“They will proclaim His righteousness to the people who will be born, for He has done it.” (Psalms 22:31)
“When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, It is finished!” (John 19:30)
It is finished!
Three words spoken by Jesus on the cross that are strongly emphasized by many contemporary grace preachers. Jesus has accomplished everything for us. All we need to do is believe: that he died for us, paid the ransom for our sins, fulfilled the law, became our righteousness, and that by his stripes we have received healing, and so on. It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? All that remains for us is to rest in this finished work, and a prosperous, blessed, and healthy Kingdom life will follow.
In this series, I want to approach the cross from a different perspective. Did Jesus truly accomplish something substitutionary — on our behalf and for the entire cosmos — that no other human being could ever have done? That would mean that Jesus of Nazareth was by nature more the Son of God, more divine, and more chosen than any other human being. Although we may be like Jesus in this world and are called to be revealed as sons of God (m/f), Jesus remains the one and only true, unique Son of God. Even if we see ourselves as “little christs,” he remains the one true Christ — exclusive in his kind.
In this way, Jesus remains unreachable for us. We will never fully become like him, let alone see ourselves as fully included in the Trinity of God. Increasingly, I am beginning to believe that this very exclusive view of Jesus hinders us. By continuing to see him as the only Savior, we block for ourselves the Way to complete salvation — spirit, soul, and body — the Way he has gone before us.
Where does the exclusive view come from?
This perspective is based on the assumption that at the beginning of human history, through human disobedience, a fundamental separation between God and humanity came into existence. Because of a sinful nature (original sin), humanity would be unable to bridge this gap. Therefore, God Himself would have become human in Jesus to solve this problem.
The idea that Jesus accomplished salvation substitutionally — something no one else could do — sustains this exclusive view. It is a circular reasoning that, in my view, hinders the completion of the reconciliation process: God reconciling the cosmos to Himself in Christ. In doing so, it also hinders the visible manifestation of the Kingdom of God on earth.
God created humanity in His image and likeness. His Spirit is the breath of life in every person, and God saw that it was very good. If God’s essence is perfect Love — a love that is patient, bears all things, and keeps no record of wrongs (1 Corinthians 13:4–7) — how could disobedience lead to a fundamental separation? According to Paul, nothing can separate us from God’s love — not even our failures.
The separation we experience, therefore, is not in reality but in our thinking. Through the knowledge of good and evil, our consciousness has become darkened. We have become lost in futile thinking, darkened in our understanding, and alienated from the life of God through ignorance (Ephesians 4:17–18). Yet this does not change reality: from the very beginning, we have been connected to God. In Him we live and move and have our being. We are all His offspring (Acts 17:28), whether we are aware of it or not.
Fundamental unity as a starting point
If we start from this fundamental unity between God and humanity (and all of creation), then the biblical concept of “salvation” needs to be redefined. If there has never been a real separation, then there has never been an unbridgeable gap. Sin was never truly standing between God and humanity.
This means that the cross was not necessary to bridge a gap. Jesus did not accomplish anything substitutionary on our behalf, and he does not need to be the exclusive Son of God or Christ. This opens up a radical perspective: every human being — just like Jesus — is an incarnation of God (the Logos). In essence, every person is equally a son of God (m/f) and anointed with the Spirit.
For everything came into being through the Word, and without the Word nothing came into being. The life in that Word is the Light that enlightens all people (John 1). Jesus became like us in every way; he came in the flesh (sarx) in the same way as every human being. According to John, those who do not confess this go against the testimony of Christ (1 John 4:3; 2 John 1:7). All humanity (including the man Jesus of Nazareth) together forms the body of Christ. As humanity, we are the Son of God and share in the divine reality.
The essential difference is that Jesus — as the firstborn — became aware of this Christ identity. Through revelation, and at great cost, he came to live from that awareness. Not to remain exclusive, but to open the way for all humanity to follow him in this.
The Son of Man
Jesus often referred to himself as the Son of Man: the human being as God intended. He is the pattern, the blueprint for every person — called to be revealed as a son of God.
His mission was not to accomplish something substitutionary, but to open people’s eyes to the Kingdom of God — a Kingdom that has always been there (Matthew 25:34). He proclaimed freedom from darkened thinking and brought people into liberty. His life, his words and actions, the way of the cross, the resurrection, and the ascension — all pointed to the Kingdom and the revelation of the Way toward it.
His message began with: “Repent, for the Kingdom is near”, and later even: “The Kingdom is within you.” It was about metanoia — a renewal of the mind, the opening of the eyes. Nowhere do we read that Jesus taught that a single event on the cross would accomplish salvation or bring about a cosmic change.
Summary
What we have come to believe that Jesus had to accomplish substitutionally was, in reality, already true. The cross was not needed for that. From the beginning, we have been connected to God. Our sins have been forgiven — love keeps no record of wrongs. We have always been in the Kingdom of God, though often unaware. In God’s eyes, we have always been righteous.
These are not future promises, but present realities. They flow from who we are: created in God’s image and carriers of His life. When this realization takes hold, our view of the cross cannot remain the same.
More on this in part two.
Reflection questions
- To what extent do you believe that Jesus did something you yourself could never be or become?
- Where do you still experience a separation between yourself and God, and could that possibly exist in your thinking?
- What does it mean for you if you truly believe that you have always been connected to God?
- Do you dare to see yourself as an expression of God, as Jesus was? Why or why not?
- How would your life change if you truly began to experience the Kingdom of God as “within you”?
Click here to read part two of this series.
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