Exploring the Atonement
Theology for the People of God • Sermon • Submitted
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The Atonement
The Atonement
Defined:
“the act by which God and man are brought together in personal relationship. The term is derived from Anglo-Saxon words meaning ‘making at one,’ hence ‘at-one-ment.’ It presupposes a separation or alienation that needs to be overcome if human beings are to know God and have fellowship with him.” - Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible
- Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible
“The word atonement, constructed from at and one, means ‘to set at one’ or ‘to reconcile.’ In Christian Theology, atonement denotes the doctrine of the reconciliation of God and man accomplished by the Crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ.” - Evangelical Dictionary of Theology
- Evangelical Dictionary of Theology
A Sample of Scripture pointing to Christ’s work and the Atonement:
A Sample of Scripture pointing to Christ’s work and the Atonement:
Behold, My servant will prosper,
He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.
Just as many were astonished at you, My people,
So His appearance was marred more than any man
And His form more than the sons of men.
Thus He will sprinkle many nations,
Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him;
For what had not been told them they will see,
And what they had not heard they will understand.
Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
But the Lord was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.
Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.
-53.12
Jesus came to give his life as a ransom
As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them,
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death,
and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.”
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him.
Jesus is the Lamb of God
As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them,
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death,
and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.”
Jesus spoke of the temple’s destruction
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
The Son of Man must be lifted up.
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.
“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
“He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
“He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.
“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,
even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
“I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.
“For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.
“No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
Jesus died for all and became sin that we might become the righteousness of God.
For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;
and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
, Jesus became a curse for us.
For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.”
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”—
At the cross, God provided redemption for the adoption
so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
2.1 Need for a sacrifice?
3) Historical Theories on the Atonement[2]:
Ransom Theory –
Ransom Theory –
A commercial transaction took place in which Jesus’ death was the price paid to ransom the human race from its bondage to sin.
&
Advocates: Origen (184-254) and Gregory of Nyssa (335-94).
Christus Victor –
Christus Victor –
The death of Jesus was the ultimate expression of cosmic conflict, in which Christ conquered the forces of sin and Satan forever.
.
Advocate: Gustav Aulén (1879-1977) in Christus Victor
Satisfaction Theory –
Satisfaction Theory –
The death of Jesus on the cross satisfied the wounded honor and majesty of God.
Advocate: Anselm (1033-1109) in Cur Deus Homo?
Moral Influence Theory –
Moral Influence Theory –
Jesus’ death on the cross so reveals God’s love that it acts as inspiration providing a revival of moral fortitude in man.
Advocates: Peter Abelard (1079-1142) and Horace Bushnell (1802-1876)
Example Theory –
Example Theory –
The death of Jesus on the cross was the most compelling example imaginable and draws all men to act as Jesus acted in response to the open forgiveness of God.
Advocate: Socinus (1525-1562)
Governmental Theory –
Governmental Theory –
The death of Jesus on the cross was an offering to God necessary not to forgive sin but to restore the moral order of the universe.
Advocate: Hugo Grotius (1583-1645)
Penal Substitutionary Atonement –
Penal Substitutionary Atonement –
The death of Jesus was a sacrificial death offered as a propitiation to God in His wrath against sin and as our substitute.
.
John Calvin (1509-1564)
Basic Themes of the Atonement-
Basic Themes of the Atonement-
Sacrifice
Propitiation
Substitution
Reconciliation
Motives for the Atonement
Motives for the Atonement
[1] Provided by a slide show from Dr. Adam Harwood, Systematic Theology II
[2] Ibid.