Full Repair!!!
"If God should save those who have affronted Him, without satisfaction, the honor of His majesty would suffer. For when contempt is cast upon infinite majesty, its honor suffers, and the contempt leaves an obscurity upon the honor of the divine majesty, if the injury is not repaired. But the sufferings of Christ do fully repair the injury. Let the contempt be ever so great, yet if so honorable a person as Christ undertakes to be a Mediator for the offender, and in the mediation suffer in his stead, it fully repairs the injury done to the majesty of heaven by the greatest sinner" (Jonathan Edwards in "God's Sovereignty in the Salvation of Men").
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Dan, propitiation and the substitutionary atonement are two vital doctrines that I have found to be neglected in many areas today. This is an excellent post reminding us of the holiness and judgment of God and of the necessity of the work of Christ.
What a wonder that Jesus Christ would stand in my stead and take upon Himself the wrath of the righteous God. Thankyou for this reminder.
Yes, Terri, I agree. It is the very heart of the gospel. It is amazing to me that in evangelicalism we hear very little about God being both just and the justifier of the one who believes in Jesus (Romans 3:26). Romans teaches that God put forth His Son at the cross to demonstrate this very thing. Yet, it is most often neglected.
I have just finished an in-depth study of Isaiah 53. The comment seems to correspond so well with Isaiah 53:10,11. "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him"--I couldn't understand that until I went further and realized that the reason God could be pleased (as it was accomplishing His will) is because the death of His Son satisfied divine wrath and brings pleasure to the Father through the salvation of many. The circular structure of Isaiah 53 is striking: To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? FOR he shall grow up...tender plant and dry root (not exactly a picture of strength) and then in verse 12 Christ is dividing the spoil with the strong! Thank you for posting this comment--I am enjoying the blog!
Great to hear from you, Amy! It is always good to hear from a former student =) Excellent thoughts! I hope you become a regular contributor. Feel free to pass this weblog on to friends.
Edwards is a great dead guy. He does a great job of pointing us to our Advocate