Chapter 36
The
Satisfaction Of Christ
"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for
the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of
God should taste death for every man. {10} For it became him, for whom are all
things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make
the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” -- Hebrews 2:9-10
Without
question, the most wondrous of all God’s works is the work of redemption. When
we attempt to consider what that work involved, we are lost in astonishment.
When we think of the unutterable depths of shame and sorrow into which the Lord
of glory entered to save us, we are awed and staggered. A. W. Pink wrote…
“That the eternal Son of God
should lay aside the robes of His ineffable glory and take upon Him the form of
a servant, that the Ruler of heaven and earth should be ‘made under the law’ (Gal. 4:4), that the Creator of the universe
should tabernacle in this world and ‘have
not where to lay His head’ (Matt. 8:20), is something which no finite mind
can comprehend; but where carnal reason fails us, God-given faith believes and
worships.”
As
we trace the path of our Savior from the throne of life to the tomb of death
and behold him who was rich, for our sakes, becoming poor, that we through his
poverty might be made rich, we cannot fathom the depths of the wonders before
us.
We know that every step in the path of our Redeemer’s humiliation was
ordained in the eternal purpose of God. Yet, it was a path of immeasurable
sorrow, unutterable anguish, ceaseless ignominy, bitter hatred, and relentless
persecution that, at last, brought the beloved Son of God, the Darling of
heaven, to suffer the painful, shameful death of the cross! Who could ever have
imagined such things as these?
Standing at the foot of the cross, as I behold the Holy One nailed to
the cursed tree, covered with his own blood and the spit of an enraged mob,
made to be sin, forsaken and cursed of God his Father, yet, realizing that this
is the work of God’s own hand, I am lost in astonishment! I am filled with
reverence and awe (2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13).
‘Yonder - amazing sight! - I
see
The incarnate Son of God
Expiring on the cursed tree,
And weltering in His blood.
Behold, a purple torrent run
Down from his hands and
head,
The crimson tide puts out
the sun;
His groans awake the dead.
The trembling earth, the
darkened sky,
Proclaim the truth aloud;
And with the amazed
centurion, cry,
‘This is the Son of God!’”
Awed as I am with reverence for my crucified Lord, still there is a question that I cannot suppress, a question that reason and sound judgment cannot fail to ask. The question is just this: -- Why? Why did the Son of God suffer such a death? Why did God so torment his beloved Son and kill him in such a horribly ignominious way?
Was it to save my soul? I
know that he did so that I might live. He suffered, the Just for the unjust,
that he might bring me to God. But was there no other way for the omnipotent
God to save me? -- Was all this done to
demonstrate the greatness of God’s love to me? Indeed it was (Rom. 5:8; 1 John
3:16; 4:9-10).
“Jesus, who left His throne
on high,
Left the bright realms of
bliss,
And came to earth to bleed
and die,
Was ever love like this?”
But,
surely, God could have revealed his love to me in some other way. Why did he
slay his Son? What necessity was there
for the Son of God to suffer and die upon the cursed tree?
Only one answer can be found to that question. -- The justice of God had to be satisfied.
There was no necessity for God to save anyone. Salvation is altogether the free
gift of his grace. But, having determined to save his elect from the ruins of
fallen humanity, the only way God could save his people and forgive their sins
was by the death of Christ. “Without
shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb. 9:22). The justice of God had to be
satisfied in order for God to save his people; and the only thing that could
ever satisfy the justice of God is the blood of Christ.
I
want to show you from the Word of God both the necessity and the blessedness of
Christ’s satisfaction of divine justice by his death on the cross. This is a
doctrine of utmost importance. It is the glory of the gospel and the glory of
the Christian religion. It is the satisfaction of divine justice by the death
of Christ that distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. Take the
cross out of Christianity, take away the satisfaction of Christ by his death
upon the cross, and Christianity is of no more value and benefit to the souls
of men than Judaism, Islam, or Hinduism. This is of paramount importance,
because without satisfaction for sin, there could be no salvation from it.
The Scriptures warn us of “damnable
heresies” brought in by false prophets. Among those damnable heresies, none
is more common and none more destructive to the souls of men than the denial of
Christ’s satisfaction (Heb. 10:26-29[1]).
Perhaps
Hebrews 2:9-10 states the necessity of Christ’s satisfaction for sin more
clearly than any other single text.
