Transformation

The death and resurrection of Christ sits central in our lives of Christians. The cross stands as a symbol of the tremendous price Christ paid for our self directed living. The reality that our sin, and the just penalty of sin were laid on Jesus is the defining characteristic of the Christian faith.

Isa 53:4-10
4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (NIV)

Due to the generosity of God we receive the benefits of a relationship that is leads to salvation and transformation. The work that Christ did on the cross is much more than some kind of cosmic transaction. It is helpful to look at the Hebrew to gain some understanding of the benefits we have received.

Benefits received by the work of the Cross.
• He was pierced for our transgressions (peh'-shah = a revolt or rebellion)
• He was crushed for our iniquities (avown= perversity, depravity)
• The punishment that brought us peace (friendship with God)
• By his wounds we are healed (rapha' ;to mend, to cure)

It is unsettling to view our lives from God’s perspective, revolt, rebellion, perversity, depravity is not something we want to own, yet that is the reality of our nature. When we have a revelation of this, the work of the cross captivates us. Friendship with God! The healing of our nature and transformation! God is generous indeed. Yet many times we settle for something less than a living relationship with Christ, and rely on ritual and form. It is in the relationship that life is given and empowerment for change takes place. Consider Paul’s description of the work of the cross and the benefits we receive.

2Co 5:14-21
We are ruled by the love of Christ, now that we recognize that one man died for everyone, which means that they all share in his death. (15) He died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but only for him who died and was raised to life for their sake. (16) No longer, then, do we judge anyone by human standards. Even if at one time we judged Christ according to human standards, we no longer do so. (17) Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come. (18) All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also. (19) Our message is that God was making all human beings his friends through Christ. God did not keep an account of their sins, and he has given us the message which tells how he makes them his friends. (20) Here we are, then, speaking for Christ, as though God himself were making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ's behalf: let God change you from enemies into his friends! (21) Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made him share our sin in order that in union with him we might share the righteousness of God. (GNB)

Paul in his writing described him self as the chief of sinners as he had persecuted those who were following Jesus. Yet God broke into his life, and he was forever changed. I have come to believe that the more we see and understand God’s generosity the more we will give ourselves to God’s agenda.