Why Did Jesus Come?

I'm reading a very good book right now, A Short History of Christian Thought by Linwood Urban. In the chapter on the atonement, a number of passages from scripture are cited to describe the mission of the Son. I thought these were very interesting because they provided a more comprehensive answer then the standard one most people will give, which is "to die for our sins". Here they are: " Luke 2:11 salvation or protection, Gal. 1:4 deliverance or rescue, Rom.3:24 redemption or freeing from enslavement, 2Cor.5:18 reconciliation or the reunion of the estranged, John 10:10 re-birth or the giving of new life.

The chapter continues on with a discussion of the types of evil enumerated in scripture, so that we are well aware of the need for savior. Then Urban begins an account of Christian thinking on the atonement through the ages. New Testament writers like Paul and the subsequent early church Fathers all understood three facets to the atonement. First, the incarnation as the atoning act. Paul writes "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself", with the culmination of the incarnation being Christ's death on the cross. John's emphasis on the "word made flesh", (Jn.1:14) and Jesus statement that "I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness" (Jn. 12:46) all support this view. In 185 AD Irenaeus wrote,"Because of his measureless love, He became what we are in order to enable us to become what He is." By the Divine Logos becoming human the whole of human nature is restored. Similar views are found among other early Fathers , Athanasius for example.

The second facet of the atonement is the sacrificial death. The book of Hebrews is where you'll find this idea expounded upon. In Hebrews, a comparison is set up between the purification rites and animal scarifices in the Temple rituals recorded in the Old Testament and the death of Christ on the cross. The book of Hebrews states: "If the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God , purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." Paul also uses sacrificial language to describe the atoning work of Christ (1 Cor.5:7) "Christ, our Paschal lamb, has been sacrificed." The non-canonical Epistle Of Barnabas (c.130) explains that Christ died "so that we might be cleansed by the remission of our sins, which cleansing is through the blood of His sprinkling." Other early church fathers also echo this aspect of the atonement. Tertullian for example wrote; "It was necessary for Him to be made a sacrifice for all nations". Basil also writes of the sacrificial nature of Christ's death, "He offered Himself as a sacrifice and oblation to God on account of our sins". It's easy to see that the notion of Jesus' death as a sacrifice for our sins was a well entrenched idea in the very earliest centuries of the Church.

The final understanding of the atonement was the conquest of Satan. This aspect of the atonement was also a commonly held idea in the early church. The book of Collossians states... God..."has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son". Further on in the epistle we find this verse, " He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them [in the cross]" Col. 2:15. In Romans 8:38-39 Paul also attests to Christ's power over all spiritual powers. Justin Martyr declares the purpose of the incarnation to be the defeat of Satan and calls Christ "Lord of the powers". He writes further that this great vanquishing takes place through the crucifixion which has "shattered the might of the serpent, who instigated Adam's transgression." A final quote from Origen will further display the acceptance of this idea as intergral to the early churches understanding of the atonement. " Origen writes Christ's death "not only has been set forth as an example of dying for religion, but effected a beginning and an advance in the overthrow of the evil one , the Devil, who dominated the whole earth."

It is interesting to note that this final aspect of the atonement has fallen out of favor with modern theologians who can't seem to bring themselves to believe in Satan as an actual being, preferring to think of evil as a force, or simply looking upon "evil" as harsh or difficult circumstances such as hunger and war, or re-designating "evil"as simply all manner of suffering. Those ideas beg the question as to the source of such "evil" circumstances and suffering. If our conception of God is in alignment with scripture and the witness of the early church than the answere cannot possibly be God, another source must be found and Satan as presented in scripture certainly fills the bill. If you believe that scripture is inspired and that the early church Fathers were themselves men filled with the Holy Spirit than it seems implausible that for more than 1500 centuries the Spirit who is promised to "lead us in to all truth" would mislead so many Christians over so many ages. If you believe that God created humankind and all the living creature on the earth then it follows that God is also able to create other types of beings. That some of those other beings would revolt against their creator isn't at all hard to concieve given what has undeniably happened to the human race. Perhaps it is time once again to make this truth a well entrenched idea among the church.



Christianity
atonement
Early Church Fathers