Friday, May 31, 2013

Beautiful Jenson quote

My esteemed colleague, Lincoln Harvey, sent this beauty through recently. The line “the very occurrence of what could have separated him from us he chose as his life” deserves extended and delighted pondering.
The cross is the place where we could have said our final and definitive "No" to God by pushing Christ into death. Instead, God chooses precisely this place to reveal, define and enact his unconditioned love for humans. There is, therefore, nothing which can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
What Jesus decided in his life was to be for us no matter what. The gospel says that this decision of Jesus is the final one about us, the last judgement which settles our destiny. That is, Jesus' decision not to resist evil is God.
The decision which is God is the decision which was made in Jesus' life to be with and for sinful men. God chooses us to be his, despite our rebellion. He chooses himself to be ours, despite our rejection. Indeed, he chooses to be ours precisely as the rejected one. He chose to happen for us as the Crucifixion, as the very event of our hatred and suffering - and is therefore the God who cannot be separated from us, for the very occurrence of what could have separated him from us he chose as his life.
Robert Jenson, A Religion Against Itself, pp. 40-41


1 Comments:

At 6/02/2013 7:05 PM, Blogger Chris Date said...

Hi, my name is Chris Date and I am helping my friend Dr. Phil Fernandes prepare for a debate with Arian, Dave Barron, whose appeals to 2nd Temple Judaism and "agency" I'm told your book will help to prepare for and respond to. But I don't have a hundred bucks to put down toward purchasing Paul's Divine Christology. Is there some way I can get a copy from you for cheaper? My email address is chris@theopologetics.com.

 

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