Christ Died for Sinners

Although all believers in the Bible rec­ognize this as an established fact, yet few seem to understand why God re­quired the sacrificial death of Jesus, His begotten Son, as a prerequisite to the forgiveness of sins unto salvation. This is because many fail to see the moral principles involved in the mediatorial work of Christ; and, apart from the moral principles involved, the sacrifice of Christ becomes meaningless. Many fail to see the moral principles declared in the death of Christ because these prin­ciples are obscured by false theories con­cerning the nature of man and conse­quently the origin, nature and purpose of Christ.

One must possess a basic knowledge of the First Principles of the Truth if he is to see or understand the principles upon which God forgives men their sins unto salvation through Christ. It is not necessary, of course, to understand all the principles involved in detail, but it will help us to appreciate more fully the atoning work of Christ if we grasp some of them. Why, from God’s point of view, was the suffering of Christ and the attendant indignities and reproaches cast upon Him necessary? Before we attempt to answer this, let us state that we can be sure that it was not the ques­tion of punishing the innocent for the guilty (as many believe), nor yet of paying the penalty for our sins. Our sins are not paid for, they are forgiven. There was no punishment of Christ involved. He never did anything for which He should be punished.

To find the reason for the atoning work of Christ, let us start at the be­ginning. When Adam and Eve were created, they were warned to not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, “for”, said God, “in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die”. The serpent slandered the righteousness of God by declaring: “Ye shall not sure­ly die: but God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil”. This was, in effect, telling them that God was withholding something from them that He should not. Thus the serpent became a slanderer. Believing the serpent’s lie, the pair acted upon it and transgressed God’s law. They disobeyed God’s command, and death, as the punishment for disobedi­ence, was inflicted. It was not an instan­taneous death, but a lingering one (dy­ing thou shalt die — mortality). Here a principle was established, death for sin. They were placed under sin’s dominion. God changed their status of “very good” to that of “mortal”. True to God’s Word, they must die. Sin became a fixed, physical principle of the flesh, and our first parents, and all who have since been born have possessed what is known as sin’s flesh, or sin nature. They have had this law of sin in their members. With sin nature, transgression would be in­evitable.

Adam and Eve tried to cover their nakedness which became a symbol of their sin. Their covering was inadequate. Man cannot cover his sin. God provided coats of skin for their covering. But these were only typical of the principle to be employed in raising up the Re­deemer. There was shedding of blood involved in the provision of the coats of skin. There was here the principle of death for sin. In the covering of sin there must be a shedding-of-blood death. To effect salvation or redemption from death, God’s righteousness and suprem­acy must be acknowledged. This death would be a vindication of God’s right­eousness. This would be required by God, because in the beginning His right­eousness was slandered. Before men can acknowledge God’s righteousness in re­quiring death for sin, it was necessary for God to declare it, not only by word, but also by deed.

To redeem repentant sinners, it is necessary to forgive them their trans­gressions. Therefore a plan, consistent with God’s righteousness, must be de­vised whereby He would reconcile them to Him by forgiving them their sins. This plan involved the raising up of an Indi­vidual who would possess the same physi­cal nature as those to be reconciled. To qualify as a Savior and Redeemer of men, it was necessary for Him to pos­sess their identical sin nature, but, unlike others, was to require no reconcilia­tion, no forgiveness of sins. He was to be without transgression. God could not forgive their sins through the death of a transgressor, because the death of a transgressor could not declare or vindi­cate God’s holiness in dealing with sin; and the forgiveness of sins and obedi­ence to God through faith in Him was to be preached to all nations (Luke 24:47; Romans 1:5). Only One who was completely and absolutely devoted to the will of God could do this. God’s purpose was accomplished in Christ. It was for this purpose that God raised Him up.

