Christology Archives
Evangelicals have succeeded in doing the impossible: we have domesticated Jesus. We have sanitized him and made him "safe." We have reduced him to a mascot for mere social etiquette. We have removed his edges and have censored his life in such a way that we are left with a respectable, nice, delicate, agreeable, presentable Jesus. But if we are not following the Jesus of the Gospels, who then are we following?
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Christ's work on the cross impacts the entire cosmos - not simply individuals!
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Jesus was able to be compassionate precisely because he fully embraced and expressed joy, sorrow, anger, and fear. As one fully immersed in the human experience, Jesus was profoundly moved by the sufferings and troubles of others. His deep emotional experiences produced a tender heart of compassion.
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We can imagine John rubbing his eyes in disbelief. His expectations have been completely overturned. He expected a fierce, conquering lion – he sees a bleeding lamb! It is the little lamb, Fluffy, who “has conquered” (Rev. 5:5). God’s conquering Messiah does not triumph through violence, bloodshed, or political or military force, but rather, through self-giving love.
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When we think of a "perfect" or "sinless" person, we usually think of someone who is “holier-than-thou” and snobbish. But in Jesus we discover that the only one who is truly “holier-than-thou” is wholly for us. His holiness is that of otherly love – love of another kind! His perfection does not make him less-than-human, but rather, truly human.
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Authentic Christian spirituality is fully human, fully embodied. In our culture, human limitations are often perceived as obstacles to unhindered union with God. On the contrary, it is precisely in and through our humanity that we experience God. Christian spirituality is not an attempt to escape our humanity but to embrace God in and through it.
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When all three aspects of atonement (
Christus victor, vicarious sacrifice, and empowering exemplar) are integrated together, our deepest problems - oppression by evil powers, the guilt and stain of human sin, and the ignorance, despair, and meaningless that arise from human limitations - are fully and finally addressed.
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Want to understand the Gospel according to Matthew better? Here is an overview of his story...
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In the face of the depths of human depravity, Jesus prays, “Father, forgive them.” Why should God forgive? What is the reason Jesus offers? The reason he gives is that we need forgiveness
because we are ignorant: “for they do not know what they are doing.” This is amazing grace, amazing love – radical forgiveness in the face of radical sin.
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The gospel of Jesus Christ is "the greatest story ever told." If this is the case, why then does it begin in such a boring way? The first few paragraphs consist of a lengthy genealogy covering over 2000 years and 40 generations. Why?
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It is through loss, failure, shame, and humiliation that Christ conquers. This is the devil's burden - no matter what he unleashes, God absorbs it and uses it for good. Not even the cross - the most inhuman and unloving torture invention ever devised - can thwart God's love and gracious purpose for us!
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In spite of the wide diversity in early Christianity, the early
Christians were united in viewing Israel's story as having reached its climax
in Jesus.
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Mary is “an ordinary woman… with an extraordinary vocation (being mother to the Messiah) who learned to follow this Messiah Jesus through the ordinary struggles that humans face.” Scot McKnight argues that Protestants should not fear that focusing on Mary will lead to error, for “the real Mary always leads us to Jesus.”
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The Jesus of the Scriptures is anything but predictable!
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God has said "yes" to humanity in the person of Christ. This is good news of great joy to all people! God has exalted humanity to the highest position through his union with humanity in Christ.
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Where is Jesus? The short answer: Heaven.
Unfortunately, our preconceptions of heaven get in the way of understanding what the early church meant in its confession of Jesus' ascension to heaven. Too often, we focus on the question: Where is heaven? A better question is: What is heaven? Jesus is not "somewhere in a galaxy, far, far away."
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Jesus is perceived by the religious authorities to be usurping God's role. Forgiveness is God's prerogative. What gives Jesus the right to forgive sins - especially when he oversteps God's law and rejects religious tradition. Who does he think he is?
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Without the humanity of Jesus - not just during his earthly ministry, but now in his heavenly ministry - there is no Christian salvation. Through the incarnation, God unites humanity to deity. This union is not temporary. It is permanent! Through Jesus' present glorified humanity we share in the life and love - the divine dance - of the Triune God.
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