The cross is both the source and the shape of our salvation. We are meant to experience the victory of God through the same means and method as our savior. Turn the other cheek. Go the extra mile. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you.
Roar like a lion, but live like a lamb.
At the end, there will be a moment in which every person stands before the Creator and has to give an account for their life. This judgment doesn’t rest as much on behavior as on allegiance.
When God acts in judgment throughout the Bible, peaceful Creation is restored. Every time we sin we deviate from his plan, and every time God judges that sin, it is to get us back on track. When God judges at the End, it is to accomplish the same purpose. God is going to remake the world into its originally-intentioned design.
God offers life, but there’s a condition attached: it only comes through Jesus, by the Spirit, submitting to the will of the Father.
“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!” Deuteronomy 30.19
Adapted from Why God Died.