, JUST LIKE JESUS REQUESTED HIM TO DO! AND WITH SUCH A CATEGORICALLY AMAZING DEMONSTRATION, HE SOUGHT TO WIN US OVER AND CONCILIATE EVEN HARDENED FOES, THE APOSTLE PAUL SERVING AS EXHIBIT “A”! (Romans 5, 1 Corinthians 5, Ephesians 2, Colossians 2, Philippians 2, Galatians 1-2, 1 Timothy 1, Acts) [10/09/08]
In Romans 3:24-26, God is displaying in front of all nations His covenantal righteousness to JESUS by RAISING HIM ABOVE HIS ENEMIES. This is “the righteousness of God” about which Paul is writing here and elsewhere (in Romans, Galatians, and Philippians). By this startling act of justice done to the Messiah almost without delay, God stunningly revealed a power that might have been otherwise effectually directed to the devastation of his foes. Therefore, the Resurrection proved, retrospectively, that God was indeed in Messiah, “not reckoning their offenses against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). That whole six hours of Messianic agony was, moment by moment, declaring “I love you and would rather suffer this from your sins now (although you cannot possibly be aware what a cosmic injustice you are doing), than to avenge myself on you by the angelic force available to me, for that would tragically destroy the very objects of my affection, the designated beneficiaries of my entire rescue operation and Messianic career! Such a win would ironically defeat its own purpose.”
So because he didn’t get what he deserved at the Cross, then by the divine alchemy of a more perfect justice than we ever dared imagine, much less hope for, we don’t need to get what we deserved because the superabundant judicial payback that God eventually rendered on the Third Day directly to Jesus constituted the firstfruits of all that God reckoned he deserved for being obediently willing to go down as an ignominious failure. [10/10/08]
“SPEAK SOFTLY BUT CARRY A BIG STICK”
Theodore Roosevelt’s famous epithet has a striking application to the relation between the central messianic climax of “Crossurrection” and the historic judgment of A.D. 70 upon Jerusalem. In the Resurrection, God spoke softly in contrast to what by rights He could have done. But 40 years probation was up in 70 A.D., and a judicial review called for the threatened “stick” against the incorrigible. [10/10/08]
Jesus never facilely renounced the pursuit of justice when he denounced retaliation, i.e., self-avenging, as a means of achieving it. He both taught the way of righteousness and exposed injustice and viciousness in high places without fear or flinching. But he also knew that his boldness would catch up with him, although he did not recklessly chase it down. Yet he did allow it to catch him, in submission to his Father’s desire, so as to reveal the LARGER, MORE ENCOMPASSING JUSTICE THAT WOULD ACTUALLY SAVE EVEN ENEMIES! [10/10/08]
The Premial Atonement 