People are disingenuous if they claim to be offended by Jesus' Blood poured out in propitiation to save our souls. Some people rip fetuses from their mother's wombs. Some people decapitate other human beings. Some people violently rape men, women, and children. Some people stab others in the heart or in the back. Some people never do any of these things, but they say words and think thoughts that are just the same as doing these gory deeds Jesus said. What but His Blood could ever wash us clean?
This is a very needed perspective as we unpack the atonement. I have a question regarding the penal aspect of the atonement, which is if God's wrath is not the reason behind the punishment, what and/or who is requiring the punishment? Satan, the law, death itself and if it is any of these, wouldn't they be using a moral criteria set up by God?
..for to kill a man is to kill one made like God. Genesis 9:6.
People would have to go all the way back to Genesis, after the flood, were God gives Noah, the new "Adam" a new set of laws. No longer is the command to the man, be fruitful and multiply, tend to the Earth and the fruit of every tree is given to you for food, but do not eat of the Tree of Destruction (commonly called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil). Things have changed now after the flood.
Now the new order is this: All the animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the fish in the sea will look on you with fear and terror. I have placed them in your power. I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables. But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it.
And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image.
In Jesus, God makes Himself in the image of man to undo the consequences of eating from the Tree of Destruction. In Genesis 9, God shows how much he values human life and in the Incarnation, God willingly makes Himself in the image of man in order to satisfy Divine Law and restore the original order of creation. Like heals like.
I think what is presented here is a facet of the truth, not a reversal of the traditional model. Isaiah 53 is pretty explicit about the suffering servant being punished on our behalf. It's substitutionary language. God is greater than we are. He is the most majestic king of the universe and yet sinners and children feel at home with him. He perfectly combines justice and wrath with mercy and compassion. Of course it is hard for us to wrap our minds around it. Were we there when he laid the foundations ...
People are disingenuous if they claim to be offended by Jesus' Blood poured out in propitiation to save our souls. Some people rip fetuses from their mother's wombs. Some people decapitate other human beings. Some people violently rape men, women, and children. Some people stab others in the heart or in the back. Some people never do any of these things, but they say words and think thoughts that are just the same as doing these gory deeds Jesus said. What but His Blood could ever wash us clean?
This is a very needed perspective as we unpack the atonement. I have a question regarding the penal aspect of the atonement, which is if God's wrath is not the reason behind the punishment, what and/or who is requiring the punishment? Satan, the law, death itself and if it is any of these, wouldn't they be using a moral criteria set up by God?
..for to kill a man is to kill one made like God. Genesis 9:6.
People would have to go all the way back to Genesis, after the flood, were God gives Noah, the new "Adam" a new set of laws. No longer is the command to the man, be fruitful and multiply, tend to the Earth and the fruit of every tree is given to you for food, but do not eat of the Tree of Destruction (commonly called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil). Things have changed now after the flood.
Now the new order is this: All the animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the fish in the sea will look on you with fear and terror. I have placed them in your power. I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables. But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it.
And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image.
In Jesus, God makes Himself in the image of man to undo the consequences of eating from the Tree of Destruction. In Genesis 9, God shows how much he values human life and in the Incarnation, God willingly makes Himself in the image of man in order to satisfy Divine Law and restore the original order of creation. Like heals like.
I think what is presented here is a facet of the truth, not a reversal of the traditional model. Isaiah 53 is pretty explicit about the suffering servant being punished on our behalf. It's substitutionary language. God is greater than we are. He is the most majestic king of the universe and yet sinners and children feel at home with him. He perfectly combines justice and wrath with mercy and compassion. Of course it is hard for us to wrap our minds around it. Were we there when he laid the foundations ...