It seems to me that any exposition of the atonement that is at all satisfactory must begin with consideration of (1) the nature of God, (2) the nature of sin, and (3) the nature of man. We must steadfastly refuse to accept any doctrine of the atonement, or of anything else, that in any sense tends to minimize our conception of God. We jeopardize our own spiritual wellbeing when we hold to any conception of God that is short of the noblest ideal.
I shall here present, briefly, what seem to me to be the characteristics of God which should be considered in connection with the doctrine of the atonement.
1. God is infinite in wisdom and knowledge. The future as well as the past are equally well known to Him. He does not forget, nor does anything take Him by surprise. He knows all things, not by the following of some logical process, but intuitively. This being the case, He has known from the eternity of the past that at some time sin would enter the universe. He knew when it would come, how it would come, and by whom. He knew it was best to permit it to come, rather than to forestall its coming. He knew what He would do to meet it, and how He would deal with it, so that when sin had run its course He would have a better universe.
2. God is infinite in power. There is nothing which is consistent with Himself that He cannot do. No situation can arise that He cannot forestall, or overrule, or so control as to cause it to accomplish His purpose. He could have forestalled sin at the outset had He seen it was best to do so.
3. God is infinite in His love. We must believe that His love reaches out to every creature, especially to the moral creatures who are made in His own image. This being true, it seems to me there is no such thing as a creature's getting to the place where God does not love him. God's love requires that He continually exercise Himself for what He knows to be the best good of all His creatures.
4. God is infinite in holiness. He instantly senses the right or wrong of every motive, thought, or action, even before it has expressed itself. God's sense of holiness is such that it harmonizes completely with the physical, moral, and spiritual well-being of all His creatures. It is completely identified with the well-being of His universe. This sense of holiness is such that the creature who acts against it, acts against his own well-being, and against the welfare of the universe.
We can never hope to fathom God; but the mind seems to demand these four points in regard to Him, and I believe the Scriptures amply support each of them. But we must be careful about trying to define how a Being having these four characteristics is to act; and when He makes known to us what He has done, we must be content if we can show that what He has done is in harmony with these characteristics, as far as we can see. We must not expect to be able always to tell just why He did it. In no place is this seen to be more true than in the study of the atonement.
With this view before us, let us next consider briefly the nature of man.
1. Man is God's creature, made in the image of God. In his original state, man had faculties much like God's.
But man has always been, and will always be, finite in these faculties. Moreover, man has sinned, and to a certain extent his faculties have been dulled, although not entirely lost. Man may obey God or not, as he chooses. He is responsible for his actions. Many times environment and heredity predispose to sin, but not to the degree of depriving him of responsibility for his acts. The fact that he is a free moral agent is repeatedly recognized in Scripture. Every invitation to repent, or to turn away from sin, is a recognition of man's ability to act or not to act in harmony with God's will, if he chooses.
2. Sin is opposition to God. Sin is acting in opposition to God's holiness. And when we consider that God's holiness is in perfect harmony with the physical, moral, and spiritual well-being of His universe, we can see that sin is opposition to the well-being of the universe; it is treason against the divine government. If sin were allowed to continue indefinitely, it would in time destroy itself or wreck the universe. Sin puts a gulf between man and God which none but God can bridge,
3. We are led to inquire, How does God react to sin? How does a Being possessed of the characteristics which we believe God to have, feel toward sin? Here again we must be careful in our answer, but if we will put certain statements of Scripture with what seems to be reasonable, I believe that we shall arrive at a fairly correct answer. God's love and holiness have especially to do with His attitude toward sin.
We may learn something from our own experience here. We see a parent who has a deep love for his child and a profound sense of right-doing. How does this parent react to the wrongdoing of his child? His sense of holiness, or rightness, causes him to recognize the utter wrong of the thing done, while his love for his child causes him to desire to spare the child. These two characteristics cause untold suffering in the heart of the parent, and the sense of suffering is heightened when the wrong-doer and the victim- of the wrong-doing are members of the same family and are alike children of the parent.
In a similar way, as I apprehend it, God suffers over sin. The sinner and the one sinned against are alike children of God. God's conception of the enormity of sin is measured only by His infinite holiness. He has a love for the sinner and the one sinned against, which is measured only by His infinite love. This love seeks to protect the sinner from the demands of justice, and the victim from the sinner. These two characteristics, then, —God's infinite holiness and His infinite love,—cause Him the deepest suffering over sin, much the same as in the experience of the parent, only immeasurably more.
