Slain From The Foundation Of The Earth...God Knew!

This morning I responded to a friend from another faith, himself a follower of Jesus. Hear the dissonance within that statement!

Yet, his heart for people so reflects the Christ (not intended as the last name of Jesus) that it challenges my own faith as a Christian.

My response to him this a.m., though somewhat expanded here, may challenge fellow Christians!

"Love your heart and compassion for others. We argue too quickly over things we do not know. To me, Christ is the concept of God in man, not the name of a man. Where God is welcome, love always surfaces. Jesus, the man was the model sent from God. His willingness to die, the Lamb that was slain, demonstrated the willingness of God, who is love, to become the substitute demanded by religion in that day."

Judaism, taught sacrifice necessary to appease the wrath of God, which was never the case. Even in Abraham's attempt with his first born, Isaac, God provided a ram.

Then later, prophets like Isaiah, began to sense the displeasure of religion over a father-like relationship. Isaiah's "I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats (1:12) perhaps a prelude to Jesus' story of the prodigal's father.

Somehow man's attempt at religion always takes us back toward a wrathful being! We are slow learners, as is evident today, given that all three monotheistic religions are in this moment in battle with each other!

Yes, a book is forthcoming!