Saviors & Super Heroes

A father had one son whom he loved. But every other child he hated because they couldn't live up to his standards, they couldn't meet his demands. He was always thinking to himself, "I want to hurt my sons & daughters so badly! I want to kill them! They owe me everything yet they cannot meet my expectations!" So one day he picked up a weapon & he went into the room where they were all gathered. He began yelling at them & swinging at them. The one son he loved jumped in front of his father screaming for all of his brothers & sisters to run. There his father beat him to death...

I ask you, was that father a good father?

So often God our Father is pictured almost the exact same way. That, "in his holiness," He was furious at us (hated us) for falling short of his standards/expectations/demands/law/glory. That he held us in debt to him because of our inadequacy compared to him & his beloved son. And the only thing that could stop his burning anger, his burning WRATH, was to slaughter one of his children. What kind of father sees himself as so superior to his children, so holy, so righteous, that he feels justified in killing them?

God our Father has been painted that way, as arrogant, judgmental, abusive, loveless, & murderous. Even worse is that is the "good news," the gospel, that has been told to the world. Not, "God so loved the world.." but "God was so holy He couldn't accept or love his own children.." "God was so anger & wrath filled that he demanded blood.."

Jesus did not take the suffering God wanted to pour on us. God never wanted to wrathfully make us suffer. Lamentations 3:33 says, "God does not make people suffer nor cause them sorrow willingly from His heart." Jesus took our place as a sacrifice AND a savior. Jesus was not a sacrifice in the sense of being something slaughtered to appease an angry God. Jesus was a sacrifice in the sense of a savior sacrificing himself to save someone else, taking the pain of what he saved us from.

He is our Savior & rest assured, REST ASSURED, that He did not save us from Himself, He did not save us from our Father. God did not save us from God.

The first time the word sin appears in scripture is not at the fall of man in the garden. God did not say, "I am so angry at you! You have sinned against me! Because you have disobeyed me you will surely die because I will kill you with my wrath!"

The first time the word sin appears in scripture is when God is warning Cain. God tells Cain, "Sin is waiting to attack you like a lion. Sin wants to destroy you. Sin wants to kill you."

It is sin that sought to kill us. God has always loved us. We never deserved death in His eyes. What kind of father thinks his children do not deserve to live? What kind of father thinks his child is UNWORTHY OF LIFE?

Jesus is our Savior AND so is our Father. They save us from sin & death & all of its powers. Jesus laid down His life willingly to remove the dark power of sin & shame over our hearts & minds so we can experience God's love for us first hand without barriers! Jesus allowed Himself to be devoured by sin. He went into the belly of the beast to destroy sin from the inside out. He burst out of its belly & burst out of the grave to defeat death!

While the cross was humble & passive when looking only at the physical realm, the cross was utterly heroic when looking at the spiritual realm.
Jesus is nothing but the hero. Our Father is nothing but the hero. They are our Saviors, our Super Heroes, OUR FAMILY.