• 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 Jesu