The New Attitude Letters, Part 5

Dear Reader,

I have previously said that it is impossible to read through a book written by C.J. Mahaney without noticing the centrality of the cross on every single page. This is similarly true of any sermon delivered by C.J. Mahaney, and it is no surprise that of all the topics which C.J. is certainly capable of addressing, he was asked to speak about the cross. I have no doubt of his delight in accepting the offer. It’s the same message that he has given many times before, but one that I pray I may never tire of hearing.

After opening with a powerful illustration from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the description of Aslan’s resurrection, C.J. echoed the question which Susan Pevensie asks of Aslan: “But what does it all mean?” We know the story of Jesus Christ, of how he was born, and how he lived a perfect life, and how he died on the cross, and how he was resurrected after three days… but what does it all mean?

I am afraid that words are unable to accurately contain the power of the message which Mr. Mahaney delivered on that second night of New Attitude, and I urge you to download the message and listen to it for yourself. Hearing the passion in his voice, as he talked about how God the Father crushed His son for sinners like you and me, is something that I cannot emulate with mere written words.

The focus of the message was on the truth that it was ultimately God who killed Jesus. C.J. unpacked the verses of Isaiah 53, clear references to the suffering of Christ, to show us how, though Christ suffered in some ways from the rejection of men and the physical pain, these were nothing in comparison to the wrath which God Himself poured out on Christ. As we read in verse 10 of this passage, “it was the will of the Lord to crush him.”

To help emphasize the significance of what really happened at the cross, I turn to John Stott’s epic work, The Cross of Christ, which happens to be number three on C.J.’s Top 10 Reading List. See, it is important for us to understand that God was the one who killed Jesus, because it shows us just how much God loves us. We can understand that it was the wrath of God that needed to be satisfied because of His holiness and our sinfulness, and we can understand that Christ loved us enough to die for us and bear our punishment, but we must never lose sight of the connection. It was God who designed for Christ to be sent: essentially to send Himself, as Christ was fully God and fully man. It was not Christ’s idea to come to earth to satisfy the wrath of his Father. It was the Father’s idea to send Himself, in His son, to satisfy His own wrath. As John Stott writes, “So then, the cross of Christ is the event in which God makes known his holiness and his love simultaneously, in one event, in an absolute manner.” And again, “Indeed, the two [God’s justice and love] are more than simultaneous, they are identical, or at least alternative expressions of the same reality. For the wrath of God is the love of God in the form in which the man who has turned away from God and turned against God experiences it.”

With this in view, C.J. presented the question: “Are you persuaded that God loves you?” And if so, what is to be our response? The implications are huge, to say the least. The cross makes it possible for us to live out messages such as Mike Bullmore’s, of which I previously wrote to you. The cross makes it possible for us to experience the main good of the Gospel: fellowship with God. And the cross is to be the mainspring of all our joy. It is to be the one event which occupies our thoughts by day and by night. Does the truth of the cross persuade you that God loves you?

Though there is yet more I could share from my experiences at New Attitude, I am afraid I have tarried long enough on the topic. I have other duties that demand my attention and other writing that demands my time. I do hope that you will take some of your own time to listen to the messages of New Attitude and let God continue to speak through those men who so faithfully delivered the Word. I do also hope that you will be able to attend New Attitude ’07, but I promise to write again if such proves impossible.

Until then,
Brian Whalen