Christians often explain how Jesus dying for our sins works by saying that God is perfect and cannot be with corrupt humanity (because of our sin). So because of this chasm he sent his son (who is God himself) to pay the price for sin (which is death) and thus fulfill the necessary requirements needed for us and him to exist peacefully in heaven. More or less that’s the idea. I could draw diagrams except that I’m too lazy.
One author questions that formula by retelling the Prodigal Son story like this:
…when the son returns from his partying and recognizes the error of his ways, his father responds by saying “I cannot simply forgive you…it would be against the moral order of the entire universe…Such is the severity of my justice that reconciliation will not be made unless the penalty is utterly paid. My wrath-my avenging justice-must be placated.” The prodigal sons older brother then offers to do extra work in teh fields and pay his brother’s penalty. And finally when the elder brother died of exhaustion, the father’s wrath was placated against his younger son and they lived happily for teh remainder of their days.
Do you buy that retelling? Do you buy our current definition? Are you unsettled? Are you comfy? Speaking personally, I’ve got some questions that I’m pursuing.
Enough said.
I think you're oversimplifying the issue for the sake of argument.
If Jesus is the Good Shepherd, eventually he will shave us all bald to make sweaters and then kill and eat us.
Or maybe some analogies don't go as far as others.
I think that there is some validity to saying that Jesus came to become sin for us so that we could be in the presence of God. However, I don't think it's because God is such a jerk, but rather that if we were still steeped in sin we would be unable to endure the presence of God. It's bullcrap to say that God can't be in the presence of sin – Satan went to talk to God in the book of Job and nothing happened.
In the story of the prodigal son, I think the thing you are forgetting is the coat and the ring. The father clothes the prodigal son anew. That's where the parable deals with the forgiveness and identity change necessary.
Its good for learners to be lively as they do the class work. This one encourages the teachers more and the students also are able to get concepts faster and easily.It also avoid dozing which is common to students in class.