In an
article by Stephen J. Wellum, Professor of
Christian Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, he states:
“In his classic
book, The
Cross of Christ (IVP, 2006), John Stott famously wrote: ‘At
the root of every caricature of the cross there lies a distorted Christology’
(159). I couldn’t agree more, yet it’s crucial to remember that a true
Christology is also dependent on a correct theology proper. Thus, it’s more
precise to say: ‘At the root of every caricature of the cross is a distorted
doctrine of God.’ If we get God wrong, we will never grasp the problem of sin,
and its glorious solution in Christ and his cross. In fact, all common
objections to penal substitutionary atonement (PSA) are ultimately rooted in
sub-biblical ideas regarding the triune God of Scripture.”
See
here:
https://www.9marks.org/article/answering-4-common-objections-to-psa/
I think that sums it
up pretty well. In Part 1 of this
series, I shared some thoughts on the Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA)
view and said that it was the most graphic demonstration of God’s love shown to
mankind. And I do believe that a wrong
view of the atonement will give one a distorted view of the nature and
character of God.
I also mentioned that
Catholics don’t agree with PSA as it seems to be a problem for them. They, as well as some Protestants, feel that
the idea of Jesus being punished for man’s sin is barbaric. God’s wrath could not possibly fall on His
Son. Jesus is, and always was, innocent
and (according to them) punishing Him
would be wrong. But I think that a close
look at the typology of the Old Testament animal sacrifices would clearly
reveal the concept of PSA to be valid.
Origin of Animal Sacrifice
Just to
clear the air, some compare Old Testament animal sacrifices with heathen
rituals, and claim that the Old Testament based its sacrifices on these heathen
ceremonies. But the heathen were not the
first to use them. The truth is that God
was the first One to use animal sacrifices – and it started with Adam and
Eve. Once they sinned, they realized
that they were naked, so they used fig leaves to cover themselves. But God took innocent animals, killed them,
and used their skins to cover Adam and Eve, making them greatly aware of the
seriousness of their disobedience (Genesis 3:21). The Lord made the same point when dealing
with Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:3-5) and with the Jews in the wilderness (Leviticus
chapters 3-5) when they wanted forgiveness and offered up sacrifices. Every Jew in the Old Testament understood
what was going on in those sacrifices. They
saw that an innocent animal loses its life in order to pay for the sins of the
one who brings the sacrifice. It was the
animal who suffered the wrath and
punishment intended for the sinner.
You see, in
God’s scheme of things, blood MUST be shed for the forgiveness of sins (Hebrews
9:22), and He used innocent animals to portray this fact. But this practice of animal sacrifice was
temporary, since it was fulfilled, once
for all, by Jesus on the cross (Hebrews 9:12; 10:11-14).
John the
baptist made an incredible statement about Jesus:
“The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold,
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 - NASV)
This
monumental statement by John the baptist told everyone what was going to
happen. John understood the fact that
all Old Testament animal sacrifices pointed to Jesus. And remember, it was mandatory that those
sacrifices should be without blemish (Leviticus 1:3; Deuteronomy 15:21),
just as Jesus was (Hebrews 9:14). The
typology of the Old Testament foreshadows the perfect sacrifice of Jesus in the
New Testament. There’s no escaping the Old Testament typology
of atonement through animal sacrifices, where the innocent was punished for the
guilty.
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21- NASV)
This is very strong language, but it
satisfies the symbolism of the Old Testament sacrifices.
I have said all this to demonstrate to
Catholics and others the fact that Jesus’ atonement was indeed God’s wrath
poured upon Him, showing PSA to be true.
The Suffering Servant
What did Jesus do for
us at the cross? According to Psalm
53:
· He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows (Psalm 53:4)
He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities (v. 5)
· The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him (v. 5)
· We were healed [spiritually]
by His stripes (v. 5)
· The iniquity of mankind was
laid upon Him (v. 6)
· He was stricken [punished] for the
transgression [wrongdoing] of God’s people (v. 8)
· He bore our iniquities/wrongdoings (v. 11)
· He bore the sin of many (v. 12)
· He made intercession for us [the
transgressors] (v. 12)
Notice the language here in Psalm
53: The Psalmist is saying over and over that He (Jesus Christ) carried
a weight, a burden. He bore griefs; He
carried sorrows; man’s punishment was
upon Him; iniquity was laid upon Him; and He was bearing our burden of sin. Wrath is attached to sin. In the Old Testament, God expressed His wrath
by placing the man’s sins upon the innocent animal. In the same way, in the New Testament, God
has expressed His wrath by placing mankind’s sins upon His innocent Son. Again, there is no escaping the fact that
Jesus endured God’s wrath/punishment.
Imputation
As I stated in Part 1, His taking our
sin and us receiving His righteousness is all possible because of the doctrine
of imputation. J.V. Fesko, Professor
of Systematic and Historical Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary,
Jackson, Mississippi, defines
imputation in this way:
“The
doctrine of imputation teaches that while Adam’s sin is imputed to us because
he is our natural federal head, God imputes or accredits the righteousness and
suffering of Jesus to those who are in him and, conversely, imputes the sins of
those redeemed to Christ.”
See
here:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-doctrine-of-imputation/
The apostle
Paul speaks of imputation in Romans 4:6, 8, 11, and
22-24.
