Image via WikipediaThe Doctrine of RedemptionPersonal worth is affirmed in the Incarnation. To reveal himself more fully, God chose human personality as the means to express himself in history. Because human existence was not beneath the dignity of our Lord, he chose to identify with the lowly and the poor and thereby elevated all human life.
In his act of suffering, forgiving love upon the cross, God has accepted each person. Persons have ultimate worth because the Son of God laid down his life to affirm the value of the lost coin, the lost sheep, the lost son (or the straying daughter). In Christ, God has broken the tyranny of the destructive power of sin upon life and has liberated the human spirit to new, life-affirming relationship with him.
Christ not only became part of humanity and accepted each person, but he is doing a positive work now. Those who welcome his caring love are the New Creation (II Corinthians 5:17). They are no longer captives of sin and its devaluing power, for in Christ they are accepted and forgiven. The Holy Spirit is working in them to renew and restore the human value that has been undercut by the debilitating effects of sin. The Spirit's empowering makes these new creatures fully human, fully alive, in Christ.
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