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Atonement

What was The almighty doing about the cross?. It is really a search for understanding of one of the crucial events of history, perhaps the crucial event. The entire New Testament focuses on the death, burial, and resurrection, events prior to and flowing from it, its theological significance and ethical implications. We will focus on the deep significance with the atonement, as explained from three perspectives: the dynamic, subjective, and objective views.

Dynamic view The dynamic view sees Christ's death and resurrection because the climax of a cosmic conflict with Satan and also the demonic forces of evil. Christ came because the Second Adam (Romans 5:18-19), winning the competition that Adam failed. He also came because the new Israel, faithfully keeping submitting to God instead of to Satan as the first Israel tried (Matthew 2:15; 4:4; etc.). Just after His baptism, the Spirit "drove" (Greek: ekballei) Him into the wilderness so that He might confront Satan (Mark 1:12). His victory there was clearly only one of what must have been many battles, for Luke records that Satan left Him until "an opportune time" (Luke 4:13).

During His ministry Jesus offered His ability to cast out demons being a demonstration that He was stronger than Satan. Although He described Satan as a "strong man," He claimed a chance to "bind" the strong man and despoil his possessions (i.e., those that were demon-possessed). His ability to cast out demons "by the finger of God" He presented as proof of the arrival of God's kingdom on the planet (Luke 12:20-22). Jesus got His disciples mixed up in warfare; their successful preaching, healing, and exorcism mission He afterward called the fall of Satan from heaven (Luke 10:18).

Satan was behind the betrayal of Jesus by Judas (John 13:2, 27), his abandonment from the other apostles (Luke 22:31-32), in addition to his trial and murder (John 8:40-41, 44). Jesus recognized Satan as His principal enemy, as well as before His death, He was so confident of victory which he spoke of it as a fait accompli (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11, 32). The moment before His death Christ Himself uttered the triumphant words, "It is finished" (John 19:30; compare Luke 12:50). The glorious resurrection is proof that His death would be a victory and not a defeat (Revelation 3:21).

In the confrontation with false teaching at Colossae, Paul presents the cross and resurrection as a conquer spiritual enemies. The Colossians were vulnerable to being deceived by a syncretistic mixture of Judaistic legalism, Hellenistic philosophy, and Eastern mysticism. Apparently the heretical teachers are not advocating a rejection of Jesus, but they denied Him the primacy in support of intermediary beings. "Go beyond Jesus Christ to greater realities," they could have taught. Paul replies that there's nothing beyond Jesus Christ, in whom God's fullness dwells. He it really is Who "disarmed the powers and authorities, [making] a public spectacle of these, triumphing over them by the cross" (Colossians 2:15).

Not merely did Christ conquer Satan, demons, principalities, and powers. Younger crowd conquered death (Acts 2:24; Revelation 5:5-6). Paul uses militaristic terms to talk about the resurrection, e.g., "destroyed" and "victory" (1 Corinthians 15:24-26, 54-56).

Because Christ has triumphed as our representative, we share in His triumph (hence the super-conquerors of Romans 8:37). In Ephesians 4:8 Paul applies Psalm 68:19 to Christ's triumph, picturing Christ being a conquering general returning to Rome for a victory parade: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in the train and gave gifts to men." The ensuing passage explains that the gifts He gave would be the offices for building up the church. The captives are bypassed, but Colossians 2:15 seems suitable commentary.

In 2 Corinthians 2:14, Paul states that "God... always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and thru us spreads everywhere the fragrance with the knowledge of him." In this case the apostles (see 1 Corinthians 4:9), and possibly all Christians, are probably among those following along behind--themselves conquered, yet joyously sharing in the victory celebration. Our struggle against Satan and demonic forces continues (Ephesians 6:12). Because He is victorious, we also can be victorious (Revelation 3:21; 1 John 2:14-15; 4:4; 5:4-5).

Subjective view It's true that we are the subjects of His daring rescue (Colossians 1:13-14), but we also participate. This is the subjective nature with the atonement: it transforms us. When we are united with Christ through faith-repentance-baptism, God's Spirit begins the whole process of transforming us from one amount of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18).

