At the Cross God Spoke A Word: “But . . ” — Part 1
Finally, done with wrath and “God hates evil”. On to the cross!
I know. What a strange and possibly confusing title for this post. I have been thinking about how God spoke the Universe into existence. It seems to me that God spoke a word over the Universe at the cross as well. Perhaps He spoke “grace”, “repent”, or “life”. And maybe He did speak these, and others. However, the word that came to my mind was “but”. In this post I explain why I think this word is so important.
Words have power. Think about the words grace, hope, joy, life, sin, evil or resurrection, redemption, restoration. All of these words convey a universe of meaning. Words are so important to God that He calls Jesus “the Word”. And, of course, Scripture is “the Word of God”. I know that we can focus so much on words that we miss His presence. But His presence without words is not His plan for us either. We need both.
Here is a dramatic claim about one three-letter word: ‘but’. The word ‘but’ is one of the most important words in the English language. Such a short word, but so essential.
‘But’ is a transition word – when used in the middle of a sentence it signals that one idea is about to be replaced with another. Generally, it negates or cancels everything that goes before it and signals that you are about to read the really important part of the sentence. And if the part of the sentence preceding ‘but’ is generally positive, look out. The next part of the sentence will not be good news. And vice versa.
For example, “I love you, but . . . “ or “You did a great job, but . . . “ or “That is a great idea, but . . . “. You can fill in the blanks. Conversely, “You made a mistake, but . . .” or “At first I didn’t like you, but . . .”. You get the point. ‘But’ signals a change in our state or behavior; as I said, a transition word that indicates a contrary idea is about to be expressed.
I concluded the last post with the thought that evil, idolatry, and disobedience are so terrible that God sends those who do not repent of evil and sin into outer darkness for eternity. This is a situation where words are inadequate – how can words express the grievous pain our sin causes God, how devastated He is when one person is thrust from His presence; and of course, how horrible it is for us.
It might seem to us that there is no way out for us, or even for God, because His righteousness, holiness, and justice require punishment – His wrath. But . . . Here is a passage of Scripture – one passage where the word ‘but’, in my opinion, is the most important single word (OK, among the most important words) in the New Testament. Here is the passage:
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus . . .” (Ephesians 2: 1 – 6 NIV).
Remember, the word ‘but’ is a transition word – it negates or cancels everything that goes before it and signals that you are about to read the really important part of the sentence. I love this idea: “it negates or cancels everything that goes before it”. The word ‘but’ in this passage from Ephesians signifies the cancellation of a life of death, darkness, slavery, and hopelessness and signals a new life of life, light, hope, freedom, and power. Because of the work of the cross and the atoning blood of Jesus, our idolatry and sins of disobedience have been cancelled, and one life, one future replaced with another, the latter incomparably greater and more glorious than the former! Hallelujah!!
The magnitude of God’s love for us is inversely proportional to the wrath that we deserve. Instead of thrusting us from His presence into outer darkness forever, God seats us with Jesus in the Heavenly realms forever – and we are not talking about heaven when we die. This is a present reality! And the word that represents this cosmic shift is “but”.
Here is another example where one way of life is cancelled, replaced by another, and marked by “but”.
“It was God, personally present in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against men their trespasses but cancelling them and committing to us the message of reconciliation, of the restoration to favor” (2 Corinthians 5: 19 AMP).
As my friend Joey pointed out, at the cross the cosmic word “but” was spoken into the Universe. A world of inevitable slavery and death was, in that instant, replaced by a world in which freedom and life were now possible. At the cross God spoke across time and space when He said, “Yes, but . . .”. The really bad news was cancelled, replaced by the really good news: “You are loved, you are saved. Repent and believe the gospel.”
God is love. The opposite of God’s wrath is not God’s love. God’s love, which does not depend on my behavior, performance, or loveliness is rooted in God’s character. He can’t help loving – God is love. His love is the outflowing manifestation of God’s will and His life. God’s wrath is a secondary attribute of God.
