Wednesday, 9 March 2016

God as Man

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As a demonstration of God's unity with and love for the race of man, a revelation of God in a human being is the greatest possible way God could personally and intimately show His great love (see John 3:16).

Such a revelation also has a unique redemptive significance. The sufferings of the Messiah are not only the substitutionary sufferings of a separate agent being punished for sin instead of the guilty party. Rather, the Messiah's suffering is the suffering love of God revealed, which forgives in the midst of devestating hurt - if man will only turn in repentance. "Father forgive," said Yeshua when He was crucified (Luke 23:34). Such love awakens us to our sin and wins us back in repentance. Yeshua, as representative man - also in love - carries the hurt and destruction of the race for them or in their stead, as a parent would suffer in love to free his wayward children and turn them to the right. As the divineMessiah, His sacrifice has infinite value. If we are spiritually one with Him, God accepts us in Him. He thus is our mediator and high priest, not in the sense that we pray to Him instead of the Father, but, because we are "in the Messiah" (see Gal. 2:20), we can go directly to God.

Jewish Roots, Chapter Six: The Faith and Life of Messianic Jews