In ancient times, people worshipped a multitude of gods—sun gods, moon gods, gods of thunder, rain, fertility, war, peace, summer, winter, and more. Within these pantheons, there was often a supreme deity. For instance, in the Egyptian pantheon, Ra, the sun god, was supreme. However, Ra was distant and unapproachable, leading people to focus more on gods like Osiris, Isis, and Horus. Similarly, the Greeks had Zeus as their supreme god reigning from Mt. Olympus. These gods were depicted as fierce, powerful, and violent, with idols and images representing them for worship.
In contrast, the descendants of Abraham worshipped one God and made no image of Him. This was unique and unprecedented. Every pagan temple had an image of their god, but the Hebrews followed the commandment in Exodus 20:4: “You shall not make for yourself an idol.” The God of Israel remained invisible, as emphasized in verses like 2 Chronicles 6:1, Exodus 33:20, and Isaiah 45:15. This prohibition against making an idol was to prevent creating a distorted image of God. No image is better than a wrong one.
The Iconographer
What happens when God becomes the iconographer and crafts the perfect image in the person of Jesus Christ? Through the incarnation, the invisible God becomes visible. As John says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:1). Paul adds, “He is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). The author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is “the exact imprint of God’s very being” (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus is not an idol; He is God in the flesh. According to His own words, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9).
Jesus reveals who God is and who He has always been. Any idea of God that doesn’t align with Jesus may be more akin to the pagan deities of the past rather than the revealed Son of God.
Where is this God headed? The Cross
The crucifixion is the pinnacle of God’s self-disclosure. When we behold the crucified Christ, we can say without doubt, “That is what God is like.” On the cross, the full nature of God is shown. When Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them," everything was forgiven—not only the betrayal by Judas, the murder committed by Barabbas, the false accusations by Caiaphas, the unjust sentence by Pontius Pilate, the Roman soldiers who crucified Jesus, and the jeering crowd, but everything!
Every sin, every transgression, every act of idolatry, every deed of injustice, every crime, and every hidden sin—it was all forgiven at one time, once and for all. This truth is revealed in the broken body of God. Rather than destroy His enemies, He chose to die for them. All the sins of the world culminated in the one sin of killing Jesus. As He died a criminal’s death for the sake of love, He absorbed sin and recycled it into forgiveness.
Jesus was killed, not by God but by the hands of wicked men. Some theologies suggest the Father inflicted pain and suffering upon the Son, but Scripture repeatedly shows that we are the ones who inflicted this suffering. The cross was not to change God’s mind about us but to change our mind about God.
The Beauty of the Cross
The cross and the crucifixion were horrific yet holy, bad yet beautiful. This ancient method of torture became the place where God made Himself known as Love. We gave Him our worst; He gave us His best. The transformation of the Roman cross, a symbol of death, into a symbol of love and hope, testifies to the love and power of Christ. If the ugly cross can become a place of beauty, then all things can be made beautiful. This is our hope—that God, with us and in us, will work through us as we follow Christ and “make all things beautiful in His time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
This is the beauty that saves the world. Sons and daughters following Christ in a cruciform life, present in society not with raised voices and clenched fists, not with accusations, but with outstretched arms in imitation of our Lord.
Comments