The image of God

I have often wondered why God chose to save human beings by sacrificing his son. Could he not have found a way that involved less suffering?

Imagining myself to be God, I realised that if I was all powerful and able do anything, I would quickly get bored playing with toys which did exactly as I programmed them. Stars, planets and all inanimate objects could keep my interest just so long. Plants would be more of a challenge because they could indefinitely procreate after their kind. Animals are even more interesting since they can have a "mind of their own". They are guided by the instinct built into them and by knowledge passed on from parents to their offspring.

Finally God decided to make someone like himself, in his own image. This creature was not to be directed by instinct like the animals, but by his own Spirit which he blew into Adam. One of the characteristics of Adam, due to his having "the image of God", was that he had a free will. Without it he would have been but a sophisticated robot, a clever animal. Such a creature would not be capable of giving or receiving love. Since God is love, his image had to be able to love freely. This would only be realistic if it was possible for the man to choose the opposite. Choosing to love God and his fellow man was to be the chief aim of man.

How was God going to get man to love him? I believe he made it clear to Adam that an innocent animal had to die because of his sin. How else could he have made clothes for them? (Genesis 3:21) Abel seems to have got the message and God approved of his sacrifice. (Hebrews 11:4) But Cain did not appreciate this. His attitude was something in the line of "This is who I am and why should I change?" He was the first man to be born of a woman, which was the way God had designed it. But having God's image did not entitle him to give in to every emotion he experienced, in this case anger. (Genesis 4:5) By allowing his anger to guide his deeds he acted in direct contradiction to what God had intended. In stead of loving his brother he murdered him in cold blood. (Genesis 4:8) If he had thought about it clearly he would have realised that he could not ignore his Creator forever. Also, since he carried God's image, his conscience would not allow him to forget about his sin. If his pride was to determine his behaviour, he would not receive forgiveness. Judas faced this same dilemma.

The Lord gave the nation of Israel his commandments which can be summed up in "love the Lord" (Deuteronomy 6:5) and "love your neighbour" (Leviticus 19:18). The more expanded version (the ten commandments) starts of with the reason why they should love him, namely because he delivered them. (Exodus 20:2) Loving God is not something which is natural to fallen man. To nations other than Israel this was a foreign concept. One could dread God or the gods for what they could do, but to my knowledge, the idea of loving God is exclusive to the Judaeo-Christian tradition.

When the rich young ruler asked Jesus what he had to do to inherit eternal life, the Lord recited the "second tablet" of the ten commandments to him. These are the commands which can be summed up in "love your neighbour as yourself". Jesus also commented on how the man had greeted him since he had addressed the Lord with the words "Good teacher". By accepting this compliment and stating that no one was good but God, Jesus was subtly revealing his identity. (Luke 18:18-20) A more direct answer to the ruler's question would have been: "Look, I am God, and if you really loved me and money was not an idol to you, you would get rid of your earthly possessions and follow me".

By pretending to keep 613 laws the Pharisees wanted to be seen as lovers of God. Like Cain, they missed the point. They meticulously kept to the letter of the law since in their heart of hearts they did not trust the Lawgiver and regarded him as unfair. (Luke 19:20-21) They never understood the spirit behind the law. (Matthew 23:23) When they met the one who had given it and kept the law perfectly, they did not recognise him and handed him over to be crucified. (John 5:39-40)

The old covenant required the Jews to love God because he delivered them from slavery. Jesus inaugurated a better covenant which was intended to deliver them, and the whole world, from sin. (Hebrews 8:7-8; 8:13) That is more than enough reason for anyone to love him, since the invitation is extended to all mankind. (John 1:12) God's offer is so outrageously generous that most people find it too good to be true. (John 3:16)

I chose to believe

When I was about 10 years old, the story of Good Friday was told us at school. My sense of justice and aversion to pain caused me to put those events out of my mind. What did I have to do with how people mistreated a good man 2000 years ago?

At the age of 20 I was going through a really hard time. Was I just unlucky, at the wrong place at the wrong time? Or was there meaning to my suffering?

I chose to believe that my hardship had a purpose. If that were not the case, I would not want to live. In fact, I did not believe anything in this world could make up for the pain I had endured. Pleasures are fleeting and in the end we all die. I wanted the promise of something beyond the grave. Someone once accused me of being a "time glutton".

Contemplating my miserable state, my thoughts inevitably turned to Jesus. If my pain had a purpose, what about his?

Dialog on suffering

I: If there is a God, I'm not interested in him, because how can he be good, seeing he allows so much suffering?
B: Have you ever done something that hurt another person, something you were later sorry about but you could not 'reverse'?
I: What has that got to do with the discussion?
B: You'll see.
I: OK, let's say 'yes' for the sake of the argument.
B: If there is a God, should he have stopped you from hurting the other person?
I: It depends.
B: So you would want him to stop you if your action would have severe consequences?
I: Yes.
B: How should he stop you, strike you with lightning, cause your limbs or tongue to stop functioning or what?
I: Whatever.
B: So you would prefer not to have a 'free will'?
I: I don't have a 'free will' anyway.
B: So you're like a robot in some aspects or what do you mean?
I: There are things I cannot do even if I wanted to.
B: But there are bad things which you can do, right?
I: I guess so.
B: I hope you can see God's dilemma. He made us so that we are able to make choices. He took the risk that we could hurt one another.
I: He must take responsibility for it then.
B: He does, and that does not make him someone who delights in evil. He remains good and he helps everyone who wants to do good to improve his/her behaviour.
I: A pity so many must suffer pain in the process.
B: Would life not have been terribly boring if we had been programmed to do only certain things and unable to 'follow our dreams'?
I: If I was God I think I would have found it boring to create only machines, whether they are called people, or animals or plants.
B: Imagine being the only human being and having an infinite IQ. I could create the best computers and make them 'live'. It would be most boring if they could not choose some things for themselves.