The death of Jesus is one of the events that have continued to have relevance through centuries. More than two thousand years later, the impact of the death of Christ at the cross continues to be felt globally (Schmidt, 2019). After the ascension of Jesus Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit, the church was birthed, and it grew tremendously. The people who did not believe initially later joined them after seeing the signs and wonders that the Holy Spirit empowered the church of Christ performed. People who were persecuting the church initially like Saul, who was later transformed to Paul, joined the church. Paul wrote more than half of the new testament and became a very vocal defender of Jesus Christ as an apostle (Schmidt, 2019).
The church has continued to grow as a community of believers who continue to follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ on earth. These are but consequences of His death on the cross, however. In essence, the Death of Christ on the cross is a demonstration of His and God’s love, and removal of the stain on God’s honor put there by man’s sin. Similarly, these explanations do not shed light on the significance of His death fully. Therefore, the following are deeper insights gained from the death of Christ and meaning in today’s context.
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Substitutionary Atonement
The nature of Christ’s suffering and death is vicarious in nature, in that He suffered in our stead. Christ was born and lived without sin, and He subsequently did not die for His sins. Instead, He died in our place. Isaiah 53:10 points this out, “When thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin.” His substitutionary atonement for our sins, therefore, becomes the first meaning derived from His death in today’s context.
There are numerous objections to this interpretation of His death. For instance, Dever & Lawrence (2010) discuss the objection that God’s decision to punish His Son for the sins of others is immoral. However, such objection is based on the assumption that God and Christ are different entities; in the same manner, two men are different. The humanization of the divine forgets the Holy Trinity; God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, the objection forgets that God did not force His Son to die for the sins of others. Instead, Christ’s death was voluntary. The moral objection, therefore, fails as on moral grounds if the judge chose to pay the penalty.
Another variation of the objection holds that God cannot collect the debt if a substitute pays for it. However, the error with this objection is that the judge is the one paying for the debt, and forgiveness is optional. Additionally, the judge is free to set the conditions. Therefore, there is doubt about Christ’s substitutionary atonement.
Redemption by Blood
In contemporary society, the law, as set by the government, applies to all people. No one is above it. Additionally, punishment for all violations is done in proportionality such that the punishment fits the crime. The same applies to God’s laws. None of His children are exempted, and all sins will be punished according to a predetermined standard. Since we are all born sinners, there is no escape for the punishment due. On the other hand, as much as God is merciful, He cannot ignore or forgive the sins randomly for His law are an extension of His Person. Breaking them is equivalent to offending Him, and compensation is due before forgiveness.
The Person of God, however, has two opposing and eternal sides (Terry, 2013; Christian, 2020). On the one hand, it is His desire to love all His children and let them go free. On the other hand, God’s justice demands that all violations of His law must be punished in a manner that fits the crime. Through substitutionary atonement, God satisfied both desires when His Son died as punishment for all the sins and allowed man to be free of sin and re-enter His kingdom.
The symbol for this transaction was the blood of Christ that was shed on the cross. Deliverance, in the Bible, has always been through blood, from the days of Abel to Abraham, Moses and the Israelites in Egypt, and Jesus Christ on the cross. In the same manner that Christ was without sin, other sacrificial lambs required to be without blemish as a symbol of their purity. Besides, the lexical meaning of redemption means buying back or ransoming something. Therefore, the death of Christ in today’s context signifies the remission of the sins of mankind redeemed by His blood.
Propitiation
Propitiation, according to Darby (n.d.), means using an offering to turn away wrath. Since the days of Adam and Eve, the Justice of God had been offended. It is also not in God’s nature to ignore any sin or forgive it without punishment, payment through redemption. The sacrifice by Christ was the payment for God’s forgiveness. This, therefore, makes His act propitiation. According to 1 John 2:2; “He is the propitiation for our sin, and not for our’s only but also for the sins of the whole world.” In the same way that God is holy, so is man sinful. Since God cannot stand sin, a sacrifice is needed to satisfy God’s justice. This, therefore, necessitates propitiation through Christ’s death.
Satisfaction for the Demands of the Law
Ever since Adam sinned and broke God’s law, all of mankind was judged guilty by association before God. The law condemned not only Adam but also all that would come out of him. As it is in God’s nature to punish all crimes or violations, all condemnations became the demands of the law. Besides, the law could not be repealed as it was a reflection of God’s character. Therefore, breaking one law was equivalent to breaking all of them. The demands of the law were upon all that broke one or all of them. There was no difference.
The good news is that through His substitutionary atonement and propitiation, Christ satisfied the demands of the law against all of mankind. Additionally, the satisfaction was inclusive of those who accepted and rejected Him. By being nailed on the cross, Jesus not only satisfied the demands of the law but also brought an end to it. Therefore, mankind will no longer be morally judged and condemned. Christ brought an end to the law. This, however, does not mean that Christ opened the gates to heaven for all nor that by lifting the law, Christ also brought an end to all condemnation. Instead, people will be condemned for rejecting Christ, not on breaking the law.
It should be noted that even after satisfying the demands of the law, it still has significance in contemporary society. Galatians 3:19-25 points out that the law now serves the function of reminding us we are sinners. Two cases of abuse of the law should, therefore, be avoided in contemporary society. First, the law is a means to show God’s grace, not a means for salvation. Secondly, the only way to be spiritual is to gain it from the Holy Spirit. It is fallacious to think that one can be spiritual by keeping the law.
Reconciliation
So far, all the meanings derived from the death of Christ have been connected. Through the blood of Christ, mankind was redeemed while God’s wrath was satisfied through propitiation. Additionally, the satisfaction of His wrath broke the demands of the law. The outcome has been a reconciliation between God and man, where man is no longer a rebel and an alien in God’s eyes. There is a difference between reconciliation and regeneration, however. In other words, though the relationship between God and man was restored, man is still not the child of God.
Such a wrong assumption would imply saviorship for all due to the death of Christ. What is actually means, however, is that by accepting Christ, man can come to the Father. It should be noted that God was never reconciled, and that is what the Bible teaches. Instead, man was reconciled while God was propitiated. Therefore, the reconciliation of man with God only removed God’s enmity toward man. All this is conditional on man atoning for their sins with the blood of Christ, however. All the death of Christ did was to propitiate God while reconciliation returned God’s favor on mankind, putting them in a position to be saved upon being converted.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the death of Christ was one of the most significant events in the Bible. Not only did it redeem mankind from the bondage of sin but also propitiated God and turned His anger away from man. Ultimately, Christ’s death changed the nature of the relationship between God and man. Instead of praying to God and offering sacrifices to Him, man could get to God through His Son. Finally, the substitutionary atonement and the subsequent redemption by blood satisfied the demands of the law for all of eternity. Condemnation and judgment will, therefore, not be on violating the law but on rejecting Jesus Christ.
References
Christian Jr, W. A. (2020). Person and God in a Spanish Valley: Revised Edition . Princeton University Press.
Darby, J. N. Propitiation, Substitution and Atonement.
Dever, M., & Lawrence, M. (2010). It Is Well: Expositions on Substitutionary Atonement . Crossway.
Schmidt, D. (2019). Death of Jesus for progressive Christians . Wood Lake Publishing.
Terry, J. (2013). The Forgiveness of Sins and the Work of Christ: A Case for Substitutionary Atonement. Anglican theological review , 95 (1).
