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While we are investigating the power that sustained Jesus on the cross, another question has come up. Was Jesus Christ, in anyway, sustained by joy, the perfect happiness He shared with the Father as a result of being a spiritually mature human being? Under the principle He taught His disciples in John 16: 20-23, I have to say no, unless we redefine our concept of joy! By redefining the happiness the Father shares with mature believers, we should come to a greater understanding of our own spiritual maturity. We will seek to redefine that concept in a later study.
While we are investigating the power that sustained Jesus on the cross, another question has come up. Was Jesus Christ, in anyway, sustained by joy, the perfect happiness He shared with the Father as a result of being a spiritually mature human being? Under the principle He taught His disciples in John 16: 20-23, I have to say no, unless we redefine our concept of joy! By redefining the happiness the Father shares with mature believers, we should come to a greater understanding of our own spiritual maturity. We will seek to redefine that concept in a later study.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. [He then illustrated the concept.] Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. John 16:20-22
The lesson we glean from this passage as it relates to His time on the cross is this: His sufferings and agony were not diminished in any way by His relationship to the Father, yet He looked with great satisfaction to the completion of His atoning work of substitutionary spiritual death. He had grief and suffering but it was turned into joy in the morning!
Now, let us return to our narrative. The veil of the temple was torn into two pieces:
ü …and the veil of the temple was torn in two. Luke 23:45b
The veil of the temple covered the entry of the Holy of Holies. According to the Rabbis, it was a handbreadth in thickness, and woven of seventy-two twisted plaits, each plait consisting of twenty-four threads. It was sixty feet long and thirty wide. The priests made two of them every year, and according to the exaggerated language of the time, it needed three hundred priests to manipulate it. This veil covered the entrance to the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctuary. It was not the veil hung in front of the main entrance to the sanctuary. At this time, the Holy of Holies contained only a large stone on which the high priest sprinkled the blood on the Day of Atonement, occupying the place where the ark with the mercy seat had once stood.
God tore this veil right down the middle, indicating that our Lord had removed the barrier between the human race and Himself by His Son’s salvation work. What had come between God and the human race was once and for all removed. God tore the inner veil of the temple that had separated the Holy Place Bellingham , WA
While our Lord was on the Cross, bearing the imputation and punishment for our sin, He accomplished several categories of work. Let us look at these briefly. You can expect a more thorough development of these categories in our communion services.
Imputation- In the Word of God, imputation is an act of God whereby He either condemns or blesses members of the human race. Condemnation or blessing is ascribed, attributed, reckoned, given, or imposed on the human race. God the Father imputed to our Lord every sin committed in the human race and judged them on Him.
ü He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.2 Corinthians 5:21
Unlimited Atonement- Jesus Christ bore the sin punishment for every human being in history. He provided unlimited atonement, dying not just for some but also for every member of the human race.
ü …and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. 1 John 2:2
Propitiation- Propitiation is the God-ward side of the work of Christ’s salvation work. God the Father is satisfied with the sacrificial ministry of our Lord on the cross. When the justice of God judged our sins in Christ on the cross, both His righteousness and justice were propitiated. That is, His integrity was satisfied. Now, there always a problem when we assign our American words to define something as wonderful as our Lord’s substitutionary work. There is often a nuance attached to a word that does not, in its totality, agree with what actually happened. There is a nuance attached to this word, propitiation, which does not necessarily fit. In its purist sense, propitiation means to satisfy an angry God. If you understand that when God is said to be “angry” that this is an anthropopathism, that is, language of accommodation, then we can concur with the term, propitiation. We all understand that anger is not one of God’s attributes but that the word “anger” explains His policy toward sin: He judges it.
ü …whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; Romans 3:25
Expiation means to put an end to our guilt. Our guilt has been extinguished, made amends for. Our Lord supplied satisfaction for our sins. The guilt for our sin has been expiated because the punishment for those sins was caused to fall upon another, who was our substitute. Expiation was made for our sins when they were punished not in ourselves but in another who consented to stand in our place. We are reconciled because our sins have been expiated.
Redemption- It is the part of our Lord’s work on the cross that focuses upon sin. It emphasizes the fact that we are all sinners in that we were born into the state of sin and after that, sinners by choice. Every human being had to be condemned in order to be qualified to be saved. Condemnation must always precede salvation. The concept of redemption also views His work from the standpoint of a ransom paid on the cross for our salvation. We were all born into the slave market of sin through the imputation of Adam's original sin at birth. By means of His saving work on the cross, also called, referring to the Old Testament sacrifices, “the blood of Christ,” He purchased our freedom or salvation. We have been redeemed because our Lord expiated our sins.
ü By whom [Jesus Christ] we have redemption through His blood [figurative], the forgiveness of sins. Ephesians 1:7
Reconciliation refers to the fact that through His work, Jesus Christ removed the barrier of enmity between God and the human race. By this, our Lord brought peace between God and the human race. We, as members of the human race, personally ratify this peace treaty by faith in Christ. We are reconciled to God by our Lord’s work on the cross.
ü And through Him [Jesus Christ], to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross. Colossians 1:20
Justification -By His work on the cross, He made it possible for us to be justified. Justification means an act of vindication. This is a judicial act of vindication, because we are born under condemnation, being spiritually dead. Justification, then, is the official act of God, which occurs every time anyone believes in Christ. The justice of God acts on our behalf pronouncing us justified, which means, having a relationship with God forever, having the perfect righteousness of God imputed to us. Justification is the judicial act by God, whereby He recognizes we have His perfect righteousness.
ü Much more therefore, having been justified by His blood, we shall be delivered from judgment through Him.” Romans 5:9
Sanctification: Like justification, the Holy Spirit sanctifies us when we believe in Christ. Through sanctification, we share everything Christ is.
…that He might sanctify the people through His own blood…Heb 13:12
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