Engaging God’s World – Chapter 4 - Redemption

So far we have read about longing and hope, how we were created, the fall of man, and now we move on to the redemption of man which means we must understand that Jesus, God's one and only son was sacrificed in our place. He took all of our sins upon himself and carried them to the cross where he died. He was placed in a tomb and descended to hell. After three days he conquered the grave and rose to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. Plantinga begins chapter 4 of his book Engaging God’s World with this verse from Isaiah 53:3 which says “But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.”

In my group discussion today we discussed in depth where Plantinga talked about how Jesus suffered not only at the cross but all throughout his life on earth. Jesus lived in a way that a “repentant sinner” would act even though he was sinless.

            “He got himself baptized, like every sinner. He absorbed accusations. He accepted rebuke without protest. He endured gossip about his choice of friends and his eating and drinking habits…Jesus endured the kind of mockery that shreds a person’s dignity.”

Jesus lived through all this without complaint, without sinning or wanting to sin once. He lived a complete pure life. We must remember too that while Jesus was here on earth he was human just like us. He had been emptied of every spiritual attribute so that he could resist the same temptations as we do every day. Jesus resisted and never sinned once, even when the devil tempted him for days and nights on end. Plantinga does a good job at reminding us that Jesus sacrificed all so that we could be with him forever in eternity. Now it is our responsibility to be good representations of little Christ’s until the second coming when we will be forever united with Jesus and we will spend eternity in paradise.

From C.S. Lewis’ writing on Mere Christianity Lewis says “The child wears a coat that’s too big and a hat that falls down over her eyes. She clumps around in grownup shoes and she clips on earrings that swing down to the middle of her neck. It’s all a kind of pretending, but it’s also a kind of preparing, because every child wants one day to be a person who fits into clothes of this size.” As every child yearns to be a grownup and act like a grownup, we wish to be a part of the kingdom of God. We grow closer to God in our everyday walk, the time grows closer to the day when we will see Jesus. We must patiently wait on His return. It is good to stay refreshed with books such as Plantinga’s that will further prepare us for the second coming of Christ.