as seamless as his cloak

The Word for today:
Acts 20:1-16

Mark this: Acts 20:28
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.  Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.

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Did God die?

Acts 20:28 tells us that God obtained his church with his own blood.

It's a remarkable statement. First of all, it irrefutably points to the deity of Jesus--for it was his blood that was shed upon the cross for the sins of the world.

But did God die, or was it just the "Jesus part" of the God-Man who died out there on Golgotha Hill?

The answer is that there is no "Jesus part" of the eternal Son.  At no point in his ministry or death can we say, 'This is now the human side of him at work.'

Neither can we ever say, 'Now it is his divine nature that is on display.'

Peter correctly preached that it was "Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified" (Acts 4:10), while Paul rightly wrote of those who had "crucified the Lord of glory." (1 Corinthians 2:8)

Be very careful to understand that we are not to rend asunder what God has joined together. Jesus was, and is, as seamless as his garment.  (See Matthew 19:6 and John 19:23)

He had to be. If he weren't one of us, he could not take your place. If he weren't God, his sacrifice would have fallen short of the purchase price.

We are now, admittedly, in theological waters which are over our heads. The theologians call it "hypostatic union" (yikes!) while the Nicene Creed explains that Jesus is very man of very man and very God of very God.

Within this mystery we catch a glimpse of why Trinity has to be:

only God could raise God from the dead.

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