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GOD MANIFEST

GOD MANIFEST. Through the Atoning Work of His Son Jesus Christ. HUMAN SALVATION. Men were not ushered into being for the purpose of being saved or lost!

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GOD MANIFEST

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  1. GOD MANIFEST Through the Atoning Work of His Son Jesus Christ

  2. HUMAN SALVATION • Men were not ushered into being for the purpose of being saved or lost! • God-manifestation, not human salvation, was the grand purpose of the Eternal Spirit. The salvation of a multitude is incidental [secondary] to the manifestation, but it was not the end proposed. • The Eternal Spirit intended to enthrone Himself on the earth, and in so doing, to develop a Divine Family from among men, every one of whom shall be Spirit because born of the Spirit; and that this family shall be large enough to fill the earth, when perfected, to the entire exclusion of flesh and blood. [J Thomas, Herald of the Kingdom, 1858, p84 ] God Manifest in the Atonement

  3. What did bro Thomas mean… “the salvation of a multitude is incidental to the manifestation” • He did not mean that human salvation was of no account, that it was of no concern to the Deity whether men were saved or lost, that it didn’t matter. • What he did mean was that God Manifestation was the primary purpose in creation, filling the earth with the glory of Yahweh—His character, His attributes, His righteousness, His truth. • “The salvation of sinners is not an end in itself; rather it is a means of fulfilling the Creators greater overreaching purpose to populate the entire earth with a single family, each member of which displays His glorious attributes.” God Manifest in the Atonement

  4. Questions to be answered HOW IS IT: • that the sacrifice of Christ can provide salvation? • that in the death and resurrection of the Son of God we can be freed from sin? • that the beloved Son willingly going to the cross was a declaration of the Father’s righteousness? • that the death of Christ destroyed the devil? • that it was essential for him to be identical to us in sharing our nature? • that he could say “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father?” God Manifest in the Atonement

  5. God is the author of our salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. • He saw there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto Him; and his righteousness, it sustained Him. [Isa 59:16] • The son of man thou madest strong for thyself. [Ps 80:17] • God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. [Rom 5:8] • All things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ... God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. [2Cor 5:18] • It is God’s redemptive plan, He is the author of it: not for our merit, but for his purpose to manifest Himself in a host of redeemed ones. God Manifest in the Atonement

  6. Jesus Christ and him crucified: the only power that can overcome flesh. • I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. [1Cor 2:1] • Not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect [emptied of power]. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing; to us who are being saved it is the power of God. [1Cor 1:17] • The Bible presents the cross of Christ as the death of sin, and the righteousness of God’s way of condemning sin, and the power of the sacrifice of Christ to transform men and women into spiritual people, who manifest his holiness and his character in their new way of life. God Manifest in the Atonement

  7. He did not die instead of us;we all died to sin with him. • If One died for all, then all died; he died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again. [2Cor 5:14] • Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. [Gal 5:24] • If we died with him, we shall live with him. [2Tim 2:11] • He overcame sin by his perfect life, took the body of sin [human nature, diabolos] to the cross and put it to death, to destroy its power, then rose triumphant over sin, death and the grave. • We share his victory by becoming one with him and identifying with his death to sin. God Manifest in the Atonement

  8. It is helpful to look first at what Christ was NOT doing at the cross • Christ was not suffering anyone’s punishment: • There was no punishment at the cross. God’s righteousness could not be declared by punishing His Son for our sins. • He was showing what sinners must actually do: put to death the old man within them. • Christ did not deserve the cross because he had human nature: • He was doing the work of destroying sin, to redeem himself and us from the power of sin and death. • Christ was not merely going through a ritual: • He was doing the actual work of destroying sin literally. He was doing what had to be done by one of our race in order to redeem the race. God Manifest in the Atonement

  9. The two aspects of SIN in the Bible are the key to the redeeming work of Christ: • Personal transgressionof God’s law—the FRUIT. • Human nature—with its bias to sin—the ROOT. • We have both—sinful flesh and actual sins. • Christ had only one—sinful flesh. He destroyed the root, never permitted it to bear fruit. • But by having sinful flesh he could overcome and condemn sin in its own arena, and finally put it to death on the cross. God Manifest in the Atonement

