The problem of sin och Good Friday - the cross was not enough

Well, since I enjoy and buy books based on their catchy titles I figured this title would get your attention...and here you are.

As I prepared for Easter this year I found myself looking at all the well known Bible verses and stories that tell us about that amazing weekend so long ago. All of creation collided here, visible and invisible, and the story is so well known that it is very hard to think new thoughts, let alone find something that you didn't know from before...something new.

Well, this year I did...maybe.

As far as I can tell the common understanding of Easter is that Jesus died on the cross on Good Friday for our sins. He paid the price, he took the/our punishment, he paid the ransom, he offered himself as a perfect sacrifice, he "propitiated" God's wrath and he just flat out played the Devil like a banjo. For our sake and out of love. According to 1 John 4:10 we finally have the answer to Haddaway's question "-What is love?".

On Saturday, He descended into Hell/the Kingdom of the dead, battled and/or fought the Devil and preached victoriously to those who were there and had died during the Old Covenant. He led them out of there in victories procession (Eph 4:8). I know, for some the events of Holy Saturday are kept at a distance and only a brief mention in the creeds suffice for them. Fine.

On Easter Sunday Christ rose from the dead, actually and physically, and thus defeated death proving that He was Who he claimed to be...the ultimate "Get out of jail" card freely offered for all who believe and follow. Heaven's door is opened and Hell is no longer the only option for humanity.

A neat progression and dividing up of the events of that first Easter. What could be more obvious?

Well, hang on. In 1 Cor. 15:12-17 Paul says that if Christ hadn't risen from the dead our faith and preaching would be in vain/meaningless and we would still be in our sins. Did you get that? Still. In. Our. Sins.

The problem of sin seemingly wasn't finished on Good Friday on the cross. Something else, or more accurately something more, was required for us to not "still be in our sins". Something more was necessary to render our entire faith not vain or meaningless. The cross wasn't enough. 

The astute Christian will at this point notice that I am not saying that was Christ did on the cross was insufficient to achieve what it did, but that the problem of sin required Jesus to die on the cross AND also something more. I think it is because sin is a multifaceted problem and that it therefore needed to be dealt with in several different ways, thus defeating all of its evils. This leads us to try to define what sin actually is...and if you have read this far I'm guessing you find this important enough to warrant a few minutes more to follow...and you would be correct. It is very important, indeed.

So what is sin? Let us examine the quintessential moment in time when sin is at its worst but also clearest...the Garden of Eden and the Fall of Man. This is where sin is seen most clearly.

1. Sin is breaking God's law, inviting punishment. This happened when they ate the fruit.
2. Sin is doubting God's word, or goodness. This happened when they decided to listen to the Devil and take him seriously.
3. Sin is separation from God's fellowship. This happened when they hid as they heard God walking towards them.
4. Sin is aligning with the Devil and getting a new "god". This happened when they agreed to obey the Devil and eat the fruit.
5. Sin opened up Creation to the rule of the Devil. This happened when they agreed to disobey God and obey the Devil since they were tasked with ruling over creation.
6. Sin is shame and guilt. This happened when they covered their nakedness.
7. Sin is disharmony, or disunity. This happened when Adam and Eve started blaming others.
8. Sin is banishment from God and ending up in the "kingdom of this world", i.e. the Devil's world. This happened when they were cast out of the garden and kept away never to eat from the Tree of Life.

So let's take a look at these. Which ones did Jesus "fix" on Good Friday and which ones did He not? I'd say that Good Friday took care of number 1 and 6. Jesus took our punishment and he took our shame/guilt. A case could be made that he also "fixed", or healed, number 7 (by tearing down the "wall of hostility" between races).

That leaves 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8. 

Number 2 was sort of taken care of on Good Friday because He took our punishment and thus proving His goodness and trustworthiness, but this is also something that required more time and thus was "fixed" by inviting people to follow Him as disciples. Trust takes time, but all in all we could include most of problem 2 in Good Friday.

That leaves 3, 4, 5 and 8. How would Jesus fix those problems?

Well, by rising from the dead and not remaining dead (which would inherently hinder fellowship) He fixed problem 3 by "un-hiding" from death and forever be able to invite us to fellowship.

Problem 4 was also solved by the resurrection because the ressurrection demoted the devil from his  position and made it possible for humans to have a new allegiance with God. 

Problem 5 was fixed by the resurrection since it showed that Jesus is the true ruler of the universe, the only almighty one.

Problem 8 is the key here. Jesus fixed that problem by establishing a new kingdom with himself as the only king through his resurrection. Now there is not a Garden of Eden AND a place outside the Garden of Eden/the kingdom of God. Now all of creation is the Garden of Eden, metaphorically speaking, albeit broken due to human actions and fall.

Reading through my own post at this point I realize that it might not be as neat as I have made it sound. I do, however, believe that there is something in all of this that makes a difference for our everyday lives and I think we can find it if we look a little deeper in problem 8.

You see, Paul says that without the resurrection we would still be in our sins and the question thus becomes...what does it mean to be "in" our sins? Notice Paul didn't say that our guilt would remain or that our punishment would remain...he said that we would still be in our sins.

I think that what we have here is a key that unlocks a lot of what the New Testament writers talk about and that, in my experience, elicit the most doubt or negative feedback from people. It seems to me that the NT writers talk about something very profound and very deep when they talk about the new life in Jesus Christ, a life that sounds and seems impossible or unattainable, to most people. 

For instance, Paul talks about being a slave to righteousness and being raised into a new life.

John talks about a Christian not sinning.

Peter talks about being holy in all we do.

The author of Hebrews talks about Christian perfection.

In fact, a careful study of the first several chapters of 1 Corinthians seem to indicate that Christians are not people who have been forgiven and live their lives as usual, nor do they talk about Christians as people with new beliefs. Paul seems to talk about Christians as people who are of a different state of being, new creations who look human and in many ways are human but amazingly have been "born again" into something new. A Christian is no longer "in their sins" but in something else, something made possible by the resurrection. 

What is that "something"? 

That is for another time but I have a feeling it is very exciting and very different from the lukewarm life most of us don't like.