I’d like to share with you how the death of Jesus Christ results in our salvation. Mine is basically a “Christus Victor” view. You are already familiar with the Christus Victor storyline because it is etched deeply on the human psyche and most Hollywood movies and novels are some variation on the theme. Essentially you have a hero(s) who’s character, quality, and/or skills are tested and tried in a difficult situation and the character is shown to be faithful, devoted, true, or some other worthy qualities that win the heart of the audience and in the process the hero saves the world or wins his truelove, etc.
For example, in Starwars, Luke Skywalker, throughout his trials demonstrates himself to have worthy qualities such as selflessness, devotion, resists the allure of the dark side of the force, endurance and he’s pretty good with a light saber also. Through him the dark side of the force is vanquished and the galaxy is saved.
To understand how Jesus Christ saves the world, there are five main points that are repeated over and over in various ways in scripture:
- Worthiness: The worthiness of Jesus Christ especially as that worthiness is tested, tried, and demonstrated in the context of his trials and sufferings.
- Delight: The Father delights in His worthy Son.
- Reward: The Father rewards the Son in Whom He delights with resurrection, exaltation, a kingdom, a throne, and all power and authority in heaven and on earth.
- Salvation: The Son uses the power and authority given to Him to save, redeem, judge, abolish death, set things right, etc.
- Praise: Every knee bows and every tongue proclaims Him to be their sovereign Lord to the glory of God the Father.
A brief scriptural sketch of these five points and how they relate to each other:
Worthiness
Jesus explained the cross as a demonstration and revelation of His love for the Father to the world. He said that Satan would test and try Him to find any flaws in His love for His father, but that “in Me he has not anything.” There was no lameness in His devotion, and no flaws in His obedience. He was a flawless, blameless sacrifice.
"No longer shall I be speaking much with you, for the Chief of the world is coming, and in Me he has not anything. But that the world may know that I am loving the Father, and according as the Father directs Me, thus I am doing, rouse! We may be going hence!(John 14:30, 31)[said just before going to the cross]
Why was Jesus Christ raised from the dead and exalted to the right hand of God? The Bible repeatedly says because of His worthy qualities demonstrated in His life and death. These worthy qualities are things like humility, obedience, faithfulness, endurance within sufferings, and overcoming the world:
…He humbles Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, also, God highly exalts Him… (Phil 2:8,9)
Thou lovest righteousness and hatest injustice; Therefore Thou art anointed by God, Thy God, with the oil of exultation beyond Thy partners. (Heb 1:9)
The one who is conquering, to him will I be granting to be seated with Me on My throne as I also, conquer, and am seated with my Father on His throne. (Rev 3:21)
In Revelation chapter 5 there is a dramatic search for anyone who could be worthy to take the scroll from Him Who sits on the throne and open it. No one was worthy…but wait! The One Who conquered the World is worthy…”Worthy is the Lambkin slain to get power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” (5:12)
2) Delight, Favor, Well Pleasing, a Fragrant Odor and Acceptance
On two occasions the voice out of heaven said, “My beloved Son in Whom I delight” and Jesus said that He always did the things that pleased His Father(John 8:29) His life wasn’t lived out to please Himself, but was a living sacrifice to please His Father:
…present your bodies a sacrifice, living, holy, well pleasing to God…what is the will of God, good and well pleasing and perfect..
And His death was a sacrificial act of saying “Not my will but thy will be done” and “Lo! I am arriving to do Thy will, O God.” An act of obedience and faithfulness to delight His Father, a “fragrant odor” to God:
Sacrifice and approach present Thou dost not will, Yet a body dost Thou adapt to Me. In ascent approaches and those concerning sin Thou dost not delight. Then said I, “Lo! I am arriving—In the summary of the scroll it is written concerning Me—To do Thy will, O God.”(Heb 10:5-10)
be walking in love, according as Christ also loves you, and gives Himself up for us, an approach present and a sacrifice to God, for a fragrant odor. (Eph 5:2)
In scripture, the sacrifices and offerings were never the object of God’s wrath unless they were unacceptable because they were flawed or imperfect in some way( Example: Malachi 1:8-14). The sacrifices were supposed to gain the delight, favor, acceptance, and blessing of God by being something that was a delight, well pleasing, and a fragrant odor to Him. (Although God really wasn’t interested in the blood of flawless animals, He wanted flawless people who totally loved Him and their neighbor. And such a One was Jesus Christ Who flawlessly did His Father’s will.) Some examples of God’s delight as it relates to sacrifices and offerings:
I have been filled full, receiving from Epaphroditus the things from you, an odor fragrant, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God. (Phil 4:18)
Mercy am I wanting, and not sacrifice (Matt 9:13; 12:7)
And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. (1 Sa 15:22)
3) Reward and Blessing
You should not, then, be casting away your boldness, which is having a great reward…apart from faith it is impossible to be well pleasing for he who is coming to God must believe that He is, and is becoming a Rewarder of those who are seeking Him out. (Heb 10:35;11:6)
If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us;
a land which floweth with milk and honey.(Num 14:8)
But not in the majority of them [Israelites coming out of Egypt] does God delight,
for they were strewn along in the wilderness. (1Cor 10:5)
God…speaks to us in a Son, Whom He appoints enjoyer of the allotment of all. (Heb 1:1,2)
The Father is loving the Son and has given all into His hand. (John 3:35)
Just as Joseph found favor in Pharaoh’s sight and was rewarded for his worthy qualities by being exalted to Pharaoh’s right hand, the Father rewards the Son by saying “Sit at My right, till I should be placing Thine enemies for a footstool for Thy feet.(Heb 1:13)
4) Salvation, redemption, judging, etc.
