Society expects man to be a passive social animal who believes like the People of the Field in 'Jurgen' that 'to do what you always have done' and 'what is expected of you' are the twin rules of life. This, is course, is not true. The wanton crucifixion of impulses, the unnecessary blocking and frustration of the drives and urges, are an evil that reflects itself in sophistication, ennui and boredom, dissatisfaction, melancholy, fatigue, anxiety and neurosis.
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Paul was to know and proclaim God's will, His purpose, in view of Israel's rejection of christ. Had god been taken by surprise in the crucifixion of Christ Would He now be forced to resort to some makeshift arrangement No, for the crucifixion was all part of--indeed, the central part of, His secret, eternal plan, now revealed to Paul.
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Christians whose eyes are fixed on the awfulness of crucifixion are in a special position to understand the awfulness of innocent suffering. The Cross of Christ is God¹s absolute identification with the weak, the powerless and the vulnerable, but most of all with unprotected, undefended, innocent suffering. Neither are we so hardhearted as to believe that the earth was created for us alone.... Out of the dark and out of formlessness You brought forth life; Teach us to know Your greatness by Your creatures, That Your tender mercy is upon them all, Teach us to live likewise So that every living creature, Every beast of the field and fowl of the air. May praise You, and our voice be among them.
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According to 'God's Plan' Jesus had to die in order to be resurrected and for humankind to achieve salvation. If that is true, then why do Christians lament his crucifixion? Without it, their execrable theology would have never sunk its pernicious talons into the cousciousness of humankind.
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I believe in the sun despite darkness. I believe in truth despite deception. I believe in peace despite war. I believe in love despite hate. I believe in life despite death. I believe redemption despite sin. I believe in Heaven despite Hell. I believe in faith despite fear. I believe in Jesus despite his crucifixion. I believe in God despite His silence. I believe in myself despite my flaws. I believe in you despite our differences. I believe.
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The New Testament makes it abundantly clear that whenever the Kingdom of God was concerned Jesus was absolutely uncompromising, even when he realized that for him personally the alternative to compromise was crucifixion.
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Christians whose eyes are fixed on the awfulness of crucifixion are in a special position to understand the awfulness of innocent suffering. The Cross of Christ is God's absolute identification with the weak, the powerless, and the vulnerable, but most of all with unprotected, undefended, innocent suffering.
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Galatians 2:20:
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
(NIV)
I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
(AMP)
I am crucified with Christ: neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
(KJV)
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