Page 63 - Christology - Student Textbook

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defeat Satan. Protoevangelium has to do with “the first announcement of the gospel.” With the
collaboration of some passages from the Bible, the serpent is pictured as Satan and the seed of the
woman as Jesus Christ (Rev 12:9). This passage foretells that Satan will bruise the Messiah’s heal,
but the Messiah will crush the head of Satan.

The Sacrifice
The necessity of the death of Christ was a result of human being’s sin. All had been affected by it
(Rom 3:23). All stood condemned to eternity apart from God (Rom 6:23; Rev 20:11-15). Jesus’
mission of redemption was to redeem as many as possible (2 Pet 3:8-9). In order to do that, He had
to shed his blood as the substitutionary sacrifice for man’s sin. Paul in Romans argues that death of
perfect sacrifice was required to pay for sin (Rom 6:23).

The Atonement
The shedding of blood by Jesus Christ was intentional. It was not grounded on whimsical decision.
He decided to buy us with His blood and therefore imputed our own sin on Himself and imputed His
righteousness to our account. The prophet Isaiah declared that Jesus Christ was going to redeem
Israel through His atoning suffering (Isa 53:5, 12). Paul notes that Jesus Christ came to pay mankind’s
penalty.

Brief Definition of Atonement
In the Old Testament, animals were sacrificed in order to cover the sins of the people. In that sense,
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animal’s blood was deemed to have made atonement for sin (Lev 1:4). Sometimes atonement was
arranged apart from sacrifice, for example, the payment of money. In which case, to make
atonement meant “to avert punishment, especially the divine anger,” by means of paying a ransom,
which can be money or life.
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How does the work of Jesus Christ atone for us? This question has been a source of debate among
theologians for centuries. Five theories have dominated this discussion.

Substitutionary Atonement
This theory is sometimes delineated as vicarious or penal, it holds the following:

The atonement is objectively directed toward God and the satisfaction of His holy character and
demands upon the sinner. It is vicarious in the sense that Christ is the Substitute who bears the
punishment rightly due sinners, their guilt being charged to Him; that He representatively bore
their punishment. This is in keeping with the general idea of sacrifices in the Old Testament and is
explicitly taught in the New Testament (see John 1:29; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13; Heb. 9:28; 1 Peter
2:24). It is further sustained by the use of such prepositions as peri (for), huper (in behalf of), and
anti (in place of), which in numerous contexts support the idea of a divine Substitute for the sinner
in the person of Christ on the cross.
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148 Carson, NIV Zondervan Study Bible: Built on the Truth of Scripture and Centered on the Gospel
Message, Genesis 3:15: 30-31.

149 Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 113.
150 Ibid., 113-14.

151 Walvoord, Jesus Christ our Lord, 157.

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