  10. God’s Redemptive Plan deals with both aspects of sin: • Personal transgressions—God has provided a way to righteously forgive our sins when we unite with Christ in baptism and commit to his way of life; when we lose our own identity and Christ lives in us. [Gal 2:20] • Human nature—God motivates us to fight it and overcome it! The cross is the power of God to draw us away from sin and to break its hold in our lives » I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me [to crucify self and live my way of life].[Jn 12:32] God Manifest in the Atonement

  11. Sin and death are inherited from our first parents. • By one man sin entered the world, and death by sin, and thus death passed upon all men, because all sinned. [Rom 5:12] • For as by one man’s disobedience many were made [constituted] sinners, so also by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous. [v19] • Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command and introduced sin into the world. Death followed for them, and for all their posterity because all sin. • We are made sinners by having a nature so biased toward evil that we are inevitable sinners. We are made righteous by uniting with Christ and letting him live in us. God Manifest in the Atonement

  12. The result of sin. • The imagination of man’sheart is evilfrom his youth. [spoken to faithful Noahafter the flood][Gen 8:21] • Theheart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked. [Jer 17:9] • From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts. [Mk 7:21] • You shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. [Gal 5:16] • Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires. [Jas 1:14] • All that is in the world is not of the Father, but from man, from his carnal thoughts willingly adopted from the serpent. God Manifest in the Atonement

  13. Flesh is weak and prone to evil. • I know that in me [in my flesh] nothing good dwells. [Rom 7:18] • If you live according to flesh you will die. [Rom 8:13] • The flesh profits nothing. [John 6:63] • Put off... the old man, which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. [Eph 4:22] Why would God choose to work with flesh? • We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God, not us. [2Cor 4:7] • My strength is made perfect in weakness. [2Cor 12:9] • Why? So that no man may boast before God. [1Cor 1:29] God Manifest in the Atonement

  14. The Law of Sin is a physical principle in our nature. • Sin that dwells in me. [in every cell of my body][Rom 7:17] • The law of sin... in my members. [Rom 7:23] • The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. [Rom 8:2] • We have in our physical make-up by inheritance two laws, one leading to moral corruption, the other to physical corruption. • The law of sin is a bias, a propensity to transgress; a principle which inevitably culminates in sin, and is described in Scripture as sin, or sin in the flesh. • Our nature is called sin because our nature is what causes us to sin. God Manifest in the Atonement

  15. The two aspects of SIN • “The word sin is used in two principal acceptations in the scripture. It signifies in the first place, thetransgressionof thelaw; and in the next, it represents thatphysicalprincipleof the animal nature, which is the cause of all its diseases, death, and resolution into dust. • “It is that in the flesh which has the power of death; and it is called sin, because the development, or fixation, of this evil in the flesh, was the result of transgression. • “Inasmuch as this evil principle pervades every part of the flesh, the animal nature is styledsinful flesh, that is, flesh full of sin; so that sin came to stand for the substance called man.” [Elpis Israel, p126] God Manifest in the Atonement

  16. A Statement of the Faith:Our Basis of Fellowship • “V.—That Adam broke this law, and was adjudged unworthy of immortality, and sentenced to return to the ground from whence he was taken—a sentence which defiled and became a physical law of his being, and was transmitted to all his posterity.” • This is the condemnation we bear from Adam, the physical inheritance of the nature of Adam, placed under the condemnation of death because of sin. • Christ had the same physical nature defiled by mortality and sinful flesh: but he had no inherited guilt, no moral defilement, no estrangement or alienation from his Father ever at any time. God Manifest in the Atonement

  17. Man as created, and the change after sinning. • Man was created “very good”—temptation came from without, he was tempted by the serpent. • After sinning, man was physically defiled—he is now tempted from within and without. • Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden with a double problem: a nature both mortal and sinful. • God put enmity between the two classes of seeds. “I will put enmity between you [serpent] and the woman, between your seed and her seed. [Gen 3:15] • Enmity: deep, mutual hatred, hostility, conflict. God did it to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, to reveal sin as exceedingly sinful. God Manifest in the Atonement

