The cross wasn’t about God’s hate

Big Ideas - We tend to hear that God is love, but also that the cross is where his judgement boiled over and he had to punish someone. - We want to hold up the cross as central to our understanding of God’s love. - The Father ABSOLUTELY DID NOT turn his face away from Jesus on the cross - God is, first and foremost, a relationship. It’s the first thing the early church stated when describing God. - The reason you exist is to participate in divine communion forever and ever - What is sin? The rupturing of common. The opposite of love. The thing that is breaking all communities. - Jesus is feeling abandonment. That does not mean he was actually abandoned. - Everyone around him know these Psalms by heart. Quoting the first line of Psalm 22 is intended to make everyone think of the whole Psalm, not just the first line. - The curtain is torn. God is directly revealed to humanity. - God appears in darkness, and the judgement is put on himself. - The curse was broken because we are no longer alone. - In this act, God is re-ordering the cosmos - God and humanity are finally fully converging - The work of the cross is the love of God, that he would invade and conquer with this absurd foolishness Questions - Recast in your own mind, Worship the god who was made one with you, one spirit with you, converging permanently with you - How have you been taught to understand the cross before? - Did it seem hard to believe it was about God’s love? - Was it hard to believe God is love if he had to punish someone for sin? - What do you think about the idea that Jesus was not separated from the Father on the cross? - Do you think about God as relational first? - What does it change for you if the most important thing for you is to be in relationship with God and others? - What if that is more important than morality or behavior? - How we help each other participate more in communion today?