The God Who Died

Death. The idea is perhaps more real to us this Good Friday than in years past, as 147 people were killed at a Kenyan University by Muslim terrorists on Thursday. These terrorists specifically targeted Christian students, opening fire at a morning prayer meeting. These horrific actions are unthinkable, and we mourn as a society and as a church when such death and destruction come upon the innocent.

This event portrays for us two different views of God: a God who is glorified by acts of war and terror, commanding his people to kill all who disagree with him;  and a God who suffers with his people as they face the hands of persecutors.

God’s glory is displayed, most vividly, not in acts of war against those who reject him, but in God’s own death. Christianity is a religion of death. It’s a religion about death that God took upon himself. God is not simply a spectator of human events, but he entered into the battle himself, and he sacrificed his own Son for the victory to be won.

Those who died in this horrific event in Kenya for being Christians rather than Muslims suffered. Yet, they do not suffer alone. They suffered the same fate that God himself did. And they too partake of the glory that Christ displayed on Easter morning.