This is part II of a four-part series on the effects of the cross. In the last post we looked at the cross from a temporal perspective. That post can be accessed here: Post 73 - The Cross: Part I- A Temporal Perspective (bibleinsights.net)
A Humanistic Perspective
In [Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4 ESV)
The Death of Life
Question: What happens when the author and sustainer of life dies? What happens when the "light of men" goes dark?
The answer, albeit a bit uncomfortable to accept, should be evident; everyone--that is, all of life--dies.
That's the shocking, yet biblical teaching of the effect that Jesus' death on the cross had on the world. The "death" of all of humanity is the stunning "conclusion" the apostle Paul came to understand and wanted to convey to the saints in Corinth in his second letter.
... we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died... (2 Cor 5:14)
The Cost of Reconciliation
While most Christians readily accept the story of Noah as God's reboot of the world due to rampant disobedience and godlessness, it seems to be much more challenging for most Christians to accept that God did a similar thing for similar reasons on the cross.
We're told that through Jesus' death on the cross, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... (2 Cor 5:19 ESV).
At the moment of Jesus' death, for the first time since the Garden of Eden, the world was effectively sinless, completely reconciled to God. But it seems that the only way such reconciliation could be accomplished was through a dramatic, wholesale cleansing of sinful souls--one has died for all, therefore all have died.
In a sense, what God did with physical souls in the days of Noah, he duplicated with spiritual souls with the death of Jesus, but in order to keep his promise to never repeat such an event with a flood, God exacted his world-cleansing effort with a "consuming fire"--the cross.
The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers. The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land the LORD will destroy, both soul and body, and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few that a child could write them down. (Isa 10:17-19 NIV)
Although this prophesy from Isaiah is obviously written in poetic language, it's not difficult to decipher the symbolism.
The "Light of Israel" is a unique reference to Jesus.
God as a fire is a common metaphor for judgment and/or refinement.
All will be destroyed--the good (the fruitful land) and the bad (the thorns and briers), "both body and soul."
The work will be completed in "a single day" and, as in the days of Noah, only a small remnant of "trees" (people) will remain.
Darkness
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. (Mat 27:45 ESV)
Darkness in the Bible is an expositional constant--an oft-used symbol of death or spiritual ignorance. While Jesus was on the cross, a darkness came "over all the land."
The worldwide darkness that occurred at the moment of Jesus' death seems to represent a kind of universal spiritual deconstruction, as if God "unbirthed" all of humanity, sending the world back to the darkness of the womb, innocent of all sin, yet needing to be reborn in order to see the light of a new, post-cross kingdom.
Light
With this understanding, Jesus' cryptic discussion with Nicodemus begins to make sense, "Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). Being spiritually reborn, brought out of darkness, is required to see the kingdom.
It seems that after three days in the grave, Jesus awoke to a new world filled with "dead"/unborn people--people spiritually blind, in need of regeneration. The apostle Paul describes how this rebirth opens one's eyes to a new way of seeing.
Therefore from now on we recognize no one by the flesh... (2Co 5:16 NASB20)
"From now on"--that is, "since our spiritual rebirth"-- we now see people differently. We used to look at people from a "worldly point of view" (2 Cor 5:16 NIV), with pre-cross, unregenerate eyes. But the post-cross rebirth allows us to see people in a new light. I propose that the rebirth allows Christians to see people in much the same way that God sees people--with the eyes of our hearts (Ephesians 1:18).
Life
Just as it is logical that when Jesus died, all died, it's also logical that when Jesus was resurrected, new life would follow. Paul continues his conclusion -
... we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died, and [Jesus] died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. (2 Cor 5:14-15 ESV)
Ahh... new life. That's the hope eternal for all of mankind as provided by the resurrection. The "death" experienced by the world that day was not like the physical deaths in the days of Noah, but more of a "spiritual slumber" awaiting the awakening words of the gospel, the power of God unto salvation.
"Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. (John 5:25 ESV)
Final Thought
"New creations." That's what the apostle Paul calls those who experience a rebirth into a new life--eternal life. The apostle Paul explains it this way: "What you sow does not come to life unless it dies" (1Co 15:36 ESV).
From a humanistic perspective, the cross, then, is a very unlikely symbol of God's provision of hope and an opportunity for new life for all. From a humanistic perspective, the cross reveals an unfathomable and powerful love that is still reconciling sinners to a holy God.
Next Post: The Cross Part III: A Cosmological Perspective
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