3 PROBLEMS WITH 1 SOLUTION

During this past Easter I was looking into various theories of the atonement of Christ which theologians have floated over the centuries. And by atonement theory we mean our best guess as to how Christ's life, death, and resurrection accomplished His goal of opening a path to salvation for humanity.

• The "Moral Influence" theory suggests that Jesus came to show us how to live the perfect human life in obedience to God.
• The "Ransom" theory posits Christ's death as a "payment" of some sort to win the freedom of sinners.
• Christus Victor has Jesus' death triumphing over the powers of darkness in order to free humanity from its bondage.
• [Other theories exist, some stronger and more biblical than others, in my opinion. I reject one in particular - Penal Substitutionary Atonement, where the Father pours out His wrath on the Son in order to be Just. Only then can the Father forgive sins.]

I found that most theologians agree that our best understanding of the atonement lies in a combination of two or more of these theories.

Since I have been looking at Genesis 3, it seems to me that the terrible day which resulted in Adam and Eve's [and Satan's] expulsion from the Garden, also presented Yahweh with three challenges to overcome. [The challenges overlap one another but each needs to be addressed.]

1. The Sin Problem - How are humans to be made clean again?
2. The Death Problem - How are humans to be rescued from death?
3. The Satan Problem - How is God to end Satan's rebellion and the suffering and confusion he brings to this world?

Perhaps "competing" atonement theories are the result of the fact that Christ's life, death, and resurrection functioned together to address all three challenges at once.

Jesus and the Scriptures certainly defined His mission along each of these lines at various times:

The Sin Problem - Romans 5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

The Death Problem - John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

The Satan Problem - 1 John 3:8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.

Isn't it interesting that in each of these verses, Jesus juxtaposes His mission against Adam's moral failure or Satan's?