“We see Jesus” -- We see him with the eye of
faith. We see him, because the Spirit of God has revealed him to us. We see
that he is Jesus, our Savior, the Christ of God. We see in him the fulness of
the Godhead (Col. 2:9), the fulness of grace (John 1:14; Col. 1:19), and the
fulness of redemption (Eph. 1:7). We see him as Christ, our Redeemer, the Son
of God, the Son of Man, the Lord our Righteousness. We see him as our all (1
Cor. 1:31). Do you see him? If you do, flesh and blood has not revealed him to
you, but our Father in heaven.
“Who was made a little
lower than the angels” -- He who made the angels was made a little lower than
the angels. He was made of the seed of woman, made to be a man, “made under the law, to redeem them that
were under the law” (Gal. 4:4-5). This is the reason for the incarnation.
This is why Christ was made a little lower than the angels…
“For the suffering of
death” -- The
Son of God came into this world for the purpose of suffering death. He did not
come to be an earthly monarch in Jerusalem. He did not come to establish a new
religion. He did not come to be a reformer, or a mere example of morality and
virtue. Christ, the Son of God, became a man so that he might die in the place
of men and redeem them. He came here to die, because there was no other way for
his people to be saved and live. We see this too, since he suffered and died in
the place of his people, the Lord Jesus Christ is now…
“Crowned with glory and
honor” (Phil.
2:8-11). -- Christ is exalted. That Man who died for us at Calvary is now
crowned with glory, given all honor, as the Lord of all. The God-man, the
Man-God, who died for us, now rules the world to save those people for whom he
died (John 17:2). Now, look at the next line. Christ “was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death…”
“That he by the grace of
God should taste death for every man.” This statement, like all others, must be
interpreted within its context and in the light of the entire Word of God. Is
this a declaration that Christ died even for those for whom he refused to pray
(John 17:9), for those who are not his sheep (John 10:11), for those who are
vessels of wrath fitted to destruction (Rom. 9:22), for those from whom he has
hidden both his works and his grace (Matt. 11:20-25)? Of course not! Does this
statement mean that Christ died for those who suffer the wrath of God in hell?
No. That would be a declaration that there are some for whom Christ shed his
blood in vain and would be a denial of the efficacy of his atonement. What,
then, is the meaning of this statement? “That
he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”
Christ died not merely as a good example, or merely for the good of
men, but as the Surety, in the room and place of men. However, our translators,
with no apparent reason except to make the sentence read more easily, added the
word “man”. In the Greek text there simply is no word in this verse that should
be translated “man.” The sentence literally should be translated, “That he by
the grace of God should taste death for every,” or “for all,” or “for every
one.” The Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died upon the cursed tree for every
one of the sons he would bring to glory (v. 10), for every one of the brethren
he is not ashamed to own (v. 11), for every member of the church, in the midst
of which he will sing praise (v. 12), for every one of the children God the
Father had given him to save, for whose sake he assumed flesh and blood (v. 13),
and for every one of Abraham’s seed, God’s elect, whom he took hold of to save
(v. 16).
Why was the Son of God made so humble as to suffer and die for his
people? What necessity was there for his humiliation and death in the room and
stead of his people? Read verse 10…
“For it became him”--
It was
necessary, if God would save sinners and bring them to glory, that the Son of
God must suffer in their room and stead all that the law and justice of God
could demand. The Scriptures plainly declare that there was a necessity for the
death of Christ (Matt. 16:21; 26:29; John 3:14). It was necessitated by the
decree of God (Acts 2:23), -- Christ’s covenant engagements as our Surety (John
10:17-18), -- the prophecies of the Old Testament (Matt. 26:54), -- and the
election of grace. God did not have to save anyone; but since he has chosen to
save some, the only way he could save them was by the satisfaction of justice,
through the sacrifice of his own dear Son.
When Paul says, “it became him,” that
it was necessary for God to slay his Son to save his people, lest we begin to
think that this implies some weakness in God, he immediately describes our God
with these words - “for whom are all
things and by whom are all things.” Here the Lord God is described as
that One who is both the ultimate end and first cause of all things (Rom.
11:36). All things are for him. He made all things for himself, for
the glorifying of all the perfections of his nature (Pro. 16:4; 2 Cor. 5:18).
And all things are by him. All things in nature, all things in
providence, all things in redemption, and all things in grace are the work of
our God.
“In bringing many sons
unto glory” -- This is an intimation of God’s gracious designs toward his elect. Those
whom Christ came to save are many. They were already the sons of God by eternal
adoption and divine predestination long before Christ came to redeem them (Gal.
