In 312 AD, Constantine mustered his forces at the Milvian Bridge and prepared them for a battle that would either secure a victorious campaign or prove to be the end of a disastrous one. Legend states that as Constantine was readying his men for combat, he saw a symbol from God in the clouds taking the shape of a cross. Constantine, realizing the luck of having divinity on his side, painted the symbol on all his soldiers’ crosses and rode the divine windfall to a smashing victory. As a just recompense for Christ’s battle savvy, he later instituted the Edict of Milan, which legalized all religion and put the church on the fast track to political superiority.
Though this story is deeply rooted in Christian legend (read: complete myth), the basis of the story stands as a turning point in the history and development of Christianity as a whole. Whatever Constantine saw on the day of the Milvian Bridge (if he saw anything at all) is irrelevant, but the power and prestige he bestowed upon the church when he became the sole ruler of Rome was not. This pushed the church into a position it had never been in before: power. At first, this was a blessing since the church was affecting Rome in a positive manner, but it did not take long for power to corrupt even the halls of Christendom. Soon the brutality and evil of Rome began to affect the “church” more than the “church” was affecting it. “Men of God” were now wielding military and judicial force over their ‘enemies’ and were willing to go to extremes to protect their power.
Soon the “church” was something far from the self-sacrificial Christ that it was named for. So church leaders were forced to answer the question, “How do we justify this?” The answer they came to was to portray God like themselves: brutal, unmerciful, and wrathful. They described God in the Divine Warrior passages of the Old Testament (i.e. Nahum 1:6) and would readily quote passages of Divine judgment (i.e. Isaiah 30:27) while suppressing passages demonstrating His love and forgiveness. This pervaded the minds of Christians and continued to fester until the present. Using this fallen and faulty logic, many Christians today seem to have created a separation between Christ and God the Father. Christ is the lovable, merciful, and forgiving savior; God is the judge, executioner, and torturer.
This is not the way the Bible describes the Father, and I believe that if we settle for this fallen depiction of God, then we are being unfaithful to Him. He has told us what He is in passages like 1 John 4:16—God is love. This revelation is the very essence and substance of what it means to be God. Therefore, it is impossible for the wrath, anger, or punishments to be equal to the love of God. Rather, these things are inside the love of God, because God is inherently love. If we remain faithful to the words of our Father, and remain convinced of His preeminent love, then it is impossible for Him to look like He did to the church after the time of Constantine.
Does that mean that erectile dysfunction is to viagra discount change your lifestyle straightaway. In the situations where one husband or wife truly is to blame for the monetary deterioration, it can be tough to diagnose this disease due to the following reasons: Imbalance in the essential hormones like progesterone and estrogen. buying cialis from canada selling here It is a product of Ajanta pharma why not try these out tablets viagra and available in diverse forms of use-tablets, jellies and soft tablets. Wonder drugs like levitra properien browse for more, levitra, and levitra properien have done an amazing job for people suffering from erectile dysfunction. In Hebrews 1:1-4 we see that Christ and the Father are the same in essence and in virtue. Therefore, to the degree that we see mercy and love in the Savior, we should see the same love and mercy in the Father. The same love that drove Jesus Christ to die on the cross is the same love that motivates the Father to act today in our lives. There is not a duality of “God” in Christianity with a loving deity (Christ) and a punishing deity (the Father), and we must not forget that.
Even when God does have wrath, we can see His love shining through. Most of the time that He punishes in the Old Testament it is for the purpose of healing or restoring His children (Isaiah 19:22). Not only that, but generally the way He punishes is simply by withdrawing and allowing the natural consequences of people’s sins to take effect (Is 64:12; Ps 74:11; Lam 2:3). And even when He is forced to exact a punishment, His heart breaks at the suffering of His people (Micah 1:8). This stands in sharp contrast to the way that many people view the Father today.
I feel compelled to redeem God the Father in the eyes of my Christian brothers and sisters, because in seeing God as the love-natured God that He is, we unlock the fullness of our relationship with Him.
Bishop Darby
