True or False - According to the Bible....
- Jesus said, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me” as a result of His loss of deity, due to His taking on the sins of the world.
- While on the cross, Jesus was separated from God the Father.
- God cannot look on sin.
- God “turned His back” on Jesus.
Dear Prayer Warriors,
Each day of this week leading up to Easter, I will post a series of true and false questions (four each day,) with answers appearing below. Like Christmas, Easter is a celebration in which Biblical truths, apocryphal teachings and man-made legends are all taught, side by side, without distinguishing between what is Scriptural and what are unsubstantiated stories. The object of these questions is for you to test yourself--not a test of obscure Bible trivia, but a test of whether you are holding to Biblical revelation or myths and legends. You should ask yourself, “If I have believed this myth, what other myths do I believe concerning God the Holy Spirit’s revelation concerning Christ’s arrest, trial, torture, crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and the actions of the early church?” The goal is that you will be challenged to faithfully read and study the Holy Scriptures and base your convictions on the holy, eternal, inerrant written Word of God.
True or False - According to the Bible....
13. Jesus said, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me” as a result of His loss of deity, due to His taking on the sins of the world.
False – Jesus never ceased to be God while on the cross. His taking on the sins of the world in no way affected His deity or His relationship with the Holy Trinity. While on the cross, God the Holy Spirit states of Jesus in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” And, again, in Isaiah 53:6 “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” Jesus, however, was not sinning on the cross. Instead, the sins of the world were imputed-- placed in Christ by God the Father. Then, Christ was punished for these sins by God the Father. Christ never lost His deity and was one with God during the entire time.
14. While on the cross, Jesus was separated from God the Father.
False – This statement is not found in the Gospel accounts of Christ’s crucifixion, in the preaching accounts of the Acts of the Apostles, nor in any writings of the Holy Scriptures. It is a personal conclusion, elevated to doctrine by pastors and Bible teachers but never stated in Holy Scriptures. The unity of the Holy Trinity is one of the foundational doctrines of Christianity. At no point was this unity broken. The doctrines of the nature of God, particularly, that the three persons of the Trinity are indivisible one from another, do not stop with Jesus taking on the sins of the World. Once these sins were imputed to Jesus, He, then, experienced the judgment of God for those sins. This was an intensifying of the relationship rather than a breaking of the relationship. It was God, meting out His judgment for all the sins of the World, in and on the body of Christ. Thus, the doctrine of substitution-- Christ was a substitutionary sacrifice. The mere suffering on the cross would not suffice, for, during this time of earthly suffering, God’s heavy hand of judgment also fell on Christ. His time on the cross, then, was not separation from God--for Christ entered into the very presence of God. It was there that
God the Father personally carried out the punishment of Christ in our place. Both on the cross and simultaneously in heaven in the presence of God, God the Father was crushing, punishing and meting out the judgement due us.
Deuteronomy 6:4 (The unity of the Trinity is a foundational doctrine of Christianity. God is three yet one and, as such, indivisible. If, on the cross God the Father became separated from God the Son, then, by definition, God would cease to be God. At all times, during His pre-incarnational state, during His earthly ministry, during His death, burial and resurrection and, now, during His heavenly ministry, Jesus was, is and always will be one with the Father.)
"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!
John 10:30 (Jesus Himself affirms his oneness with the Father and their indivisible nature)
30 " I and the Father are one."
Colossians 2:9 (The unity of God is also affirmed by God the Holy Spirit in the writings of the Apostles.)
9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
Hebrews 9:24-26 (Notice in verses 24 & 25 that the sacrifice of Christ also took place in heaven. There Jesus appeared in the presence of God for us. He offered Himself as a holy and perfect sacrifice to God. This could not happen if He were separated from God.
24 For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
25 nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own.
26 Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
Isaiah 53:10 (Notice that God is the one punishing Christ for our sins. The experience of Christ on the cross was not separation from God.)
10 But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
15. God cannot look on sin
False – A common teaching during Good Friday and Easter sermons, with no basis in Holy Scripture. There exists no single passage in Scripture which states that God cannot look on sin. This teaching has its roots in the humanization of God. Man, because of his fallen nature and the imputed sin of Adam, will sin in action, in thought and in desire. Thus, if man does not actually commit adultery with his body, he does sin by looking or seeing pornographic displays. Although he may not actually steal, he does covet and, thereby, sins. Thus, theologians assume that God could not look upon sin (like man) without sinning. This, of course, is not true. God does look on sin, He sees sin and He judges the sin He sees, without ever vicariously participating in this sin in thought or desire. Unlike man, God has a righteous, just and holy reaction to what He sees. Read the verses below and ask, “From this passage does God look on sins or does God turn His back on sins?”
Gen 6:5-7
5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
7 And the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them."
Amos 9:8
8 "Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, And I will destroy it from the face of the earth; Nevertheless, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob," Declares the LORD.
Job 34:21
21 "For His eyes are upon the ways of a man, And He sees all his steps.
Psalms 33:13-15
13 The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men;
14 From His dwelling place He looks out On all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works.
16. God “turned His back” on Jesus.
False – A common statement during Good Friday and Easter sermons, but with no basis in Holy Scripture. There exists no verse in the Bible which states that God turned His back on Jesus while on the cross. As seen in question 14, the time of Christ’s crucifixion was an intensification of the Son’s relationship with the Father--not a breaking of that relationship. Revisit II Corinthians 5:19. How can we justify statements which are not found in Holy Scripture, such as “God turned His back on Jesus,” when Holy Scriptures abound with the doctrinal teaching of the unity of God--that God and Christ were actively engaged with each other in Christ’s sacrifice and that God was receiving this sacrifice, while at the same time meting out the judgment of the world’s sins in Christ’s body?
2 Corinthians 5:19
19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Again, notice the events taught by God the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 53:6 “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.” It was God the Father who placed our sins in Christ. He did not do this by “turning His back” on Jesus.
Again, in Hebrews 9:24-25: “For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own.” While Christ was on the cross, God the Father--after placing the sins of the world in Christ--made Christ a substitutionary sacrifice and punished Him for those sins, thereby receiving Him as a perfect propitiatory sacrifice. The doctrines of imputation, substitution and propitiation all speak to an intense involvement of God the Father in the sacrifice and punishment of Christ on the cross. This was not accomplished by God turning His back on Jesus.
No doubt many will argue in favor for each of the above four myths of the Cross. Rather than arguing, simply say, “Show me the verse.” They must show you a verse where it happened (historical revelation in the Gospels) or where it is taught (doctrinal revelation in the New Testament). Anything else is a personal conclusion of a verse which does not specifically say one of these four things. In this case, their devotional conclusion is wrong, as it contradicts clear doctrinal teachings by God the Holy Spirit in the holy, eternal, inerrant, written Word of God.
By His Mercy,
II Corinthians 4:1
Rev. John S. Mahon - Director
Grace Community International |
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