Atonement: The Death of Christ

We all believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross. We know that he died there for us. But why was his death necessary? And what did it accomplish?

The Necessity of the Death of Christ

Why must there be atonement?

GOD IS HOLY.
Holiness is essentially separation. God is separate from man and therefore, separate from mans sin. Gods holiness then is his self-affirming purity (Isa 6:3). Gods holiness is inviolable; it is his eternal moral self-consistency. It is his fundamental attribute, governing the rest of his attributes, including his love (cf. John 3:16; Rom 3:26).

MAN IS SINFUL.
Man has sinned, which contradicts Gods holiness. Gods holiness creates an absolute standard to which man must conform. That standard is perfection: perfect righteousness, or complete conformity to Gods holiness. God administers this standard in complete justice. Perfect conformity is rewarded and all contradiction must be punished. Therefore, any sin creates guilt: because man has sinned, he is guilty, or liable to punishment.

GUILT DEMANDS PUNISHMENT.

A holy God who administers his holiness in perfect justice must punish sin (Heb 2:2; 2 Thess 1:6). The punishment for sin required by Gods holiness is death (Rom 6:23; 1:32). Furthermore, because sin is a contradiction of an infinite Gods holiness, it makes the offender liable to infinite punishment: eternal death in the lake of fire.

THE RIGHTEOUS ONE DIED IN THE PLACE OF THE UNRIGHTEOUS.

God, in a perfect harmony of justice and mercy, graciously allows the death of a Righteous Substitute in the place of a condemned sinner. In the Old Testament, God commanded the offering of animal sacrifices. At the beginning of the ritual, the offerer laid his hand upon the head of the animal, signifying that the animal was his representative (Lev 1:14). As a sinner, the man deserved to die for his sin, but a merciful God would accept the death of a sacrifice in his place. Jesus Christ, as our Righteous Sacrifice, did not die for his own sins; instead, he was punished by God for our sins (Isa 53:36; 1 Pet 2:24; 3:18; Gal 3:13). In the words of 2 Corinthians 5:21, For our sake [God] made [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Notice that Christ became sin in our place; he did not become a sinner. Christ suffered the just punishment for our sins on the cross. The debt for our sins (eternal death) was paid by Gods infinite Son, who suffered as the righteous for the unrighteous (1 Pet 3:18).

The Satisfaction of the Death of Christ

What does the atonement accomplish and how does it meet our need?

CHRISTS DEATH EXPIATES OUR GUILT.

The guilt that man had incurred by his sin was met by sacrificial expiation. To expiate means to remove or put away. Jesus Christ gave his life, offered in sacrificial death to God, as atonement for us (Eph 5:2). Old Testament sacrifices provided atonement for guilt, but only a one-time forgiveness: the life of an animal for the guilt of sin. The writer of Hebrews explains that Jesus, because of his infinite life, offers a better sacrificeone that provides eternal salvation (Heb 9:26; 10:12).

CHRISTS DEATH REDEEMS US FROM BONDAGE.

As sinners, we were in bondage to the guilt of our sin. We deserved to die. By the death of Christ, we have been redeemed from that curse (Mark 10:45; Gal 3:13; Eph 1:7; Rom 3:24). That debt could only be paid by our deathor the death of a God-appointed substitute. As sinners, we were enslaved to sin. It was our master, and we eagerly did its bidding (Rom 6:620). The power of sin over us was broken by the death of Christ. The believer is now free to obey God; he no longer has any obligation to sin (Titus 2:14; 1 Pet 1:1819).

CHRISTS DEATH PROPITIATES GODS WRATH.

Because our sin offended the holiness of God, we were under his wrath. Sin, the contradiction of His perfect holiness, excites Gods wrath. Gods wrath is judicial, not necessarily emotional, just as justice is (or should be) unaffected by emotions, so Gods wrath is uniformly raised against sin (e.g., Num 16:4648). However, since sin is not abstract, but committed by individuals in rebellion against God, it is proper to say that Gods wrath is upon the sinner (John 3:36). A propitiation is a sacrifice that satisfies Gods wrath. God is not angry and bloodthirsty; rather, his holiness has been rightfully offended by mans sin. The only thing that can calm or placate Gods wrath is the punishment that justice demands: the death of the sinner or the death of a righteous substitute. In this way, the death of Christ is a propitiating sacrifice (1 John 2:2; Rom 1:18).

CHRISTS DEATH RECONCILES US TO GOD.

As sinners in rebellion against God, we were estranged and alienated from God (Isa 59:2; Col 1:21; Eph 2:12; 4:18; Jas 4:4). God counts sinners as his enemies (Rom 5:10). Because Christs death removes the hostility that God has toward the sinner, God reinstates him to a position of favor. God credits the sin to Christ, our Righteous Substitute, and credits his righteousness to us (2 Cor 5:1921). Man receives the reconciliation accomplished by Christs death at salvation. Before salvation, we were guilty before God and worthy of death. We were enslaved to sin and death. We were under the righteous wrath of God. We were Gods enemies. Now, because of the death of Christ, we stand justified (acquitted) before God. We are now free from the power of sin to obey God. Gods righteous wrath over us has been pacified. We are now reconciled to God, counted as his children.