A Lesson from Atlas (#333 of 365+)

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24)

In Greek mythology, Zeus doomed Atlas to carry the weight of heaven and
earth upon his shoulders. At first glance it seems similar to the burden Jesus Christ had to bear on the cross but Peter points out a very important difference… Jesus carried the sin of the entire world in his very own body. The anguish Jesus experienced previous to his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane was due to the knowledge that he’d soon experience two unspeakable horrors for the very first time:

1) Sin.
He was the Son of Man yet also God the Son. He had never sinned! Even when his physical body was weak he masterfully used the Word to fight off Satan’s temptations. As a mere mortal I’m so acquainted with sin that I can’t comprehend how repulsive it is to a holy God. The only thing I can think of that might come close is a scene from a sci-fi movie in which human bodies are used by aliens to host their spawn. I know it sounds gross but being filled with our sin must have been as abhorrent to the Lord as the thought of carrying around reptilian larva in my womb is for me! (I hope that makes sense.)

2) Death.
For Adam and Eve, sin resulted in death. Physical death came years later for both of them but spiritual death—the break-up of their relationship with a loving God—was painful and swift. They were immediately ashamed of what they’d done but there was no recourse. I can only imagine the tears when they were expelled from the Garden of Eden by the muscular angelic guards. They must have been so frightened, confused, and hungry when they tried scraping together an existence from the dry ground. Since I was born a fallen individual, spiritually dead so to speak, and received God’s grace later in life I have no earthly idea what the reverse must have been like—to be suddenly shut off from the light of God’s presence. Jesus had some idea though… and it made him pray hard and sweat drops of blood all night long. He had been a part of the triune Godhead since eternity past. He had witnessed the spiritual disfigurement of Adam and Eve due to sin and remembered their expulsion. Now it was his turn to be disfigured and torn away from the presence of his Father…

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

As Peter mentioned earlier, Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice for us so we could be cured of the disease. Paul’s verse above goes further by saying he did it so we could become righteous by God’s own standard. Only Jesus alone could satisfy the righteous requirements of God because he was completely without sin. He yielded to the abuse, the beatings, and a cruel Roman cross. He carried the enormity of all our sin in his physical body until he finally gave up the spirit and died. Yet all that didn’t change the fact that he was God the Son. On the third day a muscular angelic guard rolled away the stone from the tomb. By the power of the Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ got back on his feet and walked right out of there—alive, victorious, brilliant, and as holy as ever! He had neutralized all Sin in one fell swoop. He had defeated Death once and for all. The curtain in the temple leading to the Holy of Holies was undeniably torn from top to bottom. Everyone now had access to the love, grace, mercy, and life of God because of what he’d accomplished.

Lord, I will sing of your praises forever! Thank you for liberty from sin and life eternal. Help me to openly share the news of these incredible gifts with others. Amen.