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Blog postThe New Testament draws heavily from the story of the exodus in the Old Testament to explain the cross. Just as the Lord delivered his people from slavery in Egypt, through the cross God was delivering his people again—this time from their slavery to sin. This link was made explicit by Jesus at the Passover meal as he celebrated with his disciples the night before his death. Just as the Jews use the Passover meal to remember their deliverance from Egypt, Jesus also commands us to share the co
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Blog postOn the night he was betrayed, Jesus gathered with his disciples to share the Passover meal. The meal commemorated God’s deliverance of his people from slavery in Egypt, and Jesus used elements of the dinner—specifically the bread and wine—to explain the meaning of his coming crucifixion. Jesus’ words from the Last Supper continue to echo whenever Christians gather around the communion table and recite Paul’s letter to the Corinthians: “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance
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Blog postIf you recall, earlier we examined two aspects of sin that relate to the cross—sin produces a guilt that must be atoned for, and sin is a power leading to death from which we need deliverance. It is this second aspect of sin that parallels the exodus story from the Old Testament. Nowhere is this link more explicit than in the Passover celebration.
On the night before leaving Egypt, the Israelites were told to prepare a special meal as the angel of death passed through the land to tak -
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Blog postIn our exploration of the meaning of the cross, we won’t get very far without a robust understanding of the Hebrew Bible. It’s not widely appreciated by contemporary Christians, but a grasp of the Old Testament is essential because it is the foundation of the New Testament and provides a framework that defines Jesus’ identity, his death, and his resurrection.
Without question, the most formative story in the Old Testament, and one that is used repeatedly by Jesus and his Apostl -
Blog postPresident Kennedy said, “Our problems are manmade, therefore they can be solved by man.” Kennedy’s intent was to motivate action, reignite the nation’s can-do spirit, and dislodge his fellow Americans from despair and complacency. Those are all admirable goals, and while his sentiment was comforting and politically inspiring, it didn’t exactly fit with what Christian doctrine tells us about humanity’s slavery to sin.
The Bible is clear that the power of sin was unleashed by human reb -
Blog postBack in the 1980s, People magazine published an index ranking sins. They called it a “Sindex.” Based on a survey of the magazine’s readers, different vices were coded from least to most offensive. Among the worst sins were murder, rape, incest, child abuse, and treason against one’s country. Parking in a handicap spot and cutting in line were also ranked surprisingly high. In fact, they ranked as worse than pre-marital sex, divorce, or capital punishment. Smoking, swearing, and illegally vide
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Blog postIn our exploration of sin and its importance for understanding the cross, we’ve seen that sin is much more than just bad behavior, as some moralistic Christian communities assume. Likewise, sin is more than a passive brokenness or psychological angst as some therapeutic Christian communities assume. As C.S. Lewis said, “Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement; he is a rebel who must lay down his arms.”
If we are to embrace the cross as the remedy for sin, -
Blog postWhen we view sin as a category of behaviors rather than as a power to which humanity is enslaved, it leads to a number of warped perceptions. For example, it may cause us to gauge our relative righteousness or wickedness in relation to others. Consider a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip from 1990. As the two are sledding they have a profound exchange about the nature of goodness:
Calvin: I’m getting nervous about Christmas.
Hobbes: You’re worried you haven’t been good?
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Blog postCertain subcultures of Christianity have accepted the idea that sin is a genetic quality transmitted from one generation to the next the same way one might inherit heart disease or male pattern baldness. This inherited view of sin traces back to Iranaeus in the second century and was expanded upon by Augustine in the fourth century, but discussions of sin’s transmission via DNA—a more modern take on the early church fathers’ idea—can quickly become absurd and completely miss the emphasis of S
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Blog postScripture repeatedly says that “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3), and it’s a phrase often heard in evangelistic preaching. But what does it mean? At the very least we can affirm that any understanding of the cross is inexorably linked to the concept of sin. We cannot grasp one without the other, and that’s a challenge within a culture that has largely lost any concept of sin. Therefore, we’re going to spend the next few days unpacking what the Bible means by “sin.”
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Titles By Skye Jethani
What If Jesus Was Serious about the Church?: A Visual Guide to Becoming the Community Jesus Intended
Jul 19, 2022
by
Skye Jethani
$9.89
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$9.89
