THE AGONY AND ECSTASY OF GOD

This month we celebrate the Resurrection of our Savior, The Man Who is the Plan Because the First Man Ran, and I am extremely excited about this FOD letter—NO FOOLIN’! In fact, as per 1 Corinthians 2:8, Satan is the “April Fool” for crucifying Jesus. The topic that came to me when I was thinking about what to write is one that I don’t believe has been adequately expounded upon in Christian history, and I will do my utmost to make it live for you.

If you have watched One Day With The Creator, you have heard this question: “WHY THE LIE?” Why does the Devil want people to believe a particular lie about God, Jesus, or the Word? At the bottom line, it is because of what Jesus said:  The obvious converse is that if you believe error about God, it puts you in some degree of bondage. Satan comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, so each lie he has propounded in the Christian Church is in some way detrimental for those who believe it.

In regard to the last week of Jesus’ life, and the pivotal event in human history—the Resurrection of the Son of God—Satan has propounded a LOT of lies. If you do not have a copy of the book done back in the 1980s by TWI titled Jesus Christ, Our Passover, I highly recommend it (it’s probably on Amazon), for it accurately lays out the details of these indescribably bittersweet (both for God and Jesus) days.

Concerning this critical series of events, the greatest lie ever foisted upon the Church is the made-up myth known as the “Trinity,” with its corresponding untruth that Jesus is “God the Son.” Most Christians never even question this absurd notion that is jammed down their throats from (new) birth, let alone consider how it absolutely ruins the magnificent truths in Scripture about the relationship between God and His Son, the prototype Father-child relationship that you and I are to emulate to a large degree.

Why the Trinity lie? Because among other things, it (a) fries people’s minds with its self-contradictory theological gibberish, (b) confuses people about countless scriptures, (c) nullifies any genuine identification with Jesus Christ, and (d) makes Christianity the laughingstock of the world. But the two worst things it does are to absolutely minimize both THE LOVE OF GOD and THE FAITH-FULL HEROISM OF JESUS CHRIST.

Every honest Trinitarian admits that this curious (and spurious) word “Trinity” is nowhere in Scripture, and that the doctrine was concocted by church councils during the fourth and fifth centuries. For some mind-blowing quotes from some of them, see What Does The Bible Say About The Trinity? in the “50 Good Questions” section of our website.

Here’s the ridiculous and language-twisting fallacy: Jesus, one-third of the Trinity, was “all God and all man,” and he lived in some unknown form somewhere in outer space before he temporarily left his seat at the right hand of the Father to become a baby and take a lap through life as a human, even dying though he was somehow still God. The spiritual part of him may have raised the bodily part of him from the dead, after which he returned to his heavenly seat, which God had kept warm for him. And of course there was no suspense, anticipation, or drama (”any situation or series of events having vivid, emotional, conflicting, or striking interest or results”) along the way because God already knew that Jesus couldn’t fail because he was “God in human flesh.”

Despite all Trinitarian rhetoric to the contrary, this pagan nonsense irreparably muddles the beautiful picture of how our loving God and His Son—the only one who could restore the Paradise lost—related to one another during Jesus’ lifetime, and especially at its end. No words can describe the hearts-knit-together love between God and His Son. Although Scripture says almost nothing about how God worked with Jesus from his birth to the beginning of his earthly ministry, we can imagine His tender, fatherly care as He cherished the apple of His eye and prepared him to meet his calling. But from the moment Jesus left the Jordan River after his baptism and began his solitary walk all the way to the Mount of Olives—and the Cross, the Word is replete with truth about the greatest love story ever told.

Remember that although God had laid out for Jesus the overall blueprint of his life in Genesis to Malachi, He did not absolutely know what choices Jesus would make, given that he had genuine free will just like the First Adam. Consider how the Father’s heart thrilled each time His Son took another step toward fulfilling his unique mission, and how He must have been cheering him on, despite knowing the agony that awaited them both.

