God...

          I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,  and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (Ephesians 1:18-23)

            Continuing a theme I’ve shared before, if the hope to which God has called us, or the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, or His incomparably great power for us who believe resulted in mere riches, power, and fame for us, why would the eyes of our hearts (wills) need to be enlightened? What sort of “great” power would it take to give us those things? Job, Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Esau, Joseph, David, Solomon, the kings of Egypt, the kings of Babylon, Assyria, the current queen of England…we could list rich, powerful, and famous people all day long. How much effort did God have to go to to make them rich, powerful, and famous? He created the universe in seven days by just commanding that the exist. Granted, there is a sense in which He had to restrict Himself in order for “other” to exist, but all that really took was “Let there be light...”

          It seems to me that a far greater price was paid at Calvary. It also seems to me that our understanding of the resurrection is probably very shallow if we think that all that it took was raising the dead (which God had already done through some prophets and Jesus, so it was clearly not a big deal.) But what Paul says gives the impression that this was a big deal. I think the reason for this is that it was the proof or culmination of what came before that, the sacrifice that paid for our sins. It was a big deal because it unlocked the door to God.

           Some folks may wonder why this was a big deal. God’s God after all. He could set things up however He wants. That’s what omnipotent means, after all. The problem is, that’s not what omnipotent means. He can do whatever He wants to, but He can’t want to do what is not in line with his character. It’s sort of like saying that you could lead the massacre of millions of people.   
           Technically, you could, especially if you only had to sign a piece of paper and didn’t have to participate in the slaughter. You could, in theory, but it would require that you violate yourself first. You would have to become a different person from the one that both you and I believe you to be.

           God can do whatever He wants, but He cannot want to do something that violates His character. Therefore, I would suggest that what happened during the crucifixion and resurrection is a big deal because it is the best example of God being God.