  18. Sanctify them by thy Truth. • The Truth is the means devised of Yahweh to sanctify men for his purpose. • it is designed to change characters, not merely to instruct. • It will energize and motivate a person to do the will of God, and becomes the power of God working in him to effect the divine purpose. • We must be pliable to the influence of the Word, and allow God to work in us to change us for the Kingdom. • We must not be hardened, but malleable to the divine molding, responding to the effects of both the Word and our circumstances, to purify our characters. God Manifest in the Atonement

  19. Jesus Christ: Son of God and Son of Man The conflict in Jesus was intense and unremitting

  20. He had to be Son of God. • No man born of human parents could ever achieve perfect faith and obedience, which God required as the basis for our forgiveness. • God sent forth His Son, born of a woman. [Gal 4:4] • His Son Jesus Christ born of the seed of David according to the flesh. [Rom 1:3] • Youwill conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son… the Holy Spirit will come upon you… that Holy One to be born will be called… the Son of God. [Luke 1:31,35] • Sonship conveyed an insight with his Father, fitting him eminently to be the Savior. • It made sinlessness possible, if he did his part, of his own free will―it did not make him sinless. God Manifest in the Atonement

  21. He had to be Son of man. • In order to inherit the consequences of Adam’s sin: a mortal, sin-prone nature. Sin could only be condemned by one who possessed the same sinful flesh. • He had to be tempted in all points like us, yet without actual sin. • As the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil [diabolos/adversary].[Heb 2:14] • God, by sending his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh [same as, identical to]... condemned sin in the flesh. [Rom 8:3] • Christ’s death destroyed the real devil within us: sin-in-the-flesh; the “elements of corruption in our nature inciting it to transgression”. [Eureka 1 p106] God Manifest in the Atonement

  22. His Father’s righteousness was developed in him by faith. • Jesus increased in wisdom and in favor with God and men. [Lk 2:52] • In the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save him [out of] death though he was a Son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. Having been perfected, he became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him. [Heb 5:7-9] • He didn’t start out a perfect, complete spiritual man. His Father’s righteousness was developed in him by faith—he trusted his Father to do what was impossible for any man to do in his own strength: to keep him from sinning. God Manifest in the Atonement

  23. Being God’s son gave him a close affinity for his Father’s mind and character. • The Lord God has given me the tongue of a disciple that I should know how to speak He awakens me morning by morning to listen as a disciple. He has opened my ear for the Lord God helps me. [Isa 50:4-7] • I do nothing of myself; as my Father taught me, I speak. [John 8:28] • The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do. [5:19] • All things I heard from my Father I have made known to you. [15:15] • Sonship gave him an intimacy with his Father, an unequaled knowledge of what was in man. • Sonship did not make him sinless, but made sinlessness possible. God Manifest in the Atonement

  24. The conflict in Jesus was intense! • From Mary—physical defilement: mortality and human nature with its propensity to sin. • From his Father—physical potential for perfect obedience. • Ps 40 is clearly messianic; applied to Christ in Heb 10. • I delight to do your will, O my God, your law is within my heart. [v6/8] • Innumerable evils have surrounded me; my iniquities have over taken me. [v11/12] • He had no actual iniquities, but the never ending battle with the flesh was intense. • His natural bias to sin was overcome by a stronger bias for his Father’s mind. God Manifest in the Atonement

  25. The Root and the Fruit • The ROOT (sinful flesh) and the FRUIT (actual sins). • We have BOTH—sinful flesh and actual sins. • Christ had only ONE—sinful flesh. • He destroyed the ROOT, and never permitted it to bear FRUIT. • By having sinful flesh he could deal with SIN in its own arena, overcome and defeat it daily, then conquer it completely by putting it to death on the cross. • Jesus was a mortal man with the sin tendencies of human nature, but with the physical potential to conquer that nature with his Father’s help. God Manifest in the Atonement

  26. We see him down in the evil • “We see Jesus born of a woman, and therefore a partaker of the identical nature condemned to death in Eden. We see him a member of imperfect human society, subject to toil and weakness, dishonor and sorrow, poverty and hatred, and all the other evils that have resulted from the advent of sin upon the earth. • “We see him down in the evil he was sent to cure not outside of it, not untouched by it, but in it, to put it away. He was made perfect through suffering, but he was not perfect till he was through it.” [Law of Moses, p172] • There could be no short cut in preparing Christ for glory, nor for us. God Manifest in the Atonement