Have you ever been a parent? If so, you know what you feel like when your child is hurting in any way. And if your precious offspring is really hurting, it is agonizing for you. WHAT ABOUT HOW GOD ALMIGHTY, WHO IS LOVE, FELT WHEN HE HAD TO WATCH HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON BEING BRUTALIZED FOR ABOUT 40 HOURS AND THEN NAILED ON THE CROSS FOR SIX MORE HOURS UNTIL HE TOOK HIS LAST BREATH? How do you think He felt? Seriously. It might send chills up and down your spine.

How does God’s agony compare to the incredibly insulting idea that He somehow became a baby and came to earth to suffer Himself as a human? It doesn’t come close, because it took FAR MORE LOVE for God to give His only Son than to become a man and suffer Himself, which of course He couldn’t do in the first place, pagan mythology not withstanding (see Acts 14:11). Both God’s love and His pain have thus been minimized to the point that few Christians even think about it. And that’s why the lie! Consider these verses, and how God must have then been feeling:

Luke 22:40-44
40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish [becoming in agony—Gr. agonia], he prayed more earnestly [Gr.=ekteino], and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

How would you feel watching your son go through such torture? Your agony would be almost as great as his. One literal translation of “being in anguish” reads, “crushed with anguish.” You want to talk STRESS?! The entire destiny of mankind was riding on Jesus’ shoulders, and the Devil himself was throwing everything in his arsenal at him. From the Greek word ekteino we get the English word “extend.” The Son of God was stretched beyond what any of us can imagine, but he was victorious because he “entrusted himself to God” (1 Pet. 2:23). But all that pathos is lost if Jesus is God and therefore couldn’t have sinned. The stirring dialogue between Father and Son would have been little more than a charade.

Speaking of dialogue, what conversation was there between God and His Son during the initial moments after God breathed everlasting life into His Son’s lifeless body and thus raised him out from among the dead? Can you say, “Resurrection Reunion”? Sure you can. Try to imagine the sheer ecstasy they shared, and how greatly that contrasted to the agony of three days and three nights earlier. As I say in The End Times presentation, I think they simultaneously blurted out, “THANK YOU!!!” God said, “THANK YOU for dying for me and for all mankind.” And Jesus said, “THANK YOU for raising me from the dead!”

And then God shared with His Son THE SECRET that He’d had to keep for a very long time. Maybe it went something like this:
God: “Remember how it used to bug you when you were standing on the corner of 12th Street and Vine in Jerusalem delivering people and pummeling the Devil, but you knew that such tragedy was occurring all over the world and you couldn’t be everywhere at once?”
Jesus: “Yes, that drove me nuts.”
God: Well, listen to this: I figured out a way by which you can diversify yourself all over the world via a body of people whom you will equip with the same holy spirit I gave you to do your job.”
Jesus: “That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever heard. When do we start?”
God: “Soon.”

As I stated above, the unparalleled heroism of The Man, Jesus Christ, is also totally nullified by the debilitating lie that he is God. Why? Because nothing is hard for GOD. But what was it like for The Most Human Being Ever who endured unspeakable pain andwho had totrust the written Word of God in order to go the distance for you and me? How much more impressive is that? And—omigosh—this Man says that you and I can be similarly courageous and do likewise!

Hebrews 12:1-2
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race [agon] marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

It is going to take similar heroism on your part and mine for us to walk in the steps of our loving Lord, but we have his strength to draw upon, as the apostle Paul states in these heartfelt verses:

Colossians 1:27-2:3
27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this [secret], which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously contend [agonizomai] with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. 1 I want you to know how hard I am contending [what great agon I have] for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the [secret] of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Late in his life, Paul makes two poignant statements to his young protégé, Timothy. First he encourages him to, “Fight [agonizomai] the good fight [agon] of faith…” (1 Tim. 6:12). And in his last words to Timothy, not long before his death, Paul writes, “I have fought [agonizomai] the good fight [agon], I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2 Tim. 4:7).

Both the military and the athletic metaphors in the epistles capture the truth that it takes extreme effort for you and me to live our lives for the One who died for us. It seems almost beyond us, but God loves you no less than He loves Jesus Christ, and He will do no less for you than He did for Jesus. Both our Father and His Right Hand Man have promised to energize, guide, accompany, provide for, sustain, and amply reward us for “striving for the mastery.” What else is there to do with our lives?

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