BASIC CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY - By Ed Strickland

 

 BASIC CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY
                                         Part 8: The Message of the Cross
        
    
     Last time in our series on the basics of Christianity we began looking at  the center of our faith, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We discussed who Jesus is, that he is Messiah, Son of God, God the Son, the God-Man, full Deity and full humanity in one person. But the gospel is also about the redemptive work that Jesus accomplished through his death and resurrection in order to save those who believe in him. This is such a vital part of the gospel that Paul simply called the good news “the message of the cross”(1 Cor. 1). So let’s look at what the Bible teaches about the meaning of the death of Christ by briefly examining three terms used to describe what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross, sacrifice, satisfaction and substitution.
 
     The concept of sacrifice is all the way through the Old Testament as in the Levitical system that God gave ancient Israel and  the Suffering Servant theme of Isaiah 53.  The sacrifices offered by God’s people pointed to the ultimate sacrifice that would be made by Jesus. He came to fulfill the law and was the perfect willing sacrifice, fulfilling the role of the priest, the offerer, and the offering.  When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he proclaimed, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” ( John 1:29 NIV) Christ was the perfect sacrificial lamb for sin.     
 
     The death of Christ also was a complete satisfaction to God. Since we all have sinned, sin incurs God’s wrath as punishment. Since Jesus bore God’s wrath against sin, God’s justice was satisfied. This is brought out in Romans 3:25, “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” (NIV) The phrase “sacrifice of atonement” is translated propitiation in the KJV, and means to appease or satisfy. Christ’s death appeased, turned away, God’s anger at sin. Both sin and wrath were resolved and taken away from us through the atonement. Unlike the pagan religions which taught that man could do something to appease their gods, the Bible teaches that only God himself can provide the remedy for our sin. This leads to the last term.
 
      The cross also involves the idea of substitution. Christ died for us, in our place. He took on himself the penalty for sin which we deserved. While hanging on Calvary, Jesus went through 1) Physical pain and death, 2) The pain of bearing sin, 3) Abandonment, and 4) Bearing the wrath of God. All this he did as our substitute. This is expressed by Paul in 2 Cor 8:9, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” and 5:21: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (NIV) 
 
     Bible teacher John MacArthur, commenting on these passages says: “On the cross, Jesus was guilty of nothing. But God treated Jesus personally as if  he had committed every sin ever committed by every person who would ever believe. Jesus wasn't a sinner, but God treated him on the cross as if he was. We're not righteous, but God treats us as if we were. On the cross, God treated Jesus as if he lived your life, so that he could treat you as if you had lived his. This is imputation and substitution.”
 
     The cross of Christ stands as history’s greatest monument to God’s infinite love and justice, through which a sinful humanity is reconciled to God and given eternal life by his grace. Jesus willingly offered himself as the sinless lamb of God to fully pay the debt of sin and satisfy God’s perfect law, thus being our substitute so that we can be saved. The other great event of redemptive history followed three days later, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That will be the topic of the next article..

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