Through Christ God could reconcile repentant sinners to Himself, by not im­puting their trespasses to them (2nd Corinthians 5:19). This involved the condemnation of sin in the flesh of Christ, which was the same physical flesh that all men possess. It was necessary to do this before God could forgive men their trespasses and take away or change their sin nature. To do this required one of the descendants of Adam to overcome, or conquer sin by never yielding to it in transgression. He would then be slain as a representative. He would be a cover­ing for men’s sins. In dying for men He would have to die a transgressor’s death, for all men are transgressors. What was done to Him would in principle be done to sin. It is in the flesh that sin must be condemned, because it is there that sin dwells. His death would represent the condemnation of sin as a principle, and also He would declare by dying for transgressors that men as transgressors deserve what was done to Him (if God so required). God’s plan called for the condemnation of sin and the exaltation of righteousness in the same body. Thus in one Person sin was condemned and executed as a usurper of God’s rights, and righteousness, or obedi­ence, was exalted and enthroned. In principle, then, there was the deposition and execution of sin, and the exaltation and enthronement of righteousness. It was the condemnation of sin in the flesh of one innocent of transgression, a cere­monial destruction of sin; because what was done to Him was in principle done to sin. What was done for Him later (resurrection to life) was in principle done to righteousness. Righteousness dwells supreme in Christ where once it was challenged by sin. Christ was “made sin for us” by being given a physical constitution of sin and being treated as a sinner “that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him”. He shared with us in His suffering for our iniquity, and we share with Him in His reward for His righteousness. In dying for transgres­sors it was necessary for Him to submit to an appointed death (that of crucifix­ion), because His death was to be a violent death, and He must die a death that would publicly exhibit God’s right­eousness: a death given for treason to represent sin as the great usurper of God’s rights, and a death whereby He might innocently suffer the curse of the law for others to redeem them from it. In raising up Christ to declare His right­eousness, God chose the best plan He could devise. The declaration of His righteousness in writing of words upon stone, or in ink upon paper would never be as impressive as what He did when He sent His own Son in the likeness of sin’s flesh, and by a sacrifice for sin, condemned it in the flesh of His Son.

Since Christ inherited death, or mor­tality (dying thou shalt die, the death that passed upon all men) from His mother Mary, it was essential that Christ die in order to redeem Himself as well as others from mortality. The violent death of Christ was made the basis of His own salvation, as well as that of others. Because He was expressly raised up to redeem others, there was no possibility of His entering eternal life alone, no possibility of being saved apart from sub­mission to the death of the cross. It was the crowning act of obedience to God, and became the basis of His resurrection to eternal life, and of those who are associated with it. Because of His sub­mission to this terrible ordeal God has highly exalted Him to a position second only to Himself in the Universe. It was a supreme test, a supreme sacrifice, and therefore the highest position possible was given as a reward to Him. The wounds in His hands and the hole in His side testify to the condemnation of sin, and its abolition in the flesh of Him who died to sin. There is indelibly impressed in the immortalized flesh substance (or spirit body) of God’s Son the marks of this condemnation and the declaration of God’s righteousness in His dealing with sin. The body which once died to sin now lives to righteousness, and through Him others will live to righteous­ness also.

While God is willing to forgive men their trespasses, it is essential for them to realize that He does not condone them. They must realize that their position is that of forgiven sinners. They recognize God’s righteousness when they identify and associate themselves with Christ’s death by submitting to baptism, which is a symbol of the death, burial and resur­rection of Christ. In doing this, they as­sent to the divine principle that, as sin­ners, they have no inherent right to live; that it is only by God’s mercy to which they may appeal.

What did the death of Christ on the cross accomplish? It accomplished sev­eral things:

1. It exhibited the terrible reality of the wickedness of sin manifested through the flesh.
2. It served as a ceremonial condem­nation and destruction of sin in all forms.
3. It served as a means whereby Christ could die a representative death for sinners.
4. It declared the righteousness of God in requiring death for sin.
5. It exhibited what is due to man from God for transgression (if God required it).
6. It reveals to man his true position as a sinner before God.
7. It gives to us an example of per­fect obedience to God.
8. It makes men see the love of God in forgiving sin.
9. It gives us an Individual motivated by love, and through whom all can express their love to God for manifesting His righteousness and forgiveness of sins through Christ.

Thus love is made the dominant factor and feature in the plan and work of sal­vation. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son for its sal­vation. This was God’s sacrifice. Christ loved the ecclesia and gave Himself for it, and the ecclesia reciprocates this love by keeping the commandments of God and Christ.