If you have read my previous posts on this topic you know that I have approached the topic of Christ’s Atonement from several different perspective and angles in an attempt to explain how I understand the cross of Christ. Or was it? Many of you have expressed an inability to grasp what I was trying to say. I credit two realities for this; the fact sheer futility of the perspective presented and the fact that until now this third piece of the puzzle has not been offered.
If you have not read parts 1 & 2 you may want to go back and read them now. If you have read them you may still want to go back and look at them again. That overwhelming sense of inadequacy you feel when trying to understand it; it’s exactly what I was going for. You see, it was not so much an attempt to communicate my thoughts as it was to communicate my feelings.
At the time I posted the blog, and even still to a degree, we were and are covering Atonement in doctrine class. (As a matter of fact, I am sitting in doctrine class even as I type this.) In my study I have looked at several different perspectives on the cross, including my own, and come to the realization that none of them are sufficient. Class discussion looked like this. Someone would present a view, someone else would point out how it was wrong and we would get nowhere. We went in circle after dizzying circle getting nowhere and learning nothing new about God. The entire process was tiresome and sickening and hardened as I am to relentlessly push deeper into these issues (those of you who know me know this about me) I soon found myself wanting nothing more than to escape it all.
I began to hate the whole idea of it; pointing out where the faults in each perspective lie, showing where they come up short and how they are insufficient. Not only is it tiresome but it entirely misses the point!!! There we were gathered around the foot of the cross arguing over whose perspective was more valid, whose position was most accurate and whose view was the best, completely ignoring the fact of what was going on amongst us. Yes it’s true, no one angle provides a 360° view but that is the beauty of it all. None of the perspectives are perfect in and of themselves. But they are all beautiful to look upon. I say rather than looking at each other and what other perspectives are missing, let us look at the cross and what our perspective reveals. Share it with others. Come alongside them and see things from another angle. Invite them to come alongside of you and share your perspective. Stop looking at each other and look to Christ together.
When we come to this realization, no longer will we be wrapped up in the storms of this world. No longer will we be swept away by the currents of the times. Instead we will stand firm, wrapped in the beauty of his majesty; shrouded in glory. All else begins to fade. Only He and I remain.
Now my heart’s desire is to know you more
To be found in You and known as yoursOh to know the power of your risen lifeAnd to know you in your sufferingSo with You to live and never die
All I once thought gain, I have counted loss
Spent and worthless now compared to this…
Knowing You…
Jesus
