• Does it really Matter?

Copyright © JULIAN KASTRATI, 2006

I want to direct our attention today to these questions: does it really make any difference if Jesus was divine or less than divine, in terms of redemption? Put simply, if we claimed that Jesus is not fully divine, how does this affect our picture of God and understanding of the cross? I am going to invite you to complete this sentence for me: ‘If Jesus was less than divine...’ and come up with implications that you think are appropriate. Remember that the focus is on redemption. How would you complete the sentence? This is how I would do it: 1. If Jesus was less than divine . . . then salvation is by works A less than divine Christ remains a moral paradigm of what God requires from humans. Unavoidably this would lead to a soteriology of works and merits, exactly the opposite view of the NT (see Eph. 2:8-9). The less than divine Christ would remain a mere representative creature leading us to the disturbing conclusion that another besides Jesus could have been created and sent to do the job. 2. If Jesus was less than divine… then God would be considered coward and cruel Our understanding of the cross would be marred. The cross would signify that Christ is the only one who loves us, while God cowardly sits and watches. He remains is embarrassingly silent. Indeed, He would be nothing more than a cruel God who forces an innocent creature to suffer and die instead of Him. The death of Jesus is turned into a meaningless heroism. 3. If Jesus was less than divine… then God could not redeem us With Jesus not being divine, the implication is that God was not the one providing atonement for humans. The question of Christ’s sacrifice would throw justice into jeopardy. Whatever qualifies Jesus’ death as an act of love, God must be the active part of (John 3:16; Col.1:19-22). This is extremely important and deserves repetition. No-one can really redeem except the Creator. 4. If Jesus was less than divine… then God would remain unrevealed. Christ, being a creature could not truly reveal God. He would not have known God from within. The incarnation and the Gospel story would tell us how Christ was like but not necessarily how God was like. Consequently, the Arian God cannot get in touch with His creatures. To the contrary, the Scriptures consistently testify of a revealing God (see 1 Cor. 2:6-10; Luke 1:77; 10:22; Matt. 11:27) who made himself manifested through the Son. 5. If Jesus was less than divine . . . then God would be inaccessible. Inaccessible for the simple fact that when we are in touch with Christ, we are not really in contact with God. The Scriptures testify of a God who is directly involved with humanity and works incessantly on our behalf. With a less than divine Christ, God would be better identified with the utterly transcendent God - a remote and impassionate God.

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