THE LOVE OF CHRIST CONSTRAINS US
This Pauline phrase - "the love of Christ constrains us" (2 Corinthians 5:14) - was said in a context of encouragement to evangelization. However, it is opportune to speak of its intrinsic content, that is, God's love for humanity. The human being, far from God and immersed in a world of matter, does not discern the spiritual reality. For this reason he does not evaluate or understand the intensity of God's love for him who, because of his condition of sin, finds himself in a state of great danger.
God's love for man is observed right at the beginning of Scripture, when it deals with his creation. About the beings that inhabit the sea and the earth, for example, God said: "Let the water teem with living creatures... Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds...". (Genesis 1:20,24). Note that this is an impersonal language. But when speaking about the creation of man, language is affective and personal: "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness" (Gênesis 1:26). Then the psalmist will say that God made man a little smaller than the angels (Psalm 8:5), which shows the interest of the Creator in this being that creates.
God's appreciation of man can be seen in these aspects: man was the only being in whom God placed his image and still appointed him to manage his creation (Genesis 1:26). As Scripture states that in the beginning he lived in the presence of the Creator, it concludes that he was a magnificent being in physical structure, holy, pure, gifted with a knowledge of the world and with eternal life. But by acting in disagreement with the divine will, man left the original purpose for which he was created. With this, his initial nature was changed in such a way that his body began to progress toward physical death and his spirit disconnected from the Creator and died spiritually (Genesis 3). That original man died.
As I describe in my book O Homem em Busca de Si (Man in Search of Himself), published on amazon.com.br (not yet published in English), the human being is, today, a being who lives his death [1]. The man who is born is not the one who was originally created by God. Sin has disfigured him and he already comes into the world with a destiny: death. If he dies in the condition of Fall, that is, of sin, with the mark of original sin, he will experience eternal death, eternal separation from his Creator, in a spiritual region that the Bible calls hell.
Yes, hell. This is a theme little talked about, nowadays, in many churches, dominated by a "soft gospel" and superficial, but it must be said that it is Jesus' teaching (Matthew 5:22,29,30;10:28;11:23;16:18;18:9;23:15;23:33...). This teaching is present in all Scripture and relates to an eternal spiritual state of darkness, suffering, forgetfulness and distance from God. The human being is body and spirit. After death the body decomposes, but the spirit remains. "Those who die in the Lord in this age go immediately into the presence of the Lord" (2Corinthians 5:8).But those who die without Christ go to hell [2]. It is relevant to say that the biblical narrative itself ends like this teaching (Revelation 20:14,15; 21:8).
This is the great danger that humanity suffers: to die and go to hell. And this cannot be attributed to a certain evil of God, for in Eden man, like the angels, was a free moral being. His wrong decision led him to the state of death. And now one realizes the great love of God for man, for in the state of Fall the human being cannot, alone, get rid of the condemnation of death. He is already dead, as Jesus said (Matthew 8:22) and also the Apostle Paul (Ephesians 2:1).
In the face of this condition, God himself, through his Son, Jesus Christ, emptied himself, becoming a servant, becoming like men (Philippians 2:5-7) and treading the same path as Adam. He was tempted by the Devil and suffered all kinds of temptations, but unlike the first man, he did not sin (Hebrews 4:15). He did what was impossible for man: he fulfilled the Law of God and conquered sin. That is why Paul called him "the last Adam" (1 Corinthians 15:45). At the end of his life, he assumed the guilt of human sins and died. God, however, resurrected him and is now at the right hand of the Almighty. Thus, through Him, Jesus Christ, a human being who did not lose his original condition, sinful man can return to the presence of the Creator. He opened this way back to God that can be walked by man, through faith in his sacrifice.
LIGHTNER, R.P. Enciclopédia Histórico-Teológica da Igreja Cristã. São Paulo: Vida Nova, 2009, p.332
MAIA, Antônio. O Homem em Busca de Si – Reflexões Sobre a Condição Humana na Parábola do Filho Pródigo. amazon.com.br, p. 943
Antônio Maia - M. Div.
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