No, the opposite of the wrath of God is the grace of God. And that is a deep, amazing, wonderful, monumental, life-changing, too-good-to-be-true truth that lifts this enormous burden of sin and wrath off of our backs and sets us on our feet – free from condemnation and certain death. Even God’s hatred of evil can be overcome by God’s power and His grace. Hallelujah! Just when I think I have a handle on God’s wrath – boom! This strange, totally unexpected ‘thing’ called grace shows up. Where did that come from? All we can do is receive it and let the supernatural power of God’s grace work itself into the deepest parts of our hearts, bringing healing and wholeness to our shattered lives.
Do you want something tangible to hang onto when grace seems to slip between your fingers, when it doesn’t seem real or even possible? It is the cross. Or when sin creeps up and you feel powerless in its grip? We have it – it is the cross. Wow!! Do you want a sign that God loves you? It is the cross. We can never understand how valuable we are to God, how deeply loved we are by God, how precious we are to God, and what a gift God’s grace really is until we understand the wrath of God, consumed at the cross. Our God is a consuming Fire. That Fire came down from heaven and burned white hot at the cross. Do you want proof that you are no longer under the wrath of God? Look to the cross – the place where the wrath of God and the love of God meet, separated, at least in the Word of God, by “but”.
Jesus, the perfect man, the only man who ever walked on the earth who did not deserve God’s wrath (remember – where there is no sin, there is no wrath), voluntarily and willingly, out of love for the His Father, but also out of His great love for you and me, on the cross took into His spirit, soul, and body all the wrath – the judgment, condemnation, and punishment we deserve for all our Sin (idolatry) and sins committed over our entire lives. And He didn’t deserve it – He was sinless.
What happened on the cross – called the Atonement – is a mystery to me. At the cross did Jesus essentially became a murderer, rapist, liar, thief, etc., even though he was totally innocent? Was He sent into the outer darkness, thrown out of the Kingdom of God, thrust away from God’s presence for a time because of my sin? Did He cry out to His Father, “Lord, Lord”, only to have the door slammed in His face, and hear God say “go away from Me you evildoer, I never knew you”? Probably. “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5: 21). Jesus experienced death and separation from God – God thrust Him into the outer darkness – taking what I deserved upon Himself.
That’s not fair! It is not fair, thank God! That is grace. And you and I are the recipients of that inequality. It is our lives that required His death. We killed Jesus with our sin. Blame it on Adam and Eve, but the truth is that it is you and I. We are the ones who Jesus died for – we are the ones who killed Him. The cross sends us one overarching message – “I love you – right now, just as you are”. Isn’t that amazing? He rescued us, He redeemed us, and He restored us to a throne in the Heavenlies, seated next to Jesus, with power and authority, all evil powers and principalities placed beneath our feet, when in truth we deserved the opposite. What amazing sacrifice! What a great, merciful, compassionate, loving Father! Our Father!
He redeems our time, our words, even the thoughts that did not honor Him when we lived in the kingdom of the world. And He continues to redeem our lives as we repent and join Him in that redemptive process. He makes all things work together for good. The Psalmist writes: “O Israel, put our hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with Him is full redemption. He Himself will redeem Israel from all their sins” (Psalm 130: 7 NIV). The notes in my study bible say this verse means that we are redeemed from the root of our trouble, which is idolatry, and all the consequences of our sins. This is the message of the cross. We are redeemed from evil, from our sins; and even the consequences of our sins, past, present, and future, are redeemed – consequences for each of us personally, and for the world impacted by our sin. It is as if our sin had never occurred. Jesus tells us, “The Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the good news.”
The entire story of mankind can be summarized in two parts: from the fall up to the cross and from the cross to eternity. The cross is the singular, most consequential event in human history apart from the fall in the Garden of Eden. If you could write this history with one sentence, the place occupied by the cross would be represented by the word “but” – all that came before “but” cancelled and negated, followed by the really important part of the story.
“Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man turn from his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will freely pardon” (Isaiah 55: 7 NIV).
With gratitude,
John