The biblical word “imputed” is a legal term and indicates an undeserved status - Jesus’ righteousness was imputed to us (though we are undeserving) and our sins were imputed to Him (though He is undeserving of it, i.e., sinless). His righteousness was legally “accounted” or “credited” to us. Again, this is only possible due to imputation. Logically speaking, if Jesus’ righteousness was imputed to us, then our sins (and the punishment and suffering attached to them) had to be imputed to Him. Just as righteousness is imputed to man, sin and separation were imputed to Jesus.
What the Atonement Was Not
Some will
complain that the PSA view depicts a “human sacrifice,” and that the Bible
forbids that (2 Kings 16:2-3). But
the atonement of Jesus Christ was not such a “human sacrifice” for at least two
reasons.
First, Jesus
is not just human, but He is also divine.
Second, His
punishment on the cross was voluntarily accepted
by Him.
Human
sacrifices were repeated over and over and dedicated to demonic idols (e.g.,
Baal, Molech, etc.) with the intention to honor and appease false gods. Jesus’ atonement was a one-time offer to the
one true God to redeem mankind. Big
difference.
Something
else – Jesus did not suffer in
Hell. He went to Hell to preach to the
“spirits in prison” (1 Peter 3:18-20). But
His suffering – and His victory – was on
the cross. That’s where atonement
happened and that’s where forgiveness occurs, not in Hell.
How Bad Was It?
What was the
extent of His suffering? Can any human
know for sure? Remember, Jesus wasn’t
the only one who died on a cross. Over
the centuries, there were many who had been crucified, some suffering several days on a cross before
dying. Jesus spent only six hours on His
cross, but I refuse to believe that any of the others suffered more than He did. Something more than just physical pain was
going on at Jesus’ crucifixion. There
was something supernatural happening there, something in the spiritual
realm.
Maybe He
suffered something equivalent to
eternity in Hell. I don’t know. Perhaps, since He is an eternal being, an
eternity was somehow “compressed” into those few hours of suffering in that
deep darkness (Luke 23:44-45). We
don’t know, but at least some of
what happened on the cross is certainly a mystery,
yet, we dare not
minimize His suffering there. Whatever
happened, He is God and He was able to endure such suffering.
The Ugliness of Sin
Dr. Michael
Brown (a famous Jewish biblical scholar, radio host and author who understands
well the Old Testament sacrificial system) said this about the atonement:
“Each human being owed a debt that none of us could
pay back. But the Son of God, with His infinite ‘credit,’ said, ‘I will pay for
all of it.’ So, at one and the same time, God can be perfectly just and
perfectly merciful.
And He shows us how deeply He loves us by showing us
how ugly sin is. If He simply said, ‘I look the other way; I forgive you,’ it
doesn’t show us the ugliness of sin. It doesn’t show us God’s justice. It
doesn’t give us a picture of the exchange that took place through the cross. We
now receive what Jesus deserves, and He took what we deserve. This produces a gratefulness
far beyond what simply saying ‘I forgive you’ could ever produce, and it produces
a hatred of sin in our lives because we’ve seen the ugly consequences of it.
So, without that aspect of the cross, we do not understand the love of God.”
See here:
https://decisionmagazine.com/gods-wrath-atonement/
Conclusion
Jesus’ atonement on the cross is the
focal point of all human history and the determining factor of every human’s
eternal destiny. You must accept it or
deny it, but no one can afford to ignore it – nor should anyone downplay
it. Let’s be careful how we present His
atonement. The magnitude of that event
cannot be fully grasped by mere humans.
The extent to which God went to
purchase vile and ungrateful mankind is nothing less than shocking, yet truly
priceless. Again, we need to be careful
never to diminish the amount of suffering He endured on that cross. In that event, God expressed both the
ultimate punishment for sin, and His unfathomable love for man.
Human fathers and mothers no doubt
love their offspring, and many, if not most, would venture to die for their
precious children. But no human could
ever love someone as much as Jesus has loved us. The cross proves this fact.
One might ask, “Who was it that put
Jesus on that bloody cross? Was it the
Roman soldiers? Was it the Jewish
leaders?” The truth is that it was all of us, including you and me. You might say, “But my sins are little
compared to someone like Adolf Hitler’s!
Jesus may have had to suffer a lot for him, but He didn’t have to suffer
that much for me!”
No, I’m sorry, my friend. James 2:10 says:
“For whosoever shall
keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
If you think your sin
is no big deal, then why did God go to such extremes? Why the bloody cross and the horrendous
suffering?
You see, even our
“tiniest” sins are excessively ugly. God
is an infinitely holy God and that
means that breaking the tiniest part of His Law makes you deserving of the same
Hell that Adolf Hitler deserves! The
only difference between you and him is the degree of punishment, once
there. But it will be no comfort to look across
the vast, smoke-filled landscape of burning sulfur and see Adolf Hitler
suffering more than you are. That won’t
remove you from there.
According to 2
Peter 3:9:
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count
slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish
but that all should come to repentance.”
No one on earth has to go to Hell. We all have a choice. Simply put your trust in that shocking
display of love at Calvary. Trust Him
and His suffering on the cross (and that alone) to be forgiven, to get into
Heaven, and to escape the wrath of God.
