The cross, justice, doubt and marriage

A few months ago I faced one of the greatest attacks on my faith yet. I was driving home one afternoon, thinking about the cross, when suddenly a thought flashed through my mind. Was the cross REALLY just? Throughout my christian life, the justice and the mercy of the cross have been two doctrines that I have not only understood cerebrally (or so I thought), but also that I have felt emotionally stirred by time and time again. They have always been my joy. These two realities of the cross are at the very heart of the Christian faith. It's at the cross where Christ fulfilled the righteous requirements of God's Justice. It's at the cross where Jesus revealed the depth of God's love for His people. This has been at the heart of my faith, and the constant source for heart felt respect and love for God.

Yet, that afternoon in the car, the Justice of God was brought into question in my mind. This seed of unbelief came in the form of an analogy.

"If my sister was raped and the rapist was caught and made to appear in court, would the judge be just if he declared the perpetrator to be guilty, and then took the punishment in his (the perpetrators) place, allowing the rapist to go free?"

My gut feel is NO! Yet, this sounds something like what happened on the cross! We are guilty of a terrible offense. God, the judge has declared us to be guilty. Yet, although we are guilty, He takes our place. Jesus bears the punishment for our sin. Now, that would be incredible mercy; but is that Just? Justice requires that he who committed the offense, bear the punishment. How can God justly bear the punishment on behalf of someone else? If we are not punished, it's the same kind of "justice" as in the analogy above. Is God that kind of judge?

Now, you might be thinking-"ah, this is getting really pedantic! Come on, accept the mercies of God and get over it" Well, to be honest, this was something that really did trouble my soul. God MUST be just in order to be God. How did he maintain his Justice by letting us escape...punishment free!?

Over the following days I prayed and asked God for a biblical solution to my theological and emotional dilemma. "God, I know you are just, I just don't see how at the moment!"

My answer came one Sunday at church while listening to a sermon on marriage from the 5th chapter of Ephesians. The preacher correctly brought out the point that marriage, the uniting of a man to a women by God for life, is designed to be a lived-out reflection of Christ's relationship to the church. In marriage, there is a uniting to such a degree that, in a sense, a man and his wife are no longer viewed as two separate entities. They unite in a physical, emotional and spiritual sense (in our fallen world however, this original intent is never completely fulfilled). Essentially, they become one, as the scripture says (a pre-fall description of marriage). Paul then says something really interesting; something that I have never quite understood. He says:

"This is a profound mystery-but I am talking about Christ and the church."

Ephesians 5:32

There is something deeper going on here. Something profound. Something mysterious. Marriage is about much more than human beings. Its about human beings doing something that reflects ultimate reality-and the reality is this: That Christ has united himself in such a profound and mysterious way to His people, the church, that the two have become one. We are part of Christ, members of his body. We are in Christ. (not that we are equal to Christ, but that we have been made part of who he is-his body)

Now how does this deal with the theological dilemma I faced a few days before? Well, in an instant God showed me the beauty of the cross and the depth of His love. Before the creation of the world, God chose, in love, a people that were His very own, His bride, the true Israel of the old testament (the children of promise) and the true Israel of the new testament, the church (also the children of promise). He then united himself in such a deep way to these people that when God punished Christ, it was if he were punishing them. Their sin became his own, for the two were now one. God didn't punish a being that was separate from us when Christ died in our place. God punished a being that was profoundly linked to us. He punished the one, who, in love, had linked himself to us. This is great love! Apart from Christ, we would have been consumed. Yet, our God and saviour Jesus, made a plan. He united himself to us...and then, for the joy set before him, faced and absorbed the righteous fury of Almighty God into himself. He bore our sin, satisfied the Father's wrath and rose to show that nothing can keep him down (death could not hold Him-the power of indestructible life!)!

What Satan intended for evil-to sow seeds of doubt in my view of God's justice-God intended for good-to show me more clearly the depth of his love and the justice of his judgement. I am so grateful I am in Christ!