I would first suggest you go back and read my last blog on Mary and Humanity; it will help you understand my reasoning on these thoughts of mine. Let me start by explaining what I think Jesus was: Was Jesus God’s son? I do not think so. I believe Jesus was a human that was created by the force of God, the only human that was really created in God’s image (humanity.) The force of God bestowed an infinite knowledge and acute sense of humanity in an Arab dude name Jesus. In essence, Jesus was humanity in human form.
Most Christians will tell you that “Jesus died for our sins,” in the terms of atonement – AKA he died in place of the bad things humans do so that we can go to heaven. To me, this is a load of crap. Why would a loving, forgiving God who makes all the rules do this? Most Christians I know believe that God is the most powerful thing in the universe. “He” sets the rules. Now think of it like this: A person is hanging on a cliff, about to die, and God reaches down and saves him, pulling him into heaven. Sounds like a good God right? Well, that’s not how Christians think of it. A person is hanging on a cliff, about to die, and God reaches down and says “if you take me as your savior, I will pull you into heaven.” This is how I was brought up. Now, the theory of Jesus dying for our sins goes as follows: A person is hanging on a cliff, about to die. God walks up and says, “If you take me as your savior, I can help you.” As you take him as your savior, he reaches down and pulls you up, and with his other hand he picks his son up and smashes him against some rocks, claiming that you screwed up to get on that cliff, now, he had to kill his son in your place for your screw ups. If God makes the rules, why would he make a rule, and then kill his own son to make up for mistakes of man? It seems to me, that isn’t loving or forgiving, and its just plain ludicrous.
Now, this is what I believe: Pure humanity was bestowed in a man named Jesus to show other humans what humanity looks like. When they saw pure humanity, it gave them a guide to live by. Whenever I argue with other Christians, they bring up things like John 3:16 or other scriptures which say Jesus died for us. 1) God did give his son, but that doesn’t mean he sent him to die. The force of God gave man Jesus. Did Jesus take sin from man? You better believe it, but not because he died. He did it because humans saw how to live, and thus, there is much less sin in the world because Jesus came and showed us how to live.
Jesus was one smart hombre. Jesus knew he had to die eventually. What would make the most lasting impact? Yes, I believe Jesus died for us, but not in some way that he had to die so we can go to heaven. He died for us because he knew that if he went out like he did, his legacy would last forever. Had Jesus spoke about the lord for 8 years, then just retired from his carpentry business and settle in a nice house on Mt. Ararat, his legacy wouldn’t have lasted long. Instead, he took the most dramatic exit, sealing his place in history, and that created a lot more believers, which in turn showed them what real humanity was, and thus eradicating a lot of sin that would have happened had he not been here.
Up Next: The force of God’s If/Then creations – How I think Jesus got here.
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HOLTAMANIA 
October 16, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Matt,
What if Jesus died to show us that “sin” kills and that God (Jesus) was willing to lay down His life to show us that lesson because it was very important for us to understand that it isn’t God who kills but “sin” itself that brings about our destruction. Sin in essence is being out of harmony with God and in and of itself will destroy us like cancer does. The word “salvation” means healing which is what God (Jesus) can bring to us as the Great Physician if we will just ask for it, kinda like you can’t fix your own knee injury unless you go to the person that can repair it. The word “atonement” actually means “at one ment” and this was the meaning held by Bible scholars and Rabbis alike until the early 1500’s when the more forensic or “legal substitution” meaning took prominence. The idea of a “war in heaven” before this earth came into being, was where “sin” originated not in the Garden of Eden. Sin was introduced in this world through Adam and Eve but it existed before. If we understand the Bible correctly it actually started in “the most holy place” in heaven which was in God’s “throne room” (His seat of government) when one of His right hand men ( one of the covering cherubs depicted on the Ark of the Covenant kept in the temples Most Holy Place”) rebeled against God and led a rebellion against God. His charges against God were that he was not a good, loving God but rather an arbitrary, vengeful, unforgiving God who governed by “it’s my way or the highway (I’ll kill you if you don’t do what I say!!) Rather than sin in and of itself will lead to your death not as a judgement of God but rather as the “wages of sin is death!!”
The concept of “atonement” or bringing the universe which was divided over this “war” makes alot more sense than the concept that Jesus had to die in order for God to forgive us. God had already “forgiven us” at the time of His development of the plan of “salvation” (healing us of the ravages of sin” and “at one ment, bringing the universe back together in its original state (without sin- without the separation between God and man that sin had brought about) Jesus died to show us the consequences of sin and the destruction it brings. (He was made sin even though He was sinless) His death refuted Satan’s charges from the Most Holy Place and proved that God is a loving trustworthy God and that sin kills, not God. He has warned us what sin looks like so we can stay away from it and live the most happy, productive lives possible even in a world where sin generally rules. That makes alot more sense to me and I will be interested in your thoughts!!
Love to you all !!
April 24, 2013 at 5:15 pm
If God makes the rules and then breaks them, he wouldn’t be that great. Jesus, the most perfect thing in the history of all existence, was sacrificed to save us sinners. Think of it as God using Jesus to pay off our debt.