An Extract from Peter Jensen’s new book The Life of faith: An introduction to Christian Doctrine.
The way of the cross should not have come as a surprise to those conversant with the Old Testament. God had often revealed himself as the gracious Saviour of a sinful people. That he did so by using men filled with the Spirit has been noted before. But in the Word become flesh, we have a Saviour who is not merely inspired by God, but one who is God himself. In Paul’s words, “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself… in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself”. (2 Cor 5:18-19).
It is essential to grasp this point, lest the doctrine of the substitution of Christ be allowed to drive a wedge between Father and Son, with the ‘angry Father’ being appeased by the offering of the loving Son. The work of atonement was the work of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one in love and righteousness, one in the determination to save the world. In the words of Jesus:
“For this reason, the Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” (John 10:17-18)
If we are to speak of a sacrifice to God in the Lamb of God, it is a sacrifice without parallel at this crucial point: the victim is both God and man. The very thing that gives it its unconquerable value is the identity of the one who is the sacrifice and that he comes from the side of God. The atonement is a work of the Trinity: “the blood of Christ … through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God” Heb 9:14).
The problem that some see in penal substitution as being the conflict of Father and Son, is in fact a ‘problem’ of God’s attributes and the difficulty which we human beings experience in reconciling God’s love with his wrath. If it seems that the offended party (God) punishes an innocent party (Christ) for the sins of an offending party (us), there is some ground for complaint. But once it is recognised that in the cross, the offended party bore the punishment due to the offending ones, the difficulty turns into the most wonderful ofall demonstrations of the love of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Life Of Faith: An introduction to Christian Doctrine Peter Jensen, Matthias Media 2023 $34.99 is available from The Wandering Bookseller