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Image by Keith Johnston from Pixabay |
With the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games as well as all the normal events, this summer has been a great one for sports fans, although perhaps not as good for others in their homes who don't like sport!
Sports fandom comes in many forms; some just enjoy watching sport, others get heavily invested in it. But when there are major sporting events like the World Cup or the Olympics even armchair sports watchers can get swept up in the excitement, and we identify with our team or our national team. So their successes become our successes; 'we' win, 'we' are the champions. Even when our best sporting days (if we ever had them) are behind us, we share in the victory of others as if it were our own. For those in a crowd at an event, it could be an argued that their support spurred the team or athlete on to victory, but for those watching online or on TV (and sometimes not even live) no matter how much we shout, it will have no impact on those who are actually competing. And yet we still claim that 'we' have won.
This helps us to understand something that often puzzles people about the Christian faith. We believe that Jesus' death and resurrection is the means by which our sins are forgiven – but how can the death of someone almost 2,000 years ago have any bearing on our guilt?
Jesus said that his death would be a ransom for many (Mark 10:45); he was named the 'Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world' by John the Baptist (John 1:29) which links him to the figure of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 52-53 who “was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” So Jesus took the punishment we deserve for our sins: “He died for our sins and rose again to make us right with God” (Romans 4:25 The Living Bible).
But how does what Jesus achieves on the cross get applied to us personally? The answer is similar to that corporate sense of identification we see with sport. Paul teaches us that “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:3-4). Baptism is the symbol of repentance, faith and trust in Jesus, and through that faith we become united with Jesus in his death and his resurrection (Romans 6:5). Like someone watching or listening to sport via the media, we contribute nothing to the victory Jesus wins, but through faith Jesus is our champion, we win in him.
But how does what Jesus achieves on the cross get applied to us personally? The answer is similar to that corporate sense of identification we see with sport. Paul teaches us that “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:3-4). Baptism is the symbol of repentance, faith and trust in Jesus, and through that faith we become united with Jesus in his death and his resurrection (Romans 6:5). Like someone watching or listening to sport via the media, we contribute nothing to the victory Jesus wins, but through faith Jesus is our champion, we win in him.
“Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).
