The Jews sought to arrest and crucify Christ because of His claims to be God. The irony is that this was their very own crime. This is our very own crime. Throughout history, man's greatest sin is to try and be God, in fact it was the very first sin which man ever committed. Genesis 3:1-6 "Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it." Not only is this our crime though, but Satan's as well. Isaiah 14:12-15 "How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit." All of time is a story of God's creation seeking to become God. The creation desires to become the Creator. As I've mentioned in "Slaves to Sin/Righteousness", this is why we have so many religions that express men becoming gods. Even naturalistic evolution's end goal is for man to evolve into a godlike form, 2001 is a perfect example of this. This desire is a constant drive in the hearts of every individual. We crave to be the proverbial kings of our own domain. We desire to be our own god. Through this desire sin entered into the world and so it is only fitting that sin leave this world through the very same charges. Jesus Christ, the Living God, was convicted for claiming to be God, for claiming to be Himself. He was crucified for this crime, our crime, and thus our crime was paid for by Him. Jesus took on our sin at the cross (propitiation), which we all know and understand, but further still He took on our charges as well. Jesus was charged with our exact sin: blasphemy. By taking on our sins, God then imputed Christ's righteousness on us. That's the beauty of it all. God took our sins of claiming to be Him and in return we are given His righteousness. We have God's righteousness while God was convicted, persecuted, and executed for the claims of being God. And now, because of this imputation, whenever God looks upon us He sees the righteousness of Christ. Further still, the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Are you picking up on what I'm saying yet? God took the punishment of those who sought to be like Him and in return made them like Him. We were made in His image (Genesis 1:26), we were given His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 3:22, 1 Corinthians 1:30), we were given His very presence within ourselves (John 14:16), and He has made us His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20), His representatives that come with His full authority and speak directly on His behalf. How much more like God can we desire to be? Why do we have this knowledge and even still through our pride, arrogance, ambition, and corruption seek to be our own gods? There is no rational explanation for this! Let us then lay aside the ambition and pick up humility just like Jesus laid aside His position and picked up humility. The God of the universe came down as a lowly man and served His own creation. Matthew 20:25-28 "Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Let us follow in Christ's example. Let us try to be like God rather than godlike. I believe that everything I am trying to convey was perfectly wrapped up in Paul's letter to the church of Philippi, so I will end this with Philippians 2:3-11 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
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