Corrective Redemption
A good father corrects to restore. Why do people crave others to be punished? Why is it that people enjoy it when others are caught in their mistakes and punished? The intents of the heart show the state of one's heart. Can it be because they themselves are alienated? Can it be that they have alienated themselves? Can it be because they refuse to move on and move forward towards complete healing and restoration and are unwilling to accept their own correction? Can it be that they reject love, the love of God?
What does the cross mean to you? Is it ultimately about God's punishment? God's justice? or is it ultimately about God's redemption?
"By His stripes, we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5) implies the latter.
Does that mean punishment and justice do not matter? Not at all! But that means that they are not the ultimate goal of love. In the story of the prodigal son, we see the elder brother demanding justice and punishment, while the father keeps pleading with him stressing about the more important thing which is redemption.
"He was lost and is found" (Luke 15:32)
What God did on the cross is of utmost importance when talking about the salvation of souls. He did it singlehandedly. On the cross, Jesus became humanity that identifies itself with the deserted of God, in order to reconcile humanity to God in His death and resurrection. Humanity for too long has identified itself with the race which was deserted, forgotten, cast out, rejected. On the cross, God became man's isolation, in order to destroy that separation.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)
When contemplating on the ultimate implications of the cross, it is indisputable that punishment and justice fell on Jesus for the ultimate salvation of men everywhere and throughout all ages, because He made it available for us all to enter into the presence of God through the veil which is His body through a new and living way, an eternally, intimately and existentially unifying way! (Hebrews 10:20)
So let us enter friends, let us not harden our hearts and die in our wilderness (Hebrews 4:11). Let us enter with joy and thanksgiving, giving all praises to God who willed to give His only begotten Son for the salvation of men! God bless you!
