What is God Like?

Do atonement theories shape our view of God and how we live? Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. I Cor.15:1-5 (NASB) Atonement theories attempt to explain the nature of Jesus’ death on the cross. Why did Jesus die? What does this death mean for the world today? U S Catholic (December 18,2018) No one had to die for our sins. It’s time to rethink the crucifixion, says theologian Elizabeth Johnson. “Even if we restrict our inquiry into the nature of God to the Bible, we are likely to find just the kind of God that we want to find. If we want a God of peace, he’s there. If we want a God of war, he’s there. If we want a compassionate God, he’s there. If we want a vindictive God, he’s there. If we want an egalitarian God, he’s there. If we want an ethnocentric God, he’s there. If we want a God demanding blood sacrifice, he’s there. If we want a God abolishing blood sacrifice, he’s there. Sometimes the Bible is like a Rorschach test—it reveals more about the reader than the eternal I AM.” Brian Zahnd The Talmud: “We do not see things as they are. We see things as we are” We do not see God as He is. We see God as we are When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:33 “The possibility that God is that good—as kind and loving and gracious as Jesus—may create panic because that God is unfamiliar to us. Through their own fears or stiff resistance from their peers or leaders, the very folks asking for hope may retreat back to the oppressive god they’ve known for many years. Perhaps they imagine their old certitude gives them a measure of control.” Brad Jerzak “The stubborn fact is that whatever we say about God or for God with great certitude is sifted through the thick veils of our religious traditions, cultural assumptions and personal interpretations… There seem to be as many versions of God as there are people, even within a particular faith, no matter how diligently religion attempts to indoctrinate us… Among Christians, we’ll see later how John Wesley would say John Calvin’s God was worse than the devil! Even today, among North America’s most downloaded Protestant preachers, Mark Driscoll and John Piper’s grasp of God stands poles apart from that of Gregory Boyd or Brian McLaren… While God doesn’t change, my image of God may progress (or regress) so much over time that I am virtually worshiping another god under the same name. Moreover, this may be both good and necessary… If there is a God, I don’t just get to fashion him from the clay of my own image. I need him to reveal himself in a way that can be known.” Brad Jerzak Theories of the atonement are not the Gospel Did God punish Jesus in our place out of the necessity of restoring His honor (Anselm’s Satisfaction theory) ? Or did Jesus die to serve the justice due our sins (Calvin Penal Substitution theory)? Or did Jesus die in order to deliver us from Sin, Satan and Death (Christus Victor theory)? Or did Jesus die not as a sacrifice, but as a victim of mankind’s violence (Scapegoat theory)? All believe Jesus died for our sins, but all believe for different reasons Who are believers? Who are the heretics? Does it really make a difference which theory we embrace? It shapes the vision we have of our God (worship) It shapes the vision we have for our lives “ We have Platonized our eschatology (substituting ‘souls going to heaven’ for the promised new creation) and have therefore moralized our anthropology (substituting a qualifying examination of moral performance for the biblical notion of the human vocation), with the result that we have paganized our soteriology, our understanding of ‘salvation’ (substituting the idea of God ‘killing Jesus to satisfy His wrath’…” N T Wright And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.” Mt.26:27-29 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jer.31:31-34 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” Heb.9:15-20 At the cross… Sin was forgiven… When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:33-34 Death was defeated… And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins…But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. I Cor.15:17,21-22 Satan was overthrown… Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” John 12:31-32 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Jn.8:36 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Mt.28:18-20 Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets. Col.2:14-15 (the Message) http://www.sdmorrison.org/7-theories-of-the-atonement-summarized/ Conclusions “Each theory presented here is dense and complex, but I hope you can learn from the overall focus of each. I personally believe that we need to move beyond some of these theories and progress into a more robust theory of the atonement. But thankfully, at the end of the day we aren’t saved by theories. We’re saved by Jesus!” S D Morrison