مستخدم:LowtherSteward149

Atonement

What was The almighty doing around the cross?. It is really a search for understanding of one of the crucial events of human history, perhaps the crucial event. The whole New Testament focuses on the death, burial, and resurrection, events before and flowing from it, its theological significance and ethical implications. We'll 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 as the climax of a cosmic conflict with Satan as well as the demonic forces of evil. Christ came because the Second Adam (Romans 5:18-19), winning the competition that Adam failed. He also came since the new Israel, faithfully keeping submitting to God instead of to Satan as the first Israel tried (Matthew 2:15; 4:4; etc.). Immediately after His baptism, the Spirit "drove" (Greek: ekballei) Him in to 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 power to cast out demons like a demonstration that He was stronger than Satan. Although He described Satan like a "strong man," He claimed the ability to "bind" the strong man and despoil his possessions (i.e., people who 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 in the world (Luke 12:20-22). Jesus got His disciples active in the warfare; their successful preaching, healing, and exorcism mission He afterward referred to as the fall of Satan from heaven (Luke 10:18).

Satan was behind the betrayal of Jesus by Judas (John 13:2, 27), his abandonment through 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 am confident of victory which he spoke of it as a fait accompli (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11, 32). The minute 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 was obviously a victory and not a defeat (Revelation 3:21).

In his confrontation with false teaching at Colossae, Paul presents the cross and resurrection as a triumph over spiritual enemies. The Colossians were at risk of 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, however they denied Him the primacy in favor of intermediary beings. "Go beyond Jesus to greater realities," they may have taught. Paul replies that there's nothing beyond Jesus Christ, in whom God's fullness dwells. He it's Who "disarmed the powers and authorities, [making] a public spectacle of these, triumphing over them by the cross" (Colossians 2:15).

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

Because Christ has triumphed as our representative, we be part of 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 like 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 how 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 through us spreads everywhere the fragrance from the knowledge of him." In this case the apostles (see 1 Corinthians 4:9), and maybe all Christians, are probably the type of following along behind--themselves conquered, and yet joyously sharing in the victory celebration. Our struggle against Satan and demonic forces continues (Ephesians 6:12). As they is victorious, we also can be victorious (Revelation 3:21; 1 John 2:14-15; 4:4; 5:4-5).

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

The Spirit, Himself the guarantee that this beginning will reach its intended end (Ephesians 1:13-14), begins to produce His fruit in our hearts (Galatians 5:22-23) as we cooperate by "walking in the Spirit" and being "led by the Spirit" (Romans 8:4, 14; Galatians 5:16). The metamorphosis is not 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).

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

Though this really is work that changes us from within and in which we ourselves participate, the credit still belongs to God, because it's His work being done in us and through us. He is the one that brings 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 a lot 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). It also involves what He did rather than (anti) us (see Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45)---the objective view of the atonement. In fact, many think that the substitutionary nature of the atonement is an essential aspect of all.

Several types of the substitutionary atonement result from Genesis. The word used in 1 John 3:12 to explain Cain's murder of his brother may be the word for "slaughter" (Greek: esphaxen), as in 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 being an offering? Let's see how You similar to 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).

Once the angel stops Abraham from stabbing Isaac to death, Abraham finds a ram caught in a nearby thicket that he can offer in place of (Septuagint: anti) his son (Genesis 22:12-13). The passage assumes that some sacrifice must be offered, and the one is replaced by 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 instead for his brother (Genesis 44:18-34, especially not the Septuagint's use of anti in v. 33). In this case also, some substitute must be provided. There was no possibility of mere escape from the demands with the master.

Yet all three of these are one-for-one substitutions, just like the "eye-for-eye" provisions of the Law. Christ's sacrifice (one for many) is more like the sin offering in behalf of all the people or the sacrifice from the goat on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 4:13-21; 16:15-19). He is 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 is the "Lamb of God, Who eliminates the sins of the world" (John 1:29).

One for your world? How can that be just? Its justice is dependent upon the identity of the Sacrifice. An individual 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). This is also true for "the sins of the [whole] world." The slaughter from the Infinite One for these sins beings one infinity into connection with the other--just payment.

Our sins brought us underneath the curse of the law, but Christ was a curse for us by hanging about the tree (Galatians 3:10-14). Because of Christ's death, God was able to effect what Luther called a "happy exchange": we were the subjects of God's just condemnation, the objects of His righteous wrath, but 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 because the propitiation, the appeasement, so that the all-consuming fire of His wrath could be diverted to Him rather than destroying the rest of us humans (Romans 3:25). As Isaiah said, "The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us 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 higher than any one metaphor or perspective can contain. We should always be answering, "Yes, and much more besides." Like astronomers surveying the universe, the greater we study it, the harder vast it becomes. Our lack of ability to fully comprehend its dimensions doesn't nullify what we can understand, nor does it rob us of the amazement we sense at what we should know was accomplished.