  27. He who did no sin… • In all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. [Heb 4:15] • Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. [7:26] • Who did no sin. [1Pet 2:22] • In him there is no sin [no actual transgression].[1John 3:5] …was made sin for us. • He made him who knew no [actual] sin to be sin for us [by giving him our nature].[2Cor 5:21] • Christ suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust being put to death in the flesh. [1Pet 3:18] • “Sin had hold of him in his nature, but it had no hold of him in his character.” [Blood of Christ, p16] God Manifest in the Atonement

  28. God brought Jesus to the cross. • It pleased the Lord to bruise him; He has put him to grief [to condemn sin and destroy its power].[Isa 53:10] • You could have no power against me unless given you from above [by the Father].[John 19:11] • Him, being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have crucified, and put to death[a slow, agonizing death to everything of flesh].[Acts 2:23] • He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered him up for us all. [Rom 8:32] • Flesh is so tough, so bent to evil, so determined to have its own way, it must be totally condemned by one of the race who was perfectly sinless. God Manifest in the Atonement

  29. God redeemed His Son first from the power of sin and death • God...brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead...through the blood of the everlasting covenant. [Heb 13:20] • Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood he entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption [in himself]. [Heb 9:12] • Who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins and then for the people’s; this he did once when he offered himself. [7:27] • He had no personal sins that required an offering. • This made it crystal clear that it was his human nature, sin’s flesh, from which he was redeemed. God Manifest in the Atonement

  30. Who gave himself for us (Titus 2:14). • Christ died for us. [Rom 5:8] • Christ was sacrificed for us. [1Cor 5:7] • Who gave himself for our sins. [Gal 1:4] • Who died for us. [1Thes 5:10] • Christ also suffered for us. [1Pet 2:21] • He laid down his life for us. [1John 3:16] • For us does not mean instead of us, or in place of us, but rather on our behalf, on account of us. • Christ died as one of us on our behalf to show clearly that sin nature must be conquered and put to death as the righteous basis for God to forgive our sins. God Manifest in the Atonement

  31. For himself first [Law of Moses, p173] • “That statement that he did these things for us has blinded many to the fact that he did them for himself first; without which, he could not have done them for us, for it was by doing them for himself that he did them for us. • “He did them for us only as we may become part of him, in merging our individualities in him by taking part in his death, and putting on his name and sharing his life. • “The release began with himself—He destroyed that hold which the devil had obtained inhimself through extraction from Adam… The devil was not destroyed out of Christ. He was destroyed in him.[R Roberts, 1875, p375] • “We have to get into Christ to get the benefit. In him we obtain the deliverance accomplished in him.“ God Manifest in the Atonement

  32. A Statement of the Faith:OurBasisofFellowship • “VIII—That these promises had reference to Jesus Christ, who was to be raised up in the condemned line of Abraham and David, and who, though wearing their condemned nature, was to obtain a title to resurrection by perfect obedience, and, by dying, abrogate[abolish, do away with, nullify]the law of condemnation for himself and all who should believe and obey him.” • It was for himself first, in order that it might be for us. • Unless the Lord destroyed the diabolos in himself through death, there was no possibility for it to be ultimately removed in us. God Manifest in the Atonement

  33. Christ’s death destroyed the devil—SIN. • Through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, the devil. [Heb 2:14] • Bysending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh. [Rom 8:3] • He has appeared to put away sin [in himself] by the sacrifice of himself. [Heb 9:26] THE BIBLE DEVIL IS SIN IN THE FLESH. • What is meant by ‘devil’ in Heb 2:14? Sin in the flesh. [Good Confession #120] • The devil is the scriptural personification of Sin in the flesh. [Declaration #23] • Him that hath the power of death, the devil (or Sin in the flesh). [Instructor #55] • Sin in the flesh is the devil destroyed by Jesus in his death. [Christendom Astray, p172] God Manifest in the Atonement

  34. Christ’s death declared God righteous. • The righteousness of God is revealed… through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation [mercy seat, Heb 9:5]by his blood, through faith to demonstrate his righteousness, that he might be just and thejustifier of the one who is of the faith of Jesus. [Rom 3:21-26] • Christ’s obedient death declared that God was righteous in requiring the condemning of sin and putting to death the body of sin. • God was seen to be just in taking Christ to the cross, and to be the justifier of those who are of the faith of Jesus and are united with him in his death to sin. God Manifest in the Atonement

