Stephen Barkley
1) The breaking in of the kingdom
In the incarnation, the king has come to reclaim his people for his Kingdom. Jesus is the mighty one who paradoxically exercises his might through submission to violence. Jesus’ preaching, healing, and exorcising power are all attacks on the power of Satan. His entire life was a conflict with the powers of this world. In Jesus, the light of God invades the darkness and releases the prisoners who sit therein.
2) The human situation as revealed by the breaking in of the kingdom of God in Christ
The Father is grieved by the state of his creatures. Humans are so deeply under the power of sin that they can not extricate themselves. This is why God in Christ acts graciously, never blaming the sick for their sins before helping them. When Jesus encounters the sinner, there is a struggle between God and an evil will, a will that resists salvation. It is precisely here where God enters, taking this “human being and existence upon himself” (242). This is how Jesus sets us free from the power of sin and death.
This is no easy thing for God—he “hazards and stakes his own existence and being in the salvation of men and women” (243). This brings us to the mystery of evil. Evil is more than mere negation, the absence of good. It is positive opposition to God. Evil is ultimately irrational.
3) Sin and alienation in the light of Christ and his crucifixion
The gospel writers allot half of their manuscripts to Christ’s passion. It is here where we will see the depth of humanity’s estrangement from God. Let’s unpack this idea in six ways.
- Nowhere in scripture is a doctrine of sin formulated apart from the love of God in redemption. This is evident in the passion narratives. In the cross, God reveals the depth of sin precisely as an attack on God. All this is revealed in the context of his self-giving grace.
- Humans were created to be connected with their creator. Sin is the force that pushes God away, resulting in judgment and death.
- Sin is more than a subjective reality for humans, it is an objective reality from God’s perspective. This means a change not only in the relationship of man to God, but vice versa. “God personally resists sin” (252), which is why sinners experience God’s wrath, but even that wrath is redeeming.
- Sin is a problem that is introduced into human nature. Sin is “a radical enmity in man and woman which amounts to a corruption of their whole existence and a disintegration of their self-relation to God” (253). The amazing fact is that, despite sin, God demonstrates love by willing his relationship with humans to continue.
- Now we see why the incarnation was so terrible. Jesus took on our sin and guilt, he “descended into that hell in order to redeem” (255).
- Christ’s incarnation exposes the wrath of God but also his “overwhelming love” (256). This is demonstrated by two of the words from the cross, “Why have you forsaken me,” and “Father, forgive them.”
Some Reflections
Whenever Jesus proclaimed his word, that word was an assault upon the enemies of God and whenever he acted in forgiveness and healing that act was in deliverance of men and women from enslavement to the power of Satan, the prince of evil. (237)
When Jesus exorcised demons his power against the works of darkness was plainly visible. Torrance brings up an important point here: his words, his forgiveness of sin, and his healing acts were just as much an assault against Satan as his exorcisms! When Jesus forgives, the darkness trembles. When Jesus heals, the prisoners who sit in darkness are called out of their cells.
Mankind is not only estranged from God but estranged from true humanity, determined and controlled in their self-will by evil power that destroys their very being: they are subjected to evil existence and live in the shadow of death and destruction. (242)
This perspective is important. Humanity-in-sin isn’t making a free choice to rebel against God, they’re undermining and destroying their own humanity. The only way to be fully human is found in Christ.
The very wrath of God is a sign of hope, not of utter destruction – for if God chastises us then we are sons and daughters, and not bastards, as the scripture puts it. (249)
This is hard to understand from the human side. Pain is never welcome. Still, just as a child responds to the healthy discipline of a parent, we (in the end) respond to God’s discipline. His discipline is a sign of his love. The opposite of love is not discipline, but apathy.
Sin is the negative correlative of faith. (253)
You would think that the negative correlative of sin is good deeds. This betrays a misunderstanding of what sin truly is. Sin is more than certain acts, it is a fundamental resistance in human nature to God. The opposite of this resistance to God is a running to God—faith.
