English Radio Program

02 October 2008

THE UNIQUE FUSION
OF BOTH GOD AND MAN 

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. 1 Cor. 15:3-4

Everyone loves a baby. Babies bring freshness, a purity, and the awesome mystery of new life. Do you ever think about what took place when Mary conceived a child of the Holy Spirit? For a moment ponder the marvel of God's being reduced to one tiny, microscopic cell, a tiny embryo which was the union of both God and humankind.

Every child that comes into the world reminds us of the awesome mystery of life itself. Birth may be relatively commonplace in that it takes place every day all over the world, but what it means should never be. At conception, locked in the combination of genes and chromosomes are two families' histories which make a tiny infant what he or she shall become in life.

In His lifetime, Jesus Christ demonstrated both His humanity and His divinity—both sides of His family. Yes, he was human. Fully human. He hungered and thirsted. He grew tired and weary. He never took the shortcut when it came to avoiding or eliminating the weaknesses of His flesh. Though I never recall theologians being so bold as to go on record saying this, I believe that in His childhood Jesus suffered with toothaches and head colds along with scraped knees just as did other boys and girls.

Yet as an adult in His ministry, He reversed the inexorable flow of human consequences. On three occasions, dead people came back to life. The blind saw. The deaf heard. Illnesses were reversed in demonstrations of divine power which could never have come of human origin.

Jesus' life, of course, was cut short. At the age of 33, Roman soldiers crucified Him, not because of the good that He did, but because He had become a victim of the system.

But the story doesn't end there.

A business man on his way home from the office paused at an art gallery to admire an exhibition of paintings which were on display for Holy Week. One painting was of the crucifixion, and as he stood there viewing it, a little boy—dirty and in need of a bath—stopped and also looked in the window.

“Do you know what's that about?” asked the business man.

“Yes,” replied the lad. Taking his dirty finger, he pressed it to the window, saying, “That one on the cross is Jesus, and them are his disciples.” He then pointed out Mary the Mother of Jesus and the Roman soldiers adding, “They crucified Him, Mister. They crucified Him.”

The business man turned and walked down the street. But in a moment, he felt a tug at his sleeve. It was the same little boy, who added, “I forgot to tell you. He rose!”

That's the rest of the story, and at the resurrection Jesus perpetuated the life which has touched lives of men and women down through the centuries in an unending display of God's love. Paul put it, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, NKJV).

Easter comes only once a year but needs to be celebrated every day of the year. The waxen, trumpet-throated Easter lilies whose maturity was so perfectly timed by their growers soon wilt and die as flower do, but what God did in sending His son will never fade. Here's the record: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Jesus' death brought redemption, but His resurrection brings the hope that we will live forever. Rejoice, friend. The life He came to bring need never end.

Resource reading: John 20.