We are told that God grieved over the sins of men before the flood (Gen. 6:6), and that He is afflicted with the afflictions of His people. Isa. 63:9. The sacrifice that saves us is that of a lamb that has been slain from the foundation of the world. Rev. 13:8. (I am aware that the American Revised Version does not give this verse as I have used it, but the margin allows it; and Weymouth makes it even stronger than the King James Version. Thus there seems to me to be justification for the use I have made of it.) It seems to me, on the basis of these scriptures, that we are justified in saying that God has suffered over sin ever since sin entered the universe. This suffering of God has existed ever since sin entered, and will continue until sin is finally eradicated from the universe.
In confirmation of the conclusion stated, I wish to quote the following: "All heaven suffered in Christ's agony; but that suffering did not begin or end with His manifestation in humanity. The cross is a revelation to our dull senses of the pain that, from its very inception, sin has brought to the heart of God. . . . As the 'whole creation groaneth and travaileth together in pain,' the heart of the infinite Father is pained in sympathy."—"Education," p. 263. "There was a cross in heaven, long ere it was set up on Calvary; that sword pierced the heart of the heavenly Father long before it entered the heart of Mary, Jesus' earthly mother."—Dr. Mabie, in "Divine Reason of the Cross," p. 72.
Sin created a gulf between the creature and the Creator. Man became alienated from God. Holiness and justice demanded that the universe must be purged from sin. Love demanded that the sinner be saved. How may both demands be satisfied? What was to be done that the sinner might be brought back into reconciliation with God?
This brings us to the consideration of the plan of redemption, and in answering these questions we must be careful about assuming that there was only one way in which God could accomplish man's salvation. Infinite Wisdom might have found a hundred ways. But regardless of that, one plan was adopted to save man. We must assume on our knowledge of God that the plan utilized was the best way to work out man's salvation. We may not be able to tell just why it was best, or just why some other plan might not have been just as good; but I do believe we can see that what God has revealed to us in regard to His plan is in harmony with the characteristics which, in our judgment, we must find in God. Let us put this seriatim:
1. The demands of justice and holiness may be deferred, but eventually must be met. The universe must eventually be cleansed from sin.
2. The demands of love must be met. A way must be found to make it possible for every moral creature who will comply with certain conditions, to be saved from destruction and won to God.
3. The plan adopted must be such as not to jeopardize the well-being of any other moral being in the universe. It must be such that the unsaved person must accept fully the responsibility for being finally lost.
4. The plan adopted must uphold the justice of God as well as satisfy His love. Man must be caused to see the holiness of God and the enormity of sin, as well as the love of God reached out to save. Sin cannot be passed over lightly. It is a direct thrust at the moral and spiritual foundations of the universe.
5. There must be propitiation. The justice principle in God demands propitiation; and the love principle in God provides the propitiatory sacrifice demanded. In short, God propitiates Himself. It seems to me, a satisfactory understanding of this point will remove most of the difficulties sometimes urged against the doctrine of the atonement. I do not believe that it is possible to understand this point without accepting the doctrine of the trinity. God is one, but for purposes of our redemption, the Godhead is presented as triune. Each member of the Godhead accepts a certain part in the work of redemption. While each has His part in the plan of redemption, we must not think of them as three separate individuals, even in that work. Each is united with the other two in the work that each has to do.
As an illustration, take the sacrifice of Christ. His sacrifice was in His life and death. But we must know that "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself." 2 Cor. 5: 19. In the sacrifice that Christ made, God the Father suffered as much as Christ did. 'If we fail to see this, we shall fail in seeing the truth concerning the atonement. For the purpose of redemption, the Father appears to typify the principle of justice, while Christ appears to typify the principle of love. But we must not forget that these two principles are to be traced back to their source in undivided Deity. It is the principle of justice in the undivided Godhead that demands propitiation, and it is the principle of love in the undivided Godhead that supplies the propitiation demanded.
6. The sacrifice is vicarious. It is God in Christ suffering for the sins of men, and that men might thereby be saved. No one should stumble at a vicarious sacrifice. The best things we have in life come from such sacrifice. This is a law of nature. Parents suffer over the wrong-doing of their children,—suffer that their children may profit thereby. One generation suffers for the next. The soldier on the field of battle suffers; others benefit from his suffering. The martyrs have suffered, and we profit by the fruits of their suffering. Let no one object, then, when Jesus on the cross of Calvary suffers for our sins. There is no injustice in vicarious suffering when the one who suffers does so voluntarily (John 10:17, 18), as did Jesus, and when the one who suffers is the one who made the law that has been offended.
Denver, Colo.
(To be concluded)
