Atonement – What did God have in mind?
July 22nd, 2009 by Bill HyerIn my last post on the atonement, I discussed the first of three perspectives from which to view the atonement: the end result. The second perspective from which to look at this matter of what the atonement of Christ actually and effectually accomplished is from its very origin and beginning in the mind and purpose of God. To state this perspective in another way we can ask the question “What did God intend to accomplish in Christ’s work of atonement?”
We have seen that the cause of the atonement was the will and purpose of God Himself. The atonement took place because God intended it to take place. We have seen from the first perspective of the end result that the Bible reveals that the atonement of Christ was limited in what it accomplished because not everyone is saved. We can then ask, did God accomplish His intended purpose in the atonement of Christ? Once again, there are only two answers:
- Yes, God accomplished His intended purpose in the atonement of Christ.
- No, God did not accomplish His intended purpose in the atonement of Christ.
The answer to this question is based on the fundamental theological issue of whether or not God can and does accomplish what He intends to do. Is the LORD nothing more than a finite god who is limited in his power and wisdom and can be frustrated by the actions of his creatures or is He the Almighty God Who accomplishes whatever He purposes and intends to do? The Bible declares that God does whatever He wills and accomplishes everything that He purposes. Psalm 115:3 states, Our God is in the heavens, He does what ever He pleases. Daniel 4:35 says, All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth. And no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?” And the confession of Job in Job 42:2 was “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.”
The supreme significance of this question can be understood from the fact that the atonement of Christ is the most important thing that God ever intended to do. Because of this, we can then ask the corresponding question, “Did Christ accomplish by His work of atonement what God intended?”
The Bible shows us that Jesus came to do the will of the Father and ultimately that was to make atonement for our sins. Jesus said, “For the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Jesus said that the foremost purpose of His coming into the world was to accomplish the work the Father had given Him to do. He said in John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of Him Who sent Me and accomplish His work. At the end of His life, He spoke of His suffering and death saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour” (John 12:23, 27). Just before He died, Jesus announced that He had accomplished what the Father had sent Him to do by declaring, “It is finished” (John 19:30).
By His suffering and death, Jesus accomplished all that the Father had purposed and intended for His work of atonement to accomplish. While it still remains for the accomplished work of the atonement to be applied to those who will be saved, Christ’s work of atonement is finished and complete. The fact that He has risen, ascended to heaven, and is now seated at the Father’s right hand testifies to His finished and completed work that accomplished all that the Father had intended. As Hebrews 10:11-14 states, contrasting Christ’s finished work to the Old Testament priests, Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
What the finished and completed work of Christ shows us is that Christ effectively accomplished all that the Father intended for Him to accomplish with His work of atonement. Because of this, we may conclude that the intended purpose in the mind of God from the very beginning for the atonement of Christ was that Christ would accomplish the work of salvation for a limited group of people.
We have now examined the first two perspectives from which to view the atonement: the end result (that a limited group of people would be saved) and God’s intended purpose (to save that limited group). In my next post, we will begin considering the third perspective of looking at the atonement by focusing on the atonement itself and the different theological views concerning the actual saving effect of the atonement. The first of three theological views that will be discussed is called unlimited atonement.