Just as Joseph used His power and authority to save Egypt from famine and death with His storehouses of grain and to buy the Egyptians themselves to become Pharaoh’s servants, thus also, Jesus Christ uses the spirit, life, power, authority, lordship, throne, and kingdom that is given to Him to abolish death, save men from sin, set things right, judge the living and the dead, etc.
- Praise, Honor, and Worship
Jesus Christ sings the praises of His God and Father Who saved Him out of death:
He is not ashamed to be calling them brethren, saying, “I shall be reporting Thy name to My brethren, In the midst of the ecclesia shall I be singing hymns to Thee.”(Heb 2:11,12)(Ps 22:22 +25)
Then those who are chosen declare the praises of Him Who called them out of darkness into His wonderful light:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him Who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.(1Pe 2:9)
Eventually, everything that has breath sings the praises of the Lord:
Praise the Lord!...Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise Him with strings and pipe!..Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! (Psalm 150)
Here are eight major differences between Penal Substitutionary Atonement(PSA) and Christus Victor:
1)In PSA the cross is about punishment. God is righteous and therefore He has to punish the sinner (or the sinner’s Substitute) in order to maintain His righteousness and justice. In Christus Victor, the cross is a final test and trial of Jesus Christ to test, demonstrate, and reveal His worthy qualities. God had promised to one day put His Spirit and law in man, and here was the first example, Jesus Christ. Would He humble Himself and be obedient to His Father’s will no matter the cost, suffering or sacrifice involved? Would He trust His Father no matter what? Or would He say, “I’m out of here! I love you, Father, but I don’t love you that much!”?
- In PSA the cross is about God’s wrath. God redirects the wrath He has toward sinful man and pours it out on His Son Who suffers the judicial equivalent of eternal punishment in Hell. In Christus Victor, the cross is about God’s delight, and acceptance. It is about something that is well pleasing and a fragrant odor to Him. It’s about a Son Who loves His Father with His whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. It is about a Son Who loves His Father more than His own life. You will never find a verse that states that Jesus Christ was ever the recipient of God’s wrath, but you will find verses speaking of God’s delight in His worthy Son and delight associated with sacrifices and offerings, and especially sacrificial obedience.
- In PSA, reconciliation between God and man is achieved through God satisfying and expending His wrath out upon His Son. In Christus Victor, reconciliation between God and man is achieved through Jesus Christ giving God something in which He can delight. [ It is like a man giving His wife something delightful like beautiful flowers or sweet chocolate, something that she can delight in to gain her favor and perhaps to “cover over” her hurt feelings if he has offended her and thus make atonement, peace, and reconciliation.] And then Jesus Christ uses the Spirit, life, righteousness, and power given to Him to make the sinner righteous, holy, blameless, flawless, well pleasing, delightful, and acceptable to God.
- In PSA, man primarily needs to be saved from the wrath of God and eternal torment in Hell, and being saved from sin and death is an after thought. Indeed, man is usually thought of as having an inherent immortality(immortal soul) that he possesses apart from Christ. So everyone is immortal, it just depends on if you spend that immortality pleasantly in heaven, or unhappily in hell for eternity. In Christus Victor, reconciliation/peace with God/atonement is established through the delight that God has in His flawless and worthy Son. The delight that God has in His beloved son spills over and covers the sins and offenses of man. And not only is the flawless perfection of His Son a delight, but it is a pledge of the coming flawless perfection of those whom Jesus Christ saves and justifies, and conforms into His own image. On the basis of what Jesus Christ is now(perfect and delightful), God reckons and accounts us to be that, because we will be that. [We also should believe it and reckon it to be so in faith.]
- Most people who believe in PSA would probably say that Jesus Christ has always had the throne, power, authority, and kingdom that He does now. But in Christus Victor, these things are given to Him as His reward for His worthiness. And then creation is blessed and saved through Jesus Christ as He uses the spirit, life, power, and authority that is given to Him to save and deliver from sin and death and from the power and influence of Satan.
- In PSA, you wonder what role the resurrection of Christ plays in man’s salvation, for man is saved when Christ dies as a substitute by taking the punishment of God upon Himself. In PSA, it is the “sin guilt” or “sin debt” that is the primary problem, and Jesus Christ, in a legal sense, accepts that “sin guilt” and its punishment upon Himself. In Christus Victor, man is still in His sins(1Cor 15:17) if Jesus Christ is not raised from the dead. That is to say, man is still in the pit of sin and death and sin and death is still lording over him if Jesus Christ is not raised from the dead. In Christus Victor, a dead savior cannot save. Man needs a risen, exalted, enthroned, glorified, empowered, living Savior Who is the source of life(the bread of life, the water of life, the resurrection and the life), spirit, resurrection, righteousness, and strength and Who can give these things to whom He will.
