You argue for a temporary and brief forsaking, but there is a counterargument for a kind of permanent abandonment.
How can Jesus, by a "mere" six hours of excruciation followed by physical death, adequately atone for my sins and yours, to stand in for our eternity in hell that we justly deserve? The answer may be, in some tens of billions of extra dimensions that God has complete freedom to create, that Jesus voluntarily is still on that cross for all eternity--indeed, a separate "version" of Him for each one of us.
That Jesus would volunteer to suffer and die for us immediately debunks any thought that God is in any sense anything less than love, as the Bible claims. Yet if the scenario I suggest is true, one instantly understands why all the saints in heaven praise Him continually.
You argue for a temporary and brief forsaking, but there is a counterargument for a kind of permanent abandonment.
How can Jesus, by a "mere" six hours of excruciation followed by physical death, adequately atone for my sins and yours, to stand in for our eternity in hell that we justly deserve? The answer may be, in some tens of billions of extra dimensions that God has complete freedom to create, that Jesus voluntarily is still on that cross for all eternity--indeed, a separate "version" of Him for each one of us."
I've never heard of a permanent abandonment. Where did you hear such a thing? Rather, scripture shows Jesus on the cross for six hours, 9 am to 3 pm. The sun was darkened at noon, and just before 3 pm Jesus cried, 'My God, My God ...'.
There's actually no revelation Jesus was abandoned at all. That is speculation. Rather, in John 17, Jesus says He and His Father are one. I suspect Jesus did not feel God on the cross, just as we don't always feel God, but I think God felt all His pain.
Regarding the sufficiency of His sacrifice, how six hours on the cross (and the scourging--which was almost enough to kill Him) was sufficient for the sins of all mankind, consider that God is infinite. His death in Christ pays for infinite sins. Indeed, I feel God overpaid for the salvation of mankind, even if we grow to Googleplex in number across the universe.
Thank you so much for this beautiful thread! I couldn't help but also follow your conversation. I love to discuss Jesus!
A few Scriptures come to mind. We have no other Jesus than the Jesus of Scripture. Any other Jesus than He who is revealed in the Bible is a god made up by man, on the same level as worshiping unicorns.
As soon as Jesus had taken the wine, He said, "It is finished." And then, bowing His head, He yielded up His spirit.
John 19:30But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,
Hebrews 10:12And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.
Hebrews 10:18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,
1 Peter 3:18But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”…
Acts 7:55-56"But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”
Luke 22:69If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Colossians 3:1The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
Psalm 110:1Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high
Hebrews 1:3
These verses show that Jesus himself said, "It is finished," and other verses back this up by saying his sacrifice for sin was "once for all," and "no sacrifice for sins is left."
Then there are the OODLES of verses that show Jesus at God's right hand, usually seated as on a throne, except when he stood to receive Stephen, the church's first martyr (his story would make a nice paintings thread!).