Monday, March 07, 2005

The 21 Century Gospel?

Once upon a time there was a man named Adam who committed a crime. Because this crime was so bad, Adam was sentenced to death. Well, not really, actually he was sentenced to endless torture, but for some unknown reason, everybody just called it death. Adam was not very happy about this death sentence, but what could he do? He did the crime and now he must accept his punishment. It was only fair.

What Adam didn't know, though, was that while he was in prison awaiting his fate his best friend, Jesus, offered to die in his place. Jesus went before the judge, who happened to be his father, and asked him if he could die instead of Adam. Jesus really loved Adam. The judge, Jesus' Dad, wasn't too happy about this arrangement but his son, Jesus, really wanted to help his friend Adam and he couldn't think of any better plan. So the judge said "okay if you die in Adam's place I'll set him free." Jesus said, "okay" and when it was time for the sentence to be carried out he went ahead and died in Adam's place. Jesus' Dad was sad that his son had died but he was glad that it hadn't been for nothing. Now Jesus' best friend Adam didn't have to die. At least the judge could be happy about that.

So the judge sent the prison official to tell Adam that the penalty for his crime had been paid and he was now free to go. When Adam heard this he was very doubtful. He thought, "This must be some kind of trick. I've never heard of anything like this. It doesn't make any sense. It's not fair." Adam didn't believe that he was really free. He couldn't believe it. It was just weird. How could anybody believe such a thing??? So Adam stayed in his cell, sure that someone would jump out and say April fools or something.

When the judge heard that Adam had refused to accept the freedom that his son had provided for him he was very upset. He thought, "How could anyone not believe that my son, Jesus, was wonderful enough to die in his place???" This made the judge very full of wrath. He was so mad that he went back on his word to his own son, Jesus. He called in the prison official and instructed him to carry out the death sentence on Adam anyway.

So the good news for the 21 century is that both Jesus died and that Adam ended up being tortured for all eternity. I'm not really sure that I understand this part, but I think the reason why it's considered good new is that it brings glory to the judge because he was so wise or just or holy or something or other.

It's all really confusing to me. Maybe someone out there can help me understand this better. What am I missing??? Anybody???

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