Usually we are accustomed to thinking of Jesus' death mainly in terms of "sacrifice" and "substitution," and maybe "reconciliation" (I am thinking of the giant chasm separating us from God in the Billy Graham organization's literature). These are very important (perhaps sacrifice is even the central one), but they are not the only ways the Bible has of explaining Jesus' death to us.
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As our sacrifice, Jesus was also dying as our representative, as humanity itself. He took our weakness and sin upon himself, but not just in a substitutionary way - in a representative way as well. That means that Jesus didn't just die so that we could avoid death. "It is rather that Christ's sharing (our) death makes it possible for (us) to share his death" (James D. G. Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle). We don't avoid dying, but we experience Christ's death, which also means we experience resurrection! *****************************
Another little-discussed (in our circles anyway!) biblical metaphor for Jesus' death is "conquest of the powers." Colossians 2:15 says: "He stripped off the rulers and the authorities, exposing them to public disgrace, leading them in triumph in him." Paul here pictures the cross itself mocking the powers that used to control our lives: sinfulness, worldliness, etc. Upon becoming Christians, and throughout the Christian life, we can sense this release from these powers: we no longer have to live the way we've been accustomed to living, constantly making self-destructive choices about our lives! We should remind ourselves of Col. 2:15 from time to time.*****************************
p.s. I haven't been keeping up with the "weekly devotional thoughts" I mentioned in one of the first posts, but we'll see if I can get settled into a little more consistency as spring quickly approaches...
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