An Outline of the Faith - God the Son

Today is part 4 of our Lenten Journey outlining the faith.  This topic builds on the last one.  Sin and redemption naturally leads to a discussion of God the Son.  This section is found on page 848 in the Book of Common Prayer

Jesus is the only perfect image of the Father, and shows us the nature of God.  Jesus reveals that God is love.

Last time we talked about how we put ourselves in the center of the universe when we enter into judgement.  Because so many people are also trying to be in at the center, it's like we're in a constant game of King of the Mountain.  Another consequence of this dynamic is that we are unable to see God clearly.

In my living room at home I have a fireplace.  It runs off of gas logs and is quite nice in the winter when I need a little extra heat.  As long as I am far enough away from it I feel the warmth, see the light, and have a pleasant experience.  But if I were to stand in the middle of the flames, I would be injured, and my impression of the fire would be very different.  I would only be able to see its destructive power.

In the same vein, if we try to take God's place by judging others, all we can see is destructive power.  When we judge we become angry, bitter, and spiteful, and then we assume that God is all of these things as well.  The amazing thing that Jesus does is shows us the true image of God, the One who is pure love.

By God's own act, His divine Son received our human nature from the Virgin Mary, His mother.  The divine Son became human, so that in Him human beings might be adopted as children of God, and made heirs of God's kingdom.

When God the Son became the human, Jesus of Nazareth, he went out to where the people were.  Because He is fully God, He still had the ability to draw people to Himself, because we naturally pursue that which we perceive as pleasing.  No matter where He went, Jesus drew people to Himself.  Because He is fully human, we can relate to Him as a brother and peer, and yet He is much more than that.

The prayer book teaches that we are adopted as God's children and made heirs of the Kingdom of God.  I believe that God always intended to give us the Kingdom, because the Kingdom is the original design of how the world was supposed to function in the first place.  The Kingdom is simply Eden reasserted.  But when our view of the world is distorted by sin and judgement, we have no way of perceiving this Kingdom, it's as if it doesn't exist.  Even worse, the concept of it never enters our conscious.  But when we believe in Jesus, that He is who He says He is, our eyes begin to open, and we see possibilities that previously never existed.

By His obedience, even to suffering and death, Jesus made the offering which we could not make; in Him we are freed from the power of sin and reconciled to God.

The only way Jesus could save us from the self-deception that comes from sin is to go the whole distance.  He experienced every temptation, every challenge, and every suffering that we as human beings do.  Whenever we do suffer, especially if that suffering is unjust, it is so easy to fall back into judgement.  We're not content to simply say something has gone wrong, but that it went wrong because certain people are bad, and if they are bad then we must be good.  Now we're back to being the King of the Mountain.  Jesus maintained his way of being even to the end.  He continued to love even while He was being crucified.  That's why He was able to say, "Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34 NRSV)."  What that does is create an invitation for us.  If Jesus was able to love even in the most excruciating moments, perhaps we can too, and the power of sin no longer seems so absolute.  Jesus was the only one who could accomplish this because He was the only one unstained by the power of sin.  He never succumbed to the temptation of judgement and always maintained his way of being as a loving servant.

By His resurrection, Jesus overcame death and opened for us the way of eternal life.

Many times people refuse to come down off the mountain because they think it will make them weak.  It's the "When the going gets tough the tough get going" mentality.  What the resurrection demonstrates is that by loving completely, even to the point of death, even through the most horrific death, Jesus actually became stronger.  Loving never made Him weak, it created something much, much more.  Jesus invites each and every one of us into that same way of being.  How deeply can you love and how is it becoming a source of strength.?

Jesus went to the departed and offered them also the benefits of redemption.

The beauty of Christ's redeeming work is that it transcends time and place.  Past, present, and future are all redeemed and set right by Jesus.  Literally this means that Jesus, during the time between Good Friday and Easter Morning, went to the place of departed spirits, and offered them the same way of being that He now offers to us.  They too need to be freed from judgement, and live fully as helpful human beings, so to speak.  This is also a gift to the living because so often we carry around ghosts from the past.  Perhaps someone mistreated us, or we have mistreated another person.  When that person dies it can feel like we have missed our chance to set things right.  But Christ's work transcends life and death, past and present, and when we are freed from judging others - even those who have died, it's as if we have a whole new relationship with them, and an entirely different set of memories become available.

Jesus took our human nature into heaven where he now reigns with the Father and intercedes for us.

An additional benefit of the redeemed life is that we can now advocate for other people who may not have anyone.  That's because judgement goes so deep, and sometimes in societies certain individuals are judged by the culture at large.  This person, or that group of people are seen as the problem, or evil, or just plain bad.  In some cases they may have done terrible things, but they also have positive qualities as well.  Freedom in Christ lets us see the totality of the person, the bad and the good, and we are better equipped to respond when there are problems.

When we say that Jesus ascended to Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, and that He intercedes for us, it means that Jesus is doing exactly that.  Of course God does not see us through the eyes of judgement because God is perfect.  But imagine a scene in which someone took you to court and did their best to malign who you are.  The description is so horrific that you don't recognize the person being described, yet it has your name attached to it.  The worst set of lies and half-truths are being shouted out.  Suddenly, the person next to the judge stands up and says, "I know this person - I know them very well, and they are nothing like what is being described here.  This person has a lot of wonderful qualities and I am proud to call them one of my beloved!"  That is Jesus interceding for us.

Jesus doesn't intercede for us because God somehow needs it.  He intercedes for us because we need to hear it, along with the rest of the world.

We share in His victory when we are baptized into the New Covenant and become living members of Christ.

Christ's victory is a completely different way of being.  We turn away from the life of sin and death - from the life of judging that completely debilitates us, and we turn towards the life of grace and mercy.  Literally the word 'Baptize" means to immerse.  When we come to faith in Christ we are immersed in this completely different way of being.

St. Paul described baptism as a kind of death.  "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:4 NRSV)"  Being baptized means that we have made a complete change in our way of being.  It also means that just as Christ was completely loving and peaceful in the midst of his worst suffering, we too can be loving and peaceful in the midst of our suffering.  When we are baptized we are united to Christ in every aspect of His life, and are invited into His way of being.