Dear all,
Wanting to share a few more thoughts that came to mind while we are on this
topic.
I hope I am able to steer clear of all suggestions and implications that hint
that all except my religion are wrong, or the self righteous assertions of
respected elders and fellow writers claiming to have the sole ownership of
God. As Paulose Mar Gregorios would say, my knowledge of the Almighty is
precious little, so I cannot shut out any doors trying to learn about His ways.
Having said that, I am proud to be a Christian, I am thankful
that I was brought up in an Orthodox environment, and I try to
understand and wonder at the love my God had for me to make Him
willingly endure the suffering on the cross for my sake.
Let me start where I left off in my previous message on this topic.
Looking at Calvary one finds the ultimate symbol of Love. Jesus is
the embodiment of Love. We know of no greater form of Love than that
shown by Jesus - the Lamb who willingly chose to become the
sacrifice in our place!
But there is something else we often miss when we look at Calvary.
We do not see the Father there! But what we do not see is very
significant. There indeed is the Father at Calvary, who willed His
Son to die so that human beings may not have to die! Can we even
begin to comprehend what the Father was going through at Calvary?
The pain of the Father suffering silently seeing His only begotten
son being humiliated, tortured and killed. At each moment of His Passion,
His Father was with Him. Can we comprehend the
love of that Heavenly Father who willed this to happen? Can we imagine the
depth of justice that made the Father Will in this manner for the redemption
of mankind? Can we imagine how the powerful, fiery and vengeful Yahweh of the
Old Testament tied His own hands and bore the afflictions in silence that
mankind was inflicting on His beloved Son?
Our God is a just God. Justice demands punishment for sin. We often
wonder if our God is a bloodthirsty God especially if we look at the
Yahweh of the Old Testament.
I try to see it this way -- we can imagine the responsibility of a
judge in our society who tries to ensure justice. He(she) cannot be
overcome by emotions. He has to give his verdict based on the hard
facts and evidences presented before him. The justice system is
often depicted as a blind folded lady with a balance in hand to
weigh the evidence with the crime. The blind fold is to ensure that
the justice system is not biased by emotions, to ensure that the
judgement is impartial. If even in our imperfect world, we know and
understand this form of justice, then how much more just and pure
must be God's justice! (justice tends to infinity!) We can only be
amazed and can only gape at the greatness that is God.
The Will of the just Father being carried out by the Will of the
loving Son. The love of the Just Father making Him to forsake (a divine
paradox?!) His beloved Son to enable salvation for a sinful mankind. So many
mysteries are attached to Calvary, all designed to provide hope and
victory to the fallen man. What we saw there was little, what happened there
beyond our sight and understanding was indeed amazing! Thank God, every living
soul for your life!
Justice won that day and so did Love! The satifaction of God in the
sacrifice was seen in the Empty Tomb on Sunday!
I understand now the point made by the others and the dangers of seeing love as
God. [But we must indeed focus on Love]. So as we are trying to say in various
messages, God is more than Love; another way I see it.
is -- Perfect Love meets Perfect Justice in God.
Regards,
Mathew Samuel,
Albany, NY
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/9644
Wanting to share a few more thoughts that came to mind while we are on this
topic.
I hope I am able to steer clear of all suggestions and implications that hint
that all except my religion are wrong, or the self righteous assertions of
respected elders and fellow writers claiming to have the sole ownership of
God. As Paulose Mar Gregorios would say, my knowledge of the Almighty is
precious little, so I cannot shut out any doors trying to learn about His ways.
Having said that, I am proud to be a Christian, I am thankful
that I was brought up in an Orthodox environment, and I try to
understand and wonder at the love my God had for me to make Him
willingly endure the suffering on the cross for my sake.
Let me start where I left off in my previous message on this topic.
Looking at Calvary one finds the ultimate symbol of Love. Jesus is
the embodiment of Love. We know of no greater form of Love than that
shown by Jesus - the Lamb who willingly chose to become the
sacrifice in our place!
But there is something else we often miss when we look at Calvary.
We do not see the Father there! But what we do not see is very
significant. There indeed is the Father at Calvary, who willed His
Son to die so that human beings may not have to die! Can we even
begin to comprehend what the Father was going through at Calvary?
The pain of the Father suffering silently seeing His only begotten
son being humiliated, tortured and killed. At each moment of His Passion,
His Father was with Him. Can we comprehend the
love of that Heavenly Father who willed this to happen? Can we imagine the
depth of justice that made the Father Will in this manner for the redemption
of mankind? Can we imagine how the powerful, fiery and vengeful Yahweh of the
Old Testament tied His own hands and bore the afflictions in silence that
mankind was inflicting on His beloved Son?
Our God is a just God. Justice demands punishment for sin. We often
wonder if our God is a bloodthirsty God especially if we look at the
Yahweh of the Old Testament.
I try to see it this way -- we can imagine the responsibility of a
judge in our society who tries to ensure justice. He(she) cannot be
overcome by emotions. He has to give his verdict based on the hard
facts and evidences presented before him. The justice system is
often depicted as a blind folded lady with a balance in hand to
weigh the evidence with the crime. The blind fold is to ensure that
the justice system is not biased by emotions, to ensure that the
judgement is impartial. If even in our imperfect world, we know and
understand this form of justice, then how much more just and pure
must be God's justice! (justice tends to infinity!) We can only be
amazed and can only gape at the greatness that is God.
The Will of the just Father being carried out by the Will of the
loving Son. The love of the Just Father making Him to forsake (a divine
paradox?!) His beloved Son to enable salvation for a sinful mankind. So many
mysteries are attached to Calvary, all designed to provide hope and
victory to the fallen man. What we saw there was little, what happened there
beyond our sight and understanding was indeed amazing! Thank God, every living
soul for your life!
Justice won that day and so did Love! The satifaction of God in the
sacrifice was seen in the Empty Tomb on Sunday!
I understand now the point made by the others and the dangers of seeing love as
God. [But we must indeed focus on Love]. So as we are trying to say in various
messages, God is more than Love; another way I see it.
is -- Perfect Love meets Perfect Justice in God.
Regards,
Mathew Samuel,
Albany, NY
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/9644
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