Jesus' Perspective on the Cross

"So then, although he knew he must die, it was not because he was the helpless victim either of evil forces arrayed against him or of any inflexible fate decreed for him, but because he freely embraced the purpose of his Father for the salvation of sinners, as it had been revealed in Scripture. This was the perspective of Jesus on his death."

-- John Stott, The Cross of Christ, 37

Substituting Generic "God-talk" for Jesus

Russell Moore, in a recent post at Touchstone Magazine's blog, describes how the use of the term "God" is an easy substitute for talking about Jesus. He says that "God" is an abstract enough term that people can load all kinds of meaning into it. He says that's why people in the culture would rather talk about vague notions of spirituality and God rather than about Jesus Christ. Such equivocation is also true among liberal Christians. But....

The gritty flesh and blood reality of Jesus of Nazareth, however, is much more
particular and much more exclusive. I think the fatal flaw of contemporary
Christianity, on both the right and the left, is what Adrio Koenig called "the
eclipse of Christ." We speak of the glory of God, and we aim for "God-centered
worship," but we forget that God's glory is tied up in what Maximus the
Confessor called "the Christic mystery," namely that God's purpose is "to sum up
all things in Christ" (Eph 1:10). Contemporary Christians may have "WWJD"
bracelets and other sorts of "Jesus junk" in our closets, but too rarely do we
hear the big picture of how our God is no generic God, but the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jesus of Nazareth.