Many proponents of views similar to mine, Christus Victor, or moral influence theory will accompany their view with a disdain for the idea that the cross was a demonstration of the wrath of God towards sin. I believe this is a significant error. While the understanding of the transaction of penal substitution is incorrect, it remains true that what Christ endured was purposefully intended to display the severity of sin and God’s hatred of it. This is a needed component of the atonement, and the reason why it would not have been satisfactory for Jesus to have simply died of old age or in secrecy. No, Jesus did not simply happen to die by crucifixion, but He willfully went to the cross as the spotless “Lamb of God.”
The Perfect Sacrifice
“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) This introduction from John the Baptist, the prophet who prepared the Jews to receive their Messiah, was a declaration of the significance of Jesus Christ as a sacrificial atonement for sin. The Jewish people had been living under a system of animal sacrifices to God as a covering for their sins. John’s announcement foretold that Jesus would not only be a sacrifice for sins, but He would be THE sacrifice to end all sacrifices.
Once again, the book of Hebrews helps us to understand the sacrificial aspect of the atonement, as it focuses on Jesus’ role as our High Priest. “Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.” (Hebrews 7:23-28) We see that, as our eternal High Priest, Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. He is the only sacrifice that is sufficient to cover any and all sins for all time. There is no need to offer any other.
This point is clarified and reiterated in 9:25-28: “not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”
Common Errors
Because Christ lives eternally, His sacrifice on our behalf is sufficient to save any sinner. But note that His sacrifice is not itself to be equated with salvation. This is a common error among Christians. The atonement makes salvation available to anyone, but it is only applied to “those who eagerly wait for Him.” Remember the analogy of the serpent on the pole. It was only effective to heal those who fixed their gaze upon it. So we can say that the atonement of Christ is “sufficient for all, but efficient for the believer.” People are often confused by the concept of the blood atonement, thinking that Christ shed x number of drops of blood to cover y number of people. This is not the case. Neither the amount of blood shed nor the duration of Christ’s suffering are the issue. What is important is that He offered Himself as a blood sacrifice on our behalf. Because He is the spotless (sinless) Lamb of God who has been perfected forever, there is no need of any further sacrifice.
The Purpose of Blood Sacrifices
But why were blood sacrifices needed? As we discussed last time, the punishment for sin is death, so it doesn’t make sense to say that the Old Testament blood sacrifices of animals were a punishment for the one who sinned. Hebrews 9:13-14 offers an explanation: “For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
There is a connection between the blood of the innocent and the purifying and cleansing of the guilty sinner. The conscience is provoked to forsake sin and serve God. How does this work? The blood illustrates the severity of our sin by shattering the illusion that it only affects ourselves. When we choose to sin, we inevitably bring harm to others. Blood sacrifices illustrate how our sin contributes in bringing suffering and death into the world, which brings conviction that leads to repentance. We may be ok with taking the consequences of sin upon ourselves, but when we see the collateral damage, we are made to face its ugliness. At the cross we see how the blood of God Himself is shed and His life is taken because our sin’s effects are felt even at the source of all creation.
Counterfeit Blood Sacrifices
If anyone doubts this, consider the number one objection to the blood atonement of Christ: “It’s unjust for an innocent man to die for someone else’s sins.” We all know this, but the Christian recognizes that his or her sins do not exist in a vacuum. God has given us free agency, but our actions profoundly impact the world around us. Our sins stain the world.
Those who reject the atonement of Christ fail to see the hypocrisy of their own beliefs. Nothing makes this clearer than the abortion of over 60 million children in America. If ever there was a case of innocent life being taken as a covering for sin, it is this. In the name of autonomy and human progress, we have sacrificed our children on an altar to ourselves. And this is the inevitable result of any false system of belief: the innocent will die for the sins of the guilty. Human history is a testament to this fact as hundreds of millions have died for the sake of empires and ideologies that war against the will of the one true God.
Human Sacrifices Rejected
Some may object: “But what about God commanding Abraham to sacrifice Isaac?” (Genesis 22:1-18) Many see this as evidence that the God of Scripture is cruel, bloodthirsty, and unworthy of worship. Yet the whole point of the story was to show quite the opposite. Unlike the false gods of pagan cultures throughout the Old Testament and the entirety of human history, the true God does not require the taking of innocent human life to appease Him. He provided a substitute to Abraham. At the cross He volunteered Himself.
Self-Sacrificial Love
This brings us back to the very identity of God. He is love, and that love is self-sacrificial. As Jesus said to His disciples, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13) Where the world says “let nothing stand in the way of your happiness,” Christ offers His own life for our benefit. To love as He loved is to nail our own lives to the cross and submit to His will. “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.’” (Matthew 16:24-25) Real love always comes at a cost to the one who gives. Jesus exemplified this at the cross, and He calls us to model that love to others.
Through the Lens of Healing
It can then be said that the death of Christ serves as a moral example which can be understood through the lens of sacrifice. Yet that sacrifice is best seen through the lens of healing. Often cited in support of penal substitution is the prophecy of Isaiah 53, but there we see further support for healing as the principle that governs the atonement: “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) Yes, Jesus suffered by the will of the Father. Yet that will was His own, as He is one with the Father. He went willingly, “as a lamb to the slaughter,” (53:7) with the intention of restoring us to His will. “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” (John 12:32) This is the healing of the human condition.
Looking Forward
But one glaring question remains: How can the death of Christ effectually save the human race? That will be the subject of the next installment, as we discuss “Resurrection.”
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