God’s Own Purpose
Sometimes we can be left with the harrowing picture of Jesus and the heavenly Father at opposite ends of the love spectrum. Some people imagine Jesus wrestling His angry Father to the floor, pulling the whip out of His hands and forcing Him to be merciful to lost humanity. Nothing could be farther from the truth!
The suffering of Christ ending in His death upon that awful cross two thousand years ago was an idea equally shared and planned out to the last detail in the Godhead. Sin didn’t take God by surprise; nor did the demand of the Jews for Jesus’ crucifixion. God’s plan of salvation is described as His “own purpose and grace … given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time” (2 Timothy 1:9). And as for the notion that Jesus’ death was contrary to His angry Father’s desire to punish sinners, the prophet Isaiah clearly saw “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer … the Lord makes his life a guilt offering” (Isaiah 53:10) The heavenly Father planned His Son to be there.
The Bible describes the offering of Jesus in an unusual way “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2). The heavenly Father saw His Son’s willingness to die for our sin as something precious in His sight. Christ the wrath-bearer was extraordinarily loved by His Father.
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