Importance of the Death of Jesus, pt. 1
To understand the answer to this question is to understand one of the major differences between Christianity and all other religions. There are two theological terms concerning the death of Christ that need to be understood: propitiation and imputation. These two terms are vital in understanding what the death of Jesus accomplished. This week we’ll look at propitiation and next week, imputation.
The Scripture teaches that God is holy. This means there is no evil or sinfulness in God. His holiness demands that all sin be punished. Romans 3:23 reminds us that we have all sinned, therefore all of us deserve God’s wrath (God’s wrath is mentioned around 600 times in the Bible). God would not be just if He did not punish sin, much like a judge would not be just if He let a convicted criminal go free. Understanding God’s holiness and our sinfulness is the key to understanding propitiation.
In Scripture, propitiation means to appease God’s wrath by an offering. The Hebrew word for propitiation is kippur, which means atonement. The Old Testament sacrificial system was build upon the concept of atonement and foreshadowed the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) was a yearly sacrifice to cover the sins of Israel. The Greek word for propitiation can also be translated ‘mercy seat’ (Heb. 9:5). The mercy seat was on the Ark of the Covenant where the atonement for sin (on the Day of Atonement) was secured.
The New Testament teaches us that Christ’s death was an atoning sacrifice (John 1:29, Romans 5:6-11, etc.). This sacrifice turned aside God’s wrath that should have been directed toward us because of our sin. The death of Jesus was a substitutionary atonement, which means that Jesus took our punishment upon himself; He died in our place. 1 John 4:10 says, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” It’s also important to understand that the forgiveness of sin is not automatically granted to everyone; Christ and his atoning sacrifice must be believed by faith (Eph. 2:1-10). Most people can recite John 3:16, but verse 18 is also important: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
The atoning sacrifice of Christ has recently come under attack, not by theological liberals (that’s expected), but by self-proclaimed evangelicals. Steve Chalke and Alan Mann, in their book, “The Lost Message of Jesus,” suggest that Christ’s death was merely a display of God’s love, rejecting the idea of substitutionary atonement and labeling it “divine child abuse.” When we understand God as Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), then we will recognize what God has done: He has punished Himself on our behalf. The cross can only be seen as a display of God’s love when viewed as substitutionary atonement. Surely no greater love has ever been demonstrated (Romans 5:8).
The Scripture teaches that God is holy. This means there is no evil or sinfulness in God. His holiness demands that all sin be punished. Romans 3:23 reminds us that we have all sinned, therefore all of us deserve God’s wrath (God’s wrath is mentioned around 600 times in the Bible). God would not be just if He did not punish sin, much like a judge would not be just if He let a convicted criminal go free. Understanding God’s holiness and our sinfulness is the key to understanding propitiation.
In Scripture, propitiation means to appease God’s wrath by an offering. The Hebrew word for propitiation is kippur, which means atonement. The Old Testament sacrificial system was build upon the concept of atonement and foreshadowed the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) was a yearly sacrifice to cover the sins of Israel. The Greek word for propitiation can also be translated ‘mercy seat’ (Heb. 9:5). The mercy seat was on the Ark of the Covenant where the atonement for sin (on the Day of Atonement) was secured.
The New Testament teaches us that Christ’s death was an atoning sacrifice (John 1:29, Romans 5:6-11, etc.). This sacrifice turned aside God’s wrath that should have been directed toward us because of our sin. The death of Jesus was a substitutionary atonement, which means that Jesus took our punishment upon himself; He died in our place. 1 John 4:10 says, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” It’s also important to understand that the forgiveness of sin is not automatically granted to everyone; Christ and his atoning sacrifice must be believed by faith (Eph. 2:1-10). Most people can recite John 3:16, but verse 18 is also important: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
The atoning sacrifice of Christ has recently come under attack, not by theological liberals (that’s expected), but by self-proclaimed evangelicals. Steve Chalke and Alan Mann, in their book, “The Lost Message of Jesus,” suggest that Christ’s death was merely a display of God’s love, rejecting the idea of substitutionary atonement and labeling it “divine child abuse.” When we understand God as Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), then we will recognize what God has done: He has punished Himself on our behalf. The cross can only be seen as a display of God’s love when viewed as substitutionary atonement. Surely no greater love has ever been demonstrated (Romans 5:8).
Labels: death of Jesus
posted on Thursday, October 25, 2007 |
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