These are comments on Sabbath School Study Lesson 4, Atonement and the Divine Initiative.
The Study Guide offers sufficient Biblical passages to show that the Atonement was certainly something that was in God’s mind prior to the occurrence of sin. The Study Guide covers the material sufficiently, so I really won’t go into that here. Rather I want to explore the question of how much the Atonement encompasses.
As you may know, I’ve been going through Gustaf Aulen’s Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of Atonement. It is fascinating to learn about the history of the ideas behind the Atonement.
Western Christianity, from around the 10th century and up to the present, has associated the Atonement primarily with the crucifixion.1 However, this is certainly not the only view and perhaps not the best way, and at the very least, an incomplete view of the Atonement. The more complete view is that the Atonement is something that God began as soon as sin entered the world and is something God is still actively working today.2 The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ constitutes a climax, though not the end, in the process of Atonement. The cross demonstrated sin’s ultimate result as well as love’s ultimate victory. The process comes to a close when Jesus returns and sin and death will be destroyed.
From beginning to end, it is God’s initiative. The Bible pictures God as coming down to meet with his wayward children, time after time. From Eden to Abraham, to Moses and Sinai, to many of the judges, and to prophets, God comes down to reveal himself to the people in ways and words that they can comprehend and understand. By coming down, God seeks to draw people up to him.
The greatest work Atonement, obviously is the Incarnation of God in Jesus Christ. By entering humanity as a human being, God sought to demonstrate in perfection his nature and character to the world. He came as man because that was the only language that we would understand. When the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are lifted up, people are either drawn to him, or reject him.
The victory was won at the cross, but it is of no effect unless accepted by each and every person. Thus the promise and offer of Atonement was clearly seen at the cross, but the work of Atonement continues until all have chosen to accept or reject the offer to be reconciled to God and accept the victory over sin that the Atonement provides.
Aulen writes,
The New Testament idea of redemption constitutes in fact a veritable revolution; for it declares that sovereign Divine Love has taken the initiative, broken through the order of justice and merit, triumphed over the powers of evil, and created a new relation between the world and God.3
Again, for additional thoughts and perspectives on this lesson, I recommend Good Word from Walla Walla University.
1Aulen, Gustaf. Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of Atonement, WIPF an STOCK Publishers, 2003 edition, Chapter 5, “The Middle Ages.”
2ibid., Chapter 3, “The Fathers in East and West” and Chapter 4, “The New Testament.”
3ibid., p. 79.
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