A CURSE THAT BROUGHT FREEDOM

Christ is the best

curse that ever
happened to
Mankind.

A curse by any
other name
Is just bitter.
As I sit down to write this blog, I find myself in somewhat of an odd, yet
undistorted position.
In 2007, fresh out of high school I decided to join the Army. I figured my grades
werent good enough, and my mother didnt have money to send me to college. I
was not athletic or talented enough for a scholarship but thats a different story.
To my surprise when I took the ASVAB I scored high enough to land a job as an
Imagery analyst. During my time in advanced individual training (AIT), the training
held after basic specifically to teach you how to do your MOS/job, I realized just
how important the visualization aspect of something can be. You can write a
multi-page report, describing everything in great detail and it still would not have
the same effect on someone as showing them an image or video of what you
reported on. In fact, your brain actually processes an image 60,000 times faster
than it would if you were reading.
In many instances I view the Bible the same way. I have read how the red sea
parted hundreds of times, especially as a kid; but it always tends to hit home
more-so when Im at the beach visualizing the length, width and the depth of the
body of water. I have read the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead, but
attending a funeral always puts this story into viewpoint. Every Easter
(Resurrection Sunday for the church crowd) I have heard the story about Christs
sacrifice on the cross. I have seen churchs production ministry put on plays about
Christs death, and later washing out red food coloring from the stage for the next
few months. I have seen documentaries about how much strain is placed on the
body when one is crucified, Ive read books... But there really isnt something
comprehendible that we can see today, that will truly give us the perspective of
what actually occurred during those dark yet glorious hours Jesus hung on the
cross. Maybe that is why the cross is fading from public consciousness. Its not
reality to us but to the Jews in Jesus time, this was something they saw
everyday.
In Jesuss time there was nothing worse than for someone to be crucified. Only
the most wretched and despised people would be hung up for all to see, so they
could be ridiculed and spit at. This is after the beating, violating, and torturing of a
person. It was such a gruesome and humiliating act, the Jews believed that
someone had to be cursed to endure this type of death the type of death Jesus
went through for you and me.
As Christians were taught that Christ is the answer to a complicated problem
(much like all math). On one side, we have God. God who is holy, perfect, and
perfectly loving. On the other side lies us. The problem with this is that God longs
to be in fellowship with his creation, but our sinful ways are what keeps God on
the other side. Because God is holy, sin is incompatible with Him and His nature.
God is perfectly opposed to sin, yet he is passionately in love with us despite our
sinful nature which we all have fallen into (Romans 3:23). The solution to this
problem is atonement. Christ would bear our sins in his body on the cross so that
we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. In other words, Christ took the
punishment that was meant for you upon himself. It was a debt that we surely
could not have paid. And on that cross, Christ bridged the divide.
When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us
sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person,
though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially
good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we
were still sinners. (Romans 5:6-8).
In my mind I always ask myself... Why God? Why did Christs punishment have to
be so fierce? Whyd he have to die, in order for my sins to be repaid? John Piper
once said, There is nothing more fearful in reality or in imagination than the
prospect of everlasting, never-ending, omnipotent, unimpeachably just and
righteous divine wrath and fury. And that is the consequence of our sin. Real
forgiveness is costly, damages must be paid by someone. However, forgiveness is
also refusing to make someone pay for what they did. You see God did not inflict
pain on someone else for you, and instead of bringing down the consequences of
your sins upon you, God absorbed the pain himself. God did not demand your
blood, but offered his. So why did Jesus have to die? So we wouldnt have to.
"Jesus was not an innocent third party that God punished in place of us. Rather,
Jesus is Himself God as well as man. He is not only the one judged for the crime;
He is the one against whom the crime is committed, and the one who passes out
the sentence for the crime." - Greg Boyd

Robert Smith is the quintessential poster child for a jack-of-

all-trades. He has a servants heart, a warriors ambition,
and a jokesters mind. He has often been described as the
most reserved, outgoing person anyone has met. Robert is
passionate about five things, God, family (especially his
wife), acting, basketball, and card games. When hes not
preparing for this next big role, you can typically find him
wandering the exhibits of the Smithsonians in downtown
DC.