A Creation Worth the Cost

Easter is a time of celebration, a time to remember that Jesus lives and that we have been given an opportunity to build a true relationship with our creator. However, the days leading up to it are a celebration of pain as we remember how much Jesus suffered for our sins. He was not just killed, as awful as that may have been; he was tortured, brutalized, betrayed, and he took on sorrows that were never his burden to bear. It’s sometimes difficult to fathom why he was willing to go through so much torture for us, his fallen creation.

It’s possible to rationalize his choice by glossing over the suffering in favor of the resurrection: Based on Jesus’ words and the prophecies he quotes, he seems to have known that his death would be a transient state. He would and did come out on the other side of it, still himself, unblemished by our sin even as he paid for it. The sacrifice would save us, allow his creation to be in a right relationship with him. As such, it might have seemed worth it solely because of the win-win at the end of the scenario.

Knowing that pain will be worth it doesn’t make it any less painful. Consider, for example, someone who has broken their arm, which has now set incorrectly. The physician tells them that the flawed bone structure is inhibiting proper healing; it requires breaking again so that it can be re-set properly. With that, the arm will heal well, and things will come out better for the pain.

But the patient still has to go through the breaking, let their body be damaged, feel the bone snap and await the mending. I doubt many, if any, would look forward to it. Just the thought of what they will need to endure could dissuade someone from accepting the process.

The same might be said for Jesus. Yes, he knew that he would be resurrected, that he would save us, that he would be restored to glory. But what suffering he would face to reach that point! Even with the knowledge that things would be better for it, the decision was not a simple one. He struggled with it, sought other ways, even sweat drops of blood from the stress of it all. (Luke 22:44.)

When looking at all the sorrow that came with the sacrifice for his creation, we might even question why God—the omniscient being who seemed to know our own weaknesses since the beginning of time—decided to create us in the first place, understanding that we would break our relationship and require rescuing. He didn’t have to make us. He doesn’t “need” us, at least, not in any traditional sense. He didn’t need workers to build his universe, as he is omnipotent. He didn’t need friends to banish his loneliness, as his union inhimself is perfect. He didn’t need to fill some void in his being that made other entities necessary. God is, was, and forever will be, without any need for outside influence to make him anything more than he already is.

Our choice to seek things other than God, to glorify ourselves above him and to break our relationship with him, did not reduce or damage God. He was grieved by it, yes, angered at our stubbornness and saddened by our suffering; but just as we do not “improve” God, neither do our failures “diminish” him. It seems completely possible that, instead of taking on the burden of redeeming his creation, he might even have chosen to scrap us instead.

Incinerate the faulty garbage, then start over with some new creation, or perhaps just exist on his own as he once did.

But he didn’t. He loved us enough to accept our weakness and work to bring us back to himself. God didn’t create us for himself, and he didn’t save us for himself.

If that’s the case, then maybe he did it—like he does many things—for us. Perhaps the deep meaning of “why do we exist” is, put simply, so that we could experience life, experience choice, experience love, experience him.

After creation’s fall, there was apparently only one method left to bring us back into a true relationship with God. Jesus did what needed to be done, no matter the cost, because God believes his creation is worth such a sacrifice. We might not understand why he loves us even to the point of death, but the fact of the matter is, he does. According to God, we are worth being created, and we are worth dying for.

When life drags us down and makes us question our worth, let us remember that truth. We are loved. We are cherished. We have value. Let’s live out our lives in the knowledge that Jesus thinks we are all worth the cost, and let us treat others in the same vein.