BibiMccaleb471

Abductions

What was The almighty doing about the cross?. It constitutes a search for understanding of one of the crucial events of history, perhaps the crucial event. The entire New Testament focuses on the death, burial, and resurrection, events prior to and flowing from it, its theological significance and ethical implications. We are going to focus on the deep significance of 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 and the demonic forces of evil. Christ came as the Second Adam (Romans 5:18-19), winning the contest 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.). Soon after His baptism, the Spirit "drove" (Greek: ekballei) Him into the wilderness so that He might confront Satan (Mark 1:12). His victory there is only one of what must have been many battles, for Luke records that Satan left Him until "an opportune time" (Luke 4:13).

Throughout his ministry Jesus offered His power to cast out demons as a demonstration that He was stronger than Satan. Although He described Satan being a "strong man," He claimed a chance to "bind" the strong man and despoil his possessions (i.e., those 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 mixed up in 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 from 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, and also before His death, He was confident of victory that He spoke of it as a fait accompli (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11, 32). The moment 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 is the cross and resurrection as a conquer spiritual enemies. The Colossians were vulnerable to being deceived by a syncretistic blend of Judaistic legalism, Hellenistic philosophy, and Eastern mysticism. Apparently the heretical teachers weren't advocating a rejection of Jesus, nevertheless they denied Him the primacy in support of intermediary beings. "Go beyond Jesus Christ to greater realities," they might have taught. Paul replies that there are nothing beyond Jesus Christ, in whom God's fullness dwells. He it really is Who "disarmed the powers and authorities, [making] a public spectacle of which, triumphing over them by the cross" (Colossians 2:15).

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

Because Christ has triumphed as our representative, we share with 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 as a conquering general returning to Rome to get a victory parade: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." The ensuing passage explains the gifts He gave would be the offices for building up the church. The captives are bypassed, but Colossians 2:15 seems a fitting 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 with the knowledge of him." In this case the apostles (see 1 Corinthians 4:9), and maybe all Christians, are probably those types of following along behind--themselves conquered, but joyously sharing in the victory celebration. Our struggle against Satan and demonic forces continues (Ephesians 6:12). Because He is victorious, we also can be victorious (Revelation 3:21; 1 John 2:14-15; 4:4; 5:4-5).

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

The Spirit, Himself the guarantee that beginning will reach its intended end (Ephesians 1:13-14), starts to produce His fruit within our hearts (Galatians 5:22-23) as we cooperate by "walking within the Spirit" and being "led by the Spirit" (Romans 8:4, 14; Galatians 5:16). The metamorphosis isn't automatic; it takes constant mental concentration as we count ourselves dead to sin and alive to God (Romans 6:11). In addition, it requires continual moral striving, as we refuse to let sin dominate us, yielding the members of 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 results in holiness and the end is eternal life (Romans 6:22). When Christ returns, on the eschaton, the Spirit will have performed His are employed 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 loan still belongs to God, because it's His work being done in us and thru us. He is the one that will bring it to completion tomorrow (Philippians 1:6). Meanwhile, we image Christ nowadays. He was our representative in 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 does in (en) us (see Colossians 1:27). In addition, it involves what He did instead of (anti) us (see Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45)---the objective look at 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 originate from Genesis. The word used in 1 John 3:12 to describe Cain's murder of his brother will be the word for "slaughter" (Greek: esphaxen), as in the offering of a sacrifice. It has led some to view the world's first murder, recorded in Genesis 4:8, as the offering of a substitute sacrifice. In effect, Cain may have said, "So, You didn't like my vegetables being an offering? Let's see how You like THIS! (slash)." The murder certainly involved the shedding of his brother's blood, because of it cried out from the ground against the perpetrator (Genesis 4:10).

If 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 should be offered, and the one is replaced through the other.

abductions - More than a hundred years later, when Joseph's testing of his brothers made a crisis situation involving the enforced servitude of Benjamin, Judah stepped forward and freely offered himself as an alternative for his brother (Genesis 44:18-34, especially not the Septuagint's usage of anti in v. 33). In this instance also, some substitute must be provided. There was no potential for mere escape from the demands of the master.

Yet all three of these are one-for-one substitutions, just as 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 with the goat on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 4:13-21; 16:15-19). He is the "atoning sacrifice for our sins, rather than only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). He is the "Lamb of God, Who takes away 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. Just one human deserves infinite punishment due to sins. Adding the punishment of one other human adds no more than was there already (for infinity plus infinity equals infinity). The same is true for "the sins of the [whole] world." The slaughter from the Infinite One for these sins beings one infinity into contact with the other--just payment.

Our sins brought us underneath the curse of the law, but Christ became a curse for us by hanging around the tree (Galatians 3:10-14). Because of Christ's death, God could effect what Luther called a "happy exchange": we had been the subjects of God's just condemnation, the objects of His righteous wrath, however the sinless Christ became "sin" for us, so 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 may be diverted to Him as opposed to destroying the rest of us humans (Romans 3:25). As Isaiah said, "The LORD has laid on him the iniquity people all" (Isaiah 53:6).

Must we choose? resurrection - Dynamic, subjective, and objective--must we select from them? No! By its very nature the atonement is higher than any one metaphor or perspective can contain. We must always be answering, "Yes, and much more besides." Like astronomers surveying the universe, the harder we study it, the greater vast it becomes. Our inability to fully comprehend its dimensions will not nullify what we can understand, nor can it rob us of the amazement we sense at what we should know was accomplished.