  35. By willingly going to the cross… • Jesus in effect said “My Father is right to require this of me.” Only an innocent, sinless man could declare God righteous in condemning sin in the flesh. None of us could have done it, we deserve death for our own sins. • He didn’t, so the issue was crystal clear: God is righteous in requiring our old man be put to death! • Therefore my Father loves me, because I lay down my life [in order] that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, I lay it down of myself... this command I have received from my Father. [John 10:17] • He had a right to resurrection because he was sinless; the grave could not hold him. God Manifest in the Atonement

  36. God says now: • “If you will recognize your position, repent, and come under that man’s wing, I will receive you back to favor and forgive you. • “My righteousness has been declared in him; I have crowned him with everlasting days. Because he loved righteousness and hated iniquity, and was obedient unto death, I have crowned him with life eternal. • “It is in him for you if you will submit, and believe in him, and put on his name, which is a confession that you have no name of your own that will stand. • “Obey his commandments, and I will receive you and forgive you for his sake, and you shall be my sons and daughters.” [R Roberts, The Blood of Christ, p19] God Manifest in the Atonement

  37. Jesus Christ was one of us, our Representative The Sacrifice of Christ could not be for us without first being for himself

  38. Jesus Christ was one of us, our Representative. • He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren: [Heb 2:11-13] • I will declare your name to my brethren. [Ps 22:22] • I will put my trust in Him. [Christ saved by faith][2Sam 22:3] • As the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil [diabolos, adversary].[v14] • In all things he had to be made like his brethren… to make propitiation/reconciliation [2433 mercy seat, covering, forgiveness] for the sins of the people. In that he himself has suffered, being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted. [v17] God Manifest in the Atonement

  39. Propitiation / Mercy Seat • “God, be merciful[2433] to me a sinner!” [Lk 18:13] • He is the propitiation[2434] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. [1Jn 2:2] • In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation[2434] for our sins. [1Jn 4:10] • Whom God set forth as a propitiation[2435] by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. [Ro 3:25] • Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat[2435].[Heb 9:5] • The place where God extends mercy to those in Christ, where sins are forgiven and covered, where man is reconciled to God. God Manifest in the Atonement

  40. He was made SIN for us. • He made him who knew no [actual] sin to be sin for us [in his nature].[2Cor 5:21] • He died to sin once. [Rom 6:10] • Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many... he will appear a second time, apart from sin [without sin, not to deal with sin].[Heb 9:28] • Christ suffered once for sins... being put to death in the flesh. [1Pet 3:18] • “As he was in character sinless, this could only apply to his bodily constitution, which through Mary was the sin-nature of Adam.” [Christendom Astray, p138] God Manifest in the Atonement

  41. His baptism was his pledge to redeem himself from sin. • Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. [Mt 3:15] • Jesus being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened. [Lk 3:21] • But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished! [Lk 12:50] • Are you able to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? [Mt 20:22] • Baptism is a repudiation of the sin nature, the earnest he would go to the cross as one of us, to declare God righteous and to condemn sin. • He came out of the water praying, seeking strength to overcome sin and fulfill his baptism pledge. God Manifest in the Atonement

  42. SIN is a synonym for human nature. • “Paul says: ‘God made him to be sin for us’... This he explains by saying, that ‘He sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh’... The purpose of God was to condemn sin in the flesh; a thing that could not have been accomplished, if there were no sin there... • “Sinful flesh being the hereditary nature of Jesus, he was a fit and proper sacrifice for sin.” [Elpis p128] • “Sin had to be condemned in the nature that had transgressed… He took part of the same that through death he might destroy the diabolos, or elements of corruption in our nature inciting it to transgression, and therefore called ‘Sin working death in us.’ The character of Jesus was holy, harmless, undefiled; but his flesh was like our flesh, weak and unclean.”[Eureka 1, p106] God Manifest in the Atonement

  43. The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all, by giving him a nature like ours. • He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows … He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed… The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. [Isa 53:4-6] • Who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree... by whose stripes you were healed. [1Pet 2:24] • It was not some figurative, mystical transfer of our sins from us to him. This would have made him a substitute. • He literally had our nature and was burdened with it. Our transgressions, iniquities and sins are the outflow of our sinful nature. God Manifest in the Atonement

