Happy Valentine’s Day!  Today, reflect on the greatest love story ever: God’s story.

Lately, I’ve been questioning everything from church traditions and long-held beliefs to who God is and what God wants.  Not that I’m wavering in my faith, but rather giving room to grow and come to a more full understanding of what we do and why.  Today I ask: what does it mean that Jesus sacrificed his life for us?  Oh, don’t be too quick to answer!  We all know what we’ve been told, but do these answers point us to who God is?  Do they point to a God of wrath and judgment, or to a God of love and mercy?

What if God isn’t an angry, unrelenting judge?  What if Jesus didn’t die as a sacrifice to appease God? What if God came to dwell with us in human form to show us we have it wrong- God is a God of love, not a God of wrath?  What if God has always been a God of love and mercy? What if John 3:16 really is true and God sent his Son to us WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS because God loved us even then?

The difference is subtle, but profound.  Jesus’ death is a sacrifice, but we might question our belief that the sacrifice is made to God to appease God.  Jesus died because of our sins FOR US; not because a sin offering was needed to reconcile us to God, but rather because we’re not able to conquer sin ourselves.  So, Jesus took our sin and made it his.  Through Christ’s death and resurrection, we are reconciled to God, but it’s not God that changed.  No, it was us that needed help to reconcile.  We were separated from God by our own imprisonment in sin.  God was there all along, but we were chained with sin and could not turn to God.  So, God came to set us free.  Jesus paid our ransom when he took our sin upon himself.  He took our place.  But Jesus could do what we could not: he overcame the power of sin, death and the devil.

Or, what if Jesus did not come to earth to die, but rather to live?  What if Jesus came to show us God and God’s way?  What if Jesus came to be God incarnate, to show us who God is, and to show us how to live?  What if Jesus died because… well, because we killed him?  We crucified Jesus because we couldn’t accept a vulnerable God in human flesh and because we couldn’t accept that God wasn’t who we thought God was.  In short, we couldn’t accept God in Jesus.  Thankfully, God did not give us or death the final word.  Christ’s victorious resurrection confirms his divinity and brings us hope.

Dare to ask questions.  May God bless you richly in your quest for answers on your journey to the cross.  Read Romans 6, and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally!

Annie