I listen to the podcast, “Theology in the Raw,” which is hosted by Preston Sprinkle. He interviews people with questions on hot-button issues of the day. He delves deep into controversial subjects within the churches. What I like most about Preston is his willingness to hear new ideas of belief and how Christians should act towards those who are usually not accepted.
Recently, I
listened to an interview he had with Christian Gonzalez, a Greek Orthodox
believer who works in Youth and Young Adult Ministries. I knew nothing about
the beliefs of the Greek Orthodox church, so I was interested to learn what
they are.
I came away
very moved by what he said was the main thrust of his faith. It is that Jesus
didn’t just die for us, he died with us. In this world, we are
all under the sword of death. He came to become one of us part of that was experiencing
death.
This meant a
lot to me because I have always believed God was responsible for me being here
on this earth. I used to say to him, “If you’d have given me a choice, I would
have said, ‘No thanks.’ I was pretty bitter and angry about my life and the
suffering I’d gone through and the suffering I was still going through. I know
this is the wrong attitude for me to have, but it is there in my heart. I give
it to God and ask for peace, joy and love within. He gives it to me, but I need
to ask every day or I will return to my old thinking.
Jesus dying for
us was an enormous sacrifice. He didn’t die like all other people because he
took the sins of the world upon him and had to pay for them with mental
suffering. The Bible says he became sin for us, that he became cursed. This
meant God the Father had to abandon Jesus as he died on the cross. This is why
he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He died the death of
evil, sinful people. He took their place in judgement. Like someone owed a huge
debt to the bank and couldn’t repay and was going to lose everything, Jesus
stepped up and paid it all.
But Jesus
dying with us seems different to me. Immanuel: God with us. It feels to
me like kinship and understanding what we all go through. None of us here on
earth asked to be born here and God is the great creator of all things.
Therefore, because we suffer, he suffered as he walked the earth. He was
rejected and misunderstood by most people, even by his own brothers, who
thought he had lost his mind. I believe he was lonely, sad and sometimes even
afraid. I say that because he asked his Father that if it was possible, he
would take the cross away. Obviously, there was no other way, even for God.
After
listening to the podcast, I talked with God about this and a verse from the
Bible popped into my head. It was when Jesus said, “Take up your cross and
follow me.” I took that to mean, each of us has a cross. What does a cross
represent? I would say sorrow, suffering, pain, dying, and humiliation. Most of
us go through these things in our life, if we live long enough. And when Jesus
says to pick the cross up and follow him, where is he going? He is going to die
and we have to do that also. In fact, Paul says, “We die daily.” And “Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly
nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is
idolatry.” This is a death of our sinful nature.
We can’t do that without God, who
changes our hearts and makes it possible. We just have to talk with God each
day, asking for his life to be in us and to make us like Jesus. This is
actually a great adventure, if we look at it like that. Of course, I didn’t, I
was either mad or depressed. I feel much better now. I think it’s because when
my first grandson died, I felt how God helped me cope with that. I know now
that he is always there for me helping me through life.
