This is something that used to cross my mind when I was younger. Surely God could have redeemed us by just the act of His will, he didn't actually "need" to die on the cross.
Then I realised God doesn't "have" to do anything or "need" to do anything; He just does what He does, and is what he is.
I now understand why He chose the cross, and here is an eloquent answer to refresh my memory:
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from here
Q- Is it accurate to say that Christ died for us because we deserved the death penalty? This argument was put forth in the book "The Case for Easter." This seems to fit more into the protestant line of thinking that humans are basically bad, but didn't know if it can be reconciled to Catholicism.
A- Such an argument is so beside the point. Christ could have redeemed us with a mere thought. He suffered and died as He did to show something of His infinite love for us in a way that we could grasp to some extent.
We do understand what suffering is like.
We have no experience of anything that is unlimitted. Such suffering also demonstrates to us what an offense sin is to an infinitely good God. If there is a “case for Easter,” it has more to do with God’s goodness, than our weakness. We are all about God ! !
---
So God died for us. Not because He "had to die" for us, but because that is the way He chose to show us how incomprehensibly much he loves us.
from here
-
Then I realised God doesn't "have" to do anything or "need" to do anything; He just does what He does, and is what he is.
I now understand why He chose the cross, and here is an eloquent answer to refresh my memory:
---
from here
Q- Is it accurate to say that Christ died for us because we deserved the death penalty? This argument was put forth in the book "The Case for Easter." This seems to fit more into the protestant line of thinking that humans are basically bad, but didn't know if it can be reconciled to Catholicism.
A- Such an argument is so beside the point. Christ could have redeemed us with a mere thought. He suffered and died as He did to show something of His infinite love for us in a way that we could grasp to some extent.
We do understand what suffering is like.
We have no experience of anything that is unlimitted. Such suffering also demonstrates to us what an offense sin is to an infinitely good God. If there is a “case for Easter,” it has more to do with God’s goodness, than our weakness. We are all about God ! !
---
So God died for us. Not because He "had to die" for us, but because that is the way He chose to show us how incomprehensibly much he loves us.
from here
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1 comment:
Perhaps I'm missing something, but I thought it was about God's goodness in the face of our weakness? Since the wages of sin is death, someone had to die because of our sins, and that a most terrible kind of death. So in His great Goodness and pity for our weakness, God Himself took that death unto Himself.
Or am I missing something?
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