In the past few posts, we have been looking at the cross from four different perspectives. Our goal is to gain a more complete understanding of the most significant event in the history of the universe--the death of Jesus on the cross.
In the previous posts we viewed the cross from temporal and humanistic perspectives. In case you missed them, here are the links:
The Cross: An Introduction: Post 72 - The Cross: an Introduction
Temporal Perspective: Post 73 - The Cross: Part I- A Temporal Perspective
Humanistic Perspective: Post 74 - The Cross: Part II - A Humanistic Perspective
Today, we shift our vantage point to look at the cross from a cosmological perspective.
A Cosmological Perspective
Heaven and Earth
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen 1:1)
To understand the cross from a cosmological point of view we must avoid the typical secular understanding that heaven is a location far away in which, with the proper belief, the human soul can "jump the gap" and join God in this faraway place. The Bible tells us something quite different.
From the beginning, Scripture tells us that heaven and earth are like two interrelated and inseparable halves of God's creation. Each part is made for the other and eventually they will come together as one.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. (Rev 21:1, 3 ESV)
Until heaven and earth are finally united, the only way to truly understand this interrelationship between the two is to put Jesus in the center. It was in Christ that God set forth his will and purpose "as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth" (Eph 1:9-10 ESV).
The Temple
The writers of Scripture often speak of times of dramatic cosmic occurrences: the "sun and the moon going dark", the "stars falling from heaven", and "the skies rolling up like a scroll."
Although I believe these images are symbolic, they reveal that since The Fall there has been tension and conflict in the cosmos--an unease in the relationship between the heavens and the earth. More importantly, those images reveal that something was drastically wrong in the relationship between the Inhabitant of heaven and the inhabitants of earth.
The Greek word "kosmos" implies order, harmony, balance, equilibrium. There is little argument that The Fall caused a relational schism between heaven and earth/God and man. Suddenly, there was disharmony and unbalance in the cosmos.
The temple, in part, was a visual symbol of the cosmological harmony desired by God--a holy place where heaven and earth/God and man come together--a place of cosmic balance and unity. The temple was a foreshadowing of God's ultimate plan "to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth."
Enter Jesus
In the second Chapter of the gospel of John, Jesus angers the Jewish leaders when he "cleanses" the temple--overturning the tables of the money changers and throwing them out of the temple court. They ask him for a sign to show that he has the authority to do this.
Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking about the temple of his body. (John 2:19-21 ESV)
In effect, Jesus was telling the Jewish leaders, "I am the union of heaven and earth. I am the holy place where God and man commune. I am the only temple that matters. True harmony of the cosmos is found only in me."
The Cross
For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. (Mat 5:18 ESV)
If Jesus is the true temple--the symbolic embodiment of the harmonious union of heaven and earth--when Jesus died on the cross, there is a sense in which heaven and earth (symbolically) passed away. There is the sense in which the old cosmic order was destroyed, and a new covenant was inaugurated. A new order in the cosmos was established, a new king in the universe was coronated, and a new kingdom on earth had begun.
The schism in the cosmos caused by man's rebellion against his Creator, required God to launch a plan, conceived before the foundation of the world, to restore balance and harmony to his creation. Driven by love, God begins to enact his wonderful plan to redeem the world--to re-harmonize the cosmos through his Son, Jesus Christ.
Final Thought
When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Until God determines that the time is right for a final, once-for-all unification of heaven and earth--the complete restoration of balance and harmony in the cosmos, the only place where we can find "peace like a river"--an inner harmony and balance--is in Christ. Even when there is turmoil, unrest and strife all around--even when the sun and the moon go dark, and the stars fall from heaven--in Christ, it is well with my soul.
From a cosmological perspective, the cross was the symbolic passing away of heaven and earth. The cross seems like an end, yet when we put Jesus in the middle of our understanding of the relationship between heaven and earth, we see a foreshadowing of the ultimate harmony, balance, and order God has planned for those who abide in his Son.
Next Post: The Cross Part IV: A Theological Perspective
Comentários