The world was dying
We were all dying
Completely dead
Dead as a doornail
We were going to cease to exist
But God said “No!
I will not let you die!
I will rescue you!”
So God became human
Being human, it meant he could die
Being also triune, meant the Holy Spirit would resurrect Jesus
And us!
How?
It is something of a mystery
But the Bible describes it this way:
“One died for all
Therefore all died”
You died today
Easter, 1982 years ago – or thereabouts
You died in Christ
And Christ swallowed up death
In the power of the Holy Spirit
Jesus also came to save us from sin
Sin is like brain-cancer
It makes us believe we are wrong/bad/evil
So then we behave in wrong/bad/evil ways
It makes us believe we deserve to die
And so we die
Jesus came to heal us from the lies
From the disease of sin
From the death that sin causes
So that we can be whole again
Free of sin and free of death
Jesus did not die to save us from hell
Hell was created by God for a purpose
And its purpose will be fulfilled in all our lives
There is no saving from hell
There is only a journey through hell
Through the refiner’s fire
For all of us
Jesus also did not die as an act of punishment from God
Sin is its own punishment
Believing in lies that destroy us
And dying as a consequence
Jesus came to save us from the punishment of sin
Not save us from the punishment of God
That’s just silly
Jesus is God
God was in Christ
Tri-unified
And we were in Christ
Humanity and God
Together as one
Being reconciled
That’s why Jesus died on Easter Friday.