The mission of the Son of God was 1) to pay us a visit as one of us, 2) to let us torture and kill Him 3) to rise from the dead and 4) to continue to love us nonetheless. The Son of God successfully completed His mission. Part 3 of His mission proved that He was God. Part 4 of His mission, however, proved so much more. Part 4 showed us that the very essence of divinity is inextinguishable love for us. That torturing and killing the Son of God while He was human, alive, tender, vulnerable and our guest did not extinguish His love for us or reduce it by even the slightest degree tells us unequivocally and unambiguously that nothing can extinguish His love for us.
Let me put this another way.
He did not stay dead. He did not stop loving us. Even though we tortured and killed Him. Which is more amazing?
The "He did not stay dead" part of the Easter story takes place on the surface of reality. It is easy to see. We tortured and killed Him and He rose from the dead. Most preachers devote their Easter sermons exclusively to the "He did not stay dead" part of the Easter story. They ignore the "He did not stop loving us" part of the Easter story.
Leaving out the "He did not stop loving us" part of the Easter story, however, distorts the Easter story. The "He did not stop loving us" part of the Easter story is its most valuable part.
The Easter story is not one dimensional. It is two dimensional. The "He did not stay dead" part takes place on one layer of reality - the surface layer. The "He did not stop loving us part" takes place on a second equally real layer of reality - the subsurface layer.
Reality does not consist of a single layer. Reality has depth. Its depth comes from its multiple layers. Different stories unfold on the different layers of reality. Moreover, connection tie the different layers of reality together. In the case of the Easter story, the two layers of reality are connected via "We tortured and killed Him". The "We tortured and killed Him" connection is relevant to both the "He did not stay dead" layer of reality and the "He did not stop loving us" layer of reality.
A one gallon tank cannot handle two gallons of information. A one dimensional thinker cannot handle two dimensions of reality. The reason that many do not see the "He did not stop loving us" part of the Easter story is that, when they look at the bloody wounds we opened in the body of Christ, they stop there and go no farther. The bloody wounds, however, are windows. We can look through the bloody wounds to the most sacred heart of Jesus. When we look through the bloody wounds we see that not a drop - not a drop - of His love for us spilled through them. Buckets of blood spilled through them but not a drop of His love for us. His most sacred heart stayed filled to the brim with love for us. Before we baptized Him in evil, He loved us. As we baptized Him in evil, He clung to His love for us, held tight and refused to let go. After we baptized Him in evil, He continued to love us nonetheless.
His love for us is greater than the evil we did to Him. The evil we did to Him did not extinguish His love for us or reduce it by even the slightest degree. Quite the opposite. His love for us extinguished the evil we did to Him. Wow!
So let me repeat my question.
He did not stay dead. He did not stop loving us. Even though we tortured and killed Him. Which is more amazing?
How do I sign up? Where do I enlist? How do I join the kingdom of this God who loves me so much?