- In PSA, Jesus Christ suffers so that the believer does not have to(for His own sins in hell). In Christus Victor, the greatest privilege for the believer is to enter into the sufferings of Christ and to suffer WITH Christ and thereby be rewarded with a position of honor, glory, power, authority, ruling, and reigning WITH Jesus Christ. Some examples:
Beloved, do not think strange the conflagration among you, which is becoming a trial to you, as of something strange befalling you, but, according as you are participating in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice, that you may be rejoicing, exulting in the unveiling of His glory also. If you are being reproached in the name of Christ, happy are you, for the spirit of glory and power, and that of God, has come to rest on you.(1Peter 4:12-14)
for the enjoyment of an allotment...who are garrisoned by the power of God, through faith, for salvation ready to be revealed in the last era, in which you are exulting; briefly at present, if it must be, being sorrowed by various trials, that the testing of your faith, much more precious than gold which is perishing, yet, being tested by fire, may be found for applause and glory and honor at the unveiling of Jesus Christ(1Pet 1:4-7)
…according as the sufferings of Christ are super abounding in us…(2Cor 1:5)
For the momentary lightness of our affliction is producing for us a transcendently transcendent eonian burden of glory(2Cor 4:17)
For your endurance and faith in all your persecutions and the afflictions with which you are bearing—a display of the just judging of God, to deem you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering also (2Thes 1:4,5)
…yet joint enjoyers of Christ’s allotment, if so be that we are suffering together, that we should be glorified together also…For I am reckoning that the sufferings of the current era do no deserve the glory about to be revealed for us. (Rom 8:17,18)
There is a direct connection between the trial and suffering and the reward of glory for both the Messiah and his disciples. “Must not the Christ be suffering these things, and be entering into His glory?” (Lk 24:26) Suffering, trial, and testing weeds out the messiah wannabes from the true. It demonstrates who really loves God and who just loves himself. It shows who is really led by God’s spirit and who is not. It shows who is really worthy of a position of glory, honor, power, and authority in God’s kingdom and who is not. In Mark 10:32-40, James and John request a position of power and authority at Jesus Christ’s right and left hands in His kingdom. Jesus says this power and authority will only be given to those who participate with Him in drinking the cup of suffering that He will drink and who participate with Him in the baptism of fire He is about to endure. Are they able and worthy to do this?
In Luke 22:28-30 Jesus says that the Father covenanted a kingdom to Him based on His trials. Jesus then says that He will likewise delegate positions of authority in His kingdom to His 12 disciples based on them participating with Him in His trials:
Now you are those who have continued with Me in My trials. And I am covenanting a covenant with you, according as My Father covenanted a kingdom to Me, that you may be eating and drinking at My table in My kingdom. And you will be seated on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Lk 22:28-30)
- In PSA, Jesus saves the world by Himself. Believers are saved by his death and everyone else ultimately remains unsaved and lost. In Christus Victor(my version of Christus Victor), believers not only participate with Jesus Christ in His sufferings, but participate with Jesus Christ in saving, judging, and setting to rights everyone and everything else. Some examples:
A) After talking about suffering with Christ and sharing in Christ’s glory and allotment, (Rom 8:17,18) Paul then goes on to say that the entire creation that is now subject to vanity, corruption, and groaning is looking forward to the time when the sons of God will be unveiled and will be delivered through the sons of God into the glorious freedom of the children of God. (Rom 8:19-23)
B) In Eph 1:15 to 2:10 Paul wants believers to understand the hope and purpose of their calling, how that they are the complement or fullness of Christ, the fullness of Christ’s governing body that will complete all things(1:23) who will be vivified with Christ and seated with Christ in positions of power and authority among the celestials(2:6) and that we will display God’s grace and achievement(2:7) and will be walking in the good works that He has prepared for us to do.
C) Some of those good works the saints will do is judging and setting right the world, messengers and life’s affairs(1 Cor 6:2,3)
D) Those who overcome will be granted to be seated with Jesus Christ on His throne and will be given authority over the nations to shepherd them with a rod of iron(Rev 2:26-28 +3:21) they will be priests of God for the nations and reign with Christ(Rev 20:6).
E) In John chapter 17, Jesus prays that His disciples would have the same unity that He and His Father share(with only Judas being lost from that unity)(John 17:9-16). The oneness of the 12 disciples would then lay the foundation for the oneness of the 12 tribes of Israel to whom they were commissioned(17:18-21). And this is all so that “the world should be believing that Thou dost commission Me.” (John 17:21 +23) This is in accord with what the prophets have said: Israel get’s redeemed and then becomes the light of God to the nations. (Isaiah 59:20-60:10) You see this picture in the book of Revelation also. The foundations of the wall of the New Jerusalem are named after the 12 apostles (Rev21:14) and the nations walk by the light of the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:24) and find healing from the leaves of the tree of life (22:2).