  44. Our sins laid on him... • “The ceremonial imposition of sins upon the animals was the type; the real putting of sin on the Lamb of God in the bestowal of a prepared sin-body wherein to die, is the substance.” [R Roberts, Christadelphian, 1873, p462] • “Sinful flesh was laid upon him, ‘that through death, he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil,’ or sin in the flesh.” [Elpis Israel, p99] • “God dealt with him representatively. There is a great difference between a representative and a substitute. A representative is not disconnected from those represented who go through with him all that he goes through. But a substitute does his part instead of those for whom he is the substitute, and these are dissociated from the transaction.” [Christendom Astray, p147] God Manifest in the Atonement

  45. Jesus Christ Is OurRepresentative • Substitution • Jesus died in our place as our substitute. • He suffered the punishment we deserve. • We can escape punishment since all our sins (past, present, future) have been borne away by Christ. • Representation/Identification • Christ died to redeem himself first, as one of us, from inherited mortality and sin nature. • He was NOT suffering anyone’s punishment. He willingly died to show us that sin nature must be overcome and put to death. • God can righteously forgive our sins because we are identified with Christ’s destruction of sin, and our total effort to conform our life to his. God Manifest in the Atonement

  46. Different viewpoints of the cross • THE PEOPLE judged Christ as a criminal who deserved to die a judicial death and punished him with crucifixion. • Christianity has built its substitution theory on this view, that God put Jesus through the punishment sinners deserve so sinners would not have to be punished. They present Jesus as an innocent victim who died only for us in obedience to God. • GOD AND CHRIST looked on the cross as the complete destruction of sin. They finished the moral battle against sin that had been taking place in Jesus every day of his life, by literally, physically killing the cause of sin in Christ himself. They judged the diabolos [the devil] in human nature, condemned it to death, and physically killed it. God Manifest in the Atonement

  47. The Sacrifice of Christ could not be for us without being for himself inclusively. • “What was accomplished was accomplished in himself alone. We come to the foundation he laid [united to him in baptism]. It does not appear how the Sacrifice of Christ for us could be scripturally understood without this being perceived. Away from this the heathen notion of substitution is the only idea that remains.” [RR 1888 p764] THETWOFEDERALHEADS. • As by one man’s disobedience many were made [constituted] sinners, by one man’s obedience many will be made [constituted] righteous. [Rom 5:19] • In Adam all die, in Christ all shall be made alive. [1Cor 15] • “Sin was condemned in a federal representative. The human race is, as it were, crucified in His Son.” [R Roberts, Blood of Christ, p18] God Manifest in the Atonement

  48. A Statement of the Faith:Our Basis of Fellowship • “XII.—That for delivering this message, he was put to death by the Jews and Romans, who were, however, but instruments in the hands of God, for the doing of that which He had determined before to be done, viz., the condemnation of sin in the flesh, through the offering of the body of Jesus once for all, as a propitiation to declare the righteousness of God, as a basis for the remission of sins. • “All who approach God through this crucified, but risen, representative of Adam’s disobedient race, are forgiven. Therefore, by a figure, his blood cleanseth from sin.” God Manifest in the Atonement

  49. ONE of the race. • “Because of sin, God ordained that the race should be purified by a perfect, obedient, freewill, blood-shedding sacrifice from the race itself. One who would in himself embody the race;a sacrifice to fulfill in reality in himself what was required of the race; and then to absorb the whole race into himself, and into the victory over sin, and the purification from sin, that he had wrought for himself.” God required an actual destroying of SIN. • The obedient life was to defeat and conquer and subdue SIN in himself. The obedient death that completed that obedient life was to condemn and destroy SIN in himself. • God required—not a symbol, nor a shadow—but a REALITY; a real over coming and conquering of SIN, a real condemning and destroying of SIN. God Manifest in the Atonement

  50. His motive was love... • It was not for himself that he redeemed himself. His motive was love for God and for his brethren. • He was specifically created to redeem the race, and he joyfully accepted the great work for which he was born. He was purposely created OF the race and IN the race. • His whole purpose of existence was to save the race, to represent the race, to incorporate the whole race into himself. God Manifest in the Atonement

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