The Spirit, Himself the guarantee that beginning will reach its intended end (Ephesians 1:13-14), starts to produce His fruit within our hearts (Galatians 5:22-23) as we cooperate by "walking inside the Spirit" and being "led by the Spirit" (Romans 8:4, 14; Galatians 5:16). The metamorphosis isn't automatic; it takes constant mental concentration as we count ourselves dead to sin and alive to God (Romans 6:11). It also requires continual moral striving, once we refuse to let sin dominate us, yielding the people in our bodies to righteousness instead of to sin (Romans 6:12-13).

It is a battle we fight, yet Paul assures us, "[S]in will have no dominion over you" (Romans 6:14). The struggle results in holiness and the end is eternal life (Romans 6:22). When Christ returns, in the eschaton, the Spirit will have performed His operate in us: "[W]e shall be like Him, for we shall see Him because he is" (1 John 3:2).

Though this can be work that changes us from the inside and in which we ourselves participate, the loan still belongs to God, because it is His work being done in us and through us. He is the one that will bring it to completion on that day (Philippians 1:6). Meanwhile, we image Christ these days. He was our representative inside the cosmic conflict; we are His representatives in the existential struggle against the world, the flesh, and also the Devil.

Objective view Yet Christ's death is much more than what he did for (hyper) us (see Mark 14:24; Luke 22:19-20) and what he is doing in (en) us (see Colossians 1:27). In addition, it involves what He did rather than (anti) us (see Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45)---the objective take a look at the atonement. In fact, many think that the substitutionary nature of the atonement is the central aspect of all.

Several types of the substitutionary atonement originate from Genesis. The word used in 1 John 3:12 to describe Cain's murder of his brother is the word for "slaughter" (Greek: esphaxen), such as the offering of a sacrifice. It has led some to view the earth's first murder, recorded in Genesis 4:8, because the offering of a substitute sacrifice. In essence, Cain may have said, "So, You didn't like my vegetables as an offering? Let's see how You like THIS! (slash)." The murder certainly involved the shedding of his brother's blood, for this cried out from the ground against the perpetrator (Genesis 4:10).

If the angel stops Abraham from stabbing Isaac to death, Abraham finds a ram caught inside a nearby thicket that he can offer instead of (Septuagint: anti) his son (Genesis 22:12-13). The passage assumes that some sacrifice must be offered, and the one is replaced from the other.

abductions - More than a hundred years later, when Joseph's testing of his brothers created a crisis situation involving the enforced servitude of Benjamin, Judah stepped forward and freely offered himself as a substitute for his brother (Genesis 44:18-34, especially not the Septuagint's utilization of anti in v. 33). In this case also, some substitute needed to be provided. There was no possibility of mere escape from the demands from the master.

Yet all three of these are one-for-one substitutions, similar to the "eye-for-eye" provisions of the Law. Christ's sacrifice (one for most) is more like the sin offering in behalf of all people or the sacrifice of the goat on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 4:13-21; 16:15-19). He could be the "atoning sacrifice for our sins, and never only for ours, but also for the sins from the whole world" (1 John 2:2). He could be the "Lamb of God, Who removes the sins of the world" (John 1:29).

One for that world? How can that be just? Its justice is dependent upon the identity of the Sacrifice. A single human deserves infinite punishment due to sins. Adding the punishment of another human adds no more than was there already (for infinity plus infinity equals infinity). The same holds true for "the sins of the [whole] world." The slaughter from the Infinite One for these sins beings one infinity into experience of the other--just payment.

Our sins brought us beneath the curse of the law, but Christ was a curse for us by hanging on the tree (Galatians 3:10-14). Because of Christ's death, God was able to effect what Luther called a "happy exchange": i was the subjects of God's just condemnation, the objects of His righteous wrath, nevertheless the sinless Christ became "sin" for us, in order that we might become God's righteousness by Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). God established Him since the propitiation, the appeasement, so that the all-consuming fire of His wrath might be diverted to Him as opposed to destroying the rest of us humans (Romans 3:25). As Isaiah said, "The LORD has laid on him the iniquity folks all" (Isaiah 53:6).

Must we choose? resurrection - Dynamic, subjective, and objective--must we choose from them? No! By its very nature the atonement is more than any one metaphor or perspective can contain. We should always be answering, "Yes, and much more besides." Like astronomers surveying the universe, the more we study it, the more vast it becomes. Our wherewithal to fully comprehend its dimensions will not nullify what we can understand, nor does it rob us of the amazement we sense at that which you know was accomplished.