4:4-6). In the covenant of grace, our God declared, “I will be their Father, and they shall be my sons and daughters.” We
were chosen to be the children of God from eternity. We were given power and
authority to become the sons of God and given the nature of God’s sons in the
new birth (John 1:12-13). We were openly and manifestly declared to be the sons
of God when we believed by faith in Christ. Our faith in Christ does not make
us God’s sons. Adoption did that. Faith simply receives the adoption of sons
and looks upon God through Christ as our Father (Gal. 4:6; Rom. 8:15-16).
The sons of God are many, a great multitude which no man can number,
ten thousand times ten thousand. They are the many chosen of God in electing
love, -- the many for whom Christ gave his life a ransom, -- the many for whom
his blood was shed for the remission of sins, -- the many made righteous by his
obedience, -- the many for whom many mansions are prepared in the Father’s
house. Of these many sons, John Gill wrote …
“God has chosen them ‘through sanctification of the Spirit and
belief of the truth’, to the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ! Christ died for them, and by means of his death, they receive the
promise of eternal inheritance, and the inheritance itself. God calls them by
his grace to eternal glory, and makes them ‘meet
to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.’”
The Person by whom God’s elect are brought to glory is Christ, “the Captain of their salvation.” He
is called “the Captain” of our salvation, because he is the One in
charge of it, the One responsible for it, the One whose arm alone has
accomplished it.
As the Captain of our salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ was “made perfect through sufferings.” That
is to say, the way, the means by which our great Savior saved us and perfected,
or completed his work as the Captain of our salvation, was by his perfect
sufferings and death as our Substitute. Apart from his sufferings for the
satisfaction of justice there could have been no salvation. “Though he were a Son, yet learned he
obedience by the things which he suffered: And being made perfect, he became
the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Heb. 5:8-9).
It was necessary for Christ to suffer and die on the cross, under the
wrath of God, to save his people. I repeat -- he did not have to save us. But
if he saved us, he could not save in any other way. Justice demanded it (Pro.
16:6; 17:15; Rom. 4:5; 1 Pet. 3:18). This is what the Spirit of God teaches us
in Hebrews 2:9-10: Since it was the design, purpose, and pleasure of the
Almighty to bring some of the sons of men into eternal glory and happiness as the
sons of God by Christ, it was necessary for Christ, the Son of God, to suffer
all that the law and justice of God required for the punishment of sin, dying
under the wrath of God as our Substitute.
I do not say that the satisfaction of Christ procures the love of God
for us. It does not. The death of Christ is the fruit of God’s love, not the
cause of it. But I am saying that it is the death of Christ and the
satisfaction of justice by his death that opens the way into the embraces of
God’s arms. We could never have been reconciled to God without the shedding of
Christ’s blood.
“Let me observe to you something relating to experience, which you would do well to lay up in your minds. It may be of use to you hereafter, when you may be tempted to doubt of your interest in Christ’s satisfaction. Have you any reason to believe that you have, at any time, had communion with God, in private or in public, in your closet, or in the family, or in the house of God, under any ordinance, either the ministry of the Word, or prayer, or the Supper of the Lord? Then you may be assured Christ has made satisfaction for you; or you would never have enjoyed such communion” (John Gill).
Let me summarize the teaching of Holy Scripture with regard to the satisfaction of Christ by making six statements about it. These six facts are both plainly revealed throughout the Scriptures and irrefutable.
1. All men and women by nature, since the fall
of our father Adam, are sinners, alienated from God.
“All have sinned and come
short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). As sinners, we are alienated from the life of God and have
become enemies unto God. The wages of our sin and enmity to God is death. Every
transgression must receive its just recompense of reward (Heb. 2:2). All sin
must be punished, either in the sinner or in the sinner’s Substitute. The law,
being broken, accuses of sin, condemns the sinner, and demands death. Unless
satisfaction is made, the sentence of the law must be executed. The sanction of
the law is death. It can never be abrogated, changed, altered, or abated. God
will never relax his justice. “The soul
that sinneth, it shall die!” (Ezek. 18:2).
2. Yet, it is the will of God
to save sinners.
“He delighteth in mercy!” God has decreed the
salvation of some. Christ came to save some. There are some people in this
world that must be saved, because it is the will of God to save them; and God’s
will cannot be frustrated (John 10:16). Every sinner chosen in eternal,
electing love must be saved (2 Thess. 2:13-14). Every predestined son must be
saved (Rom. 8:29-30). Every heir of the covenant must be saved (Eph. 1:3-7).
Every child of Adam whose name was written in the Lamb’s Book of Life from the
foundation of the world must be saved (Rev. 13:8). There is no possibility that
even one of God’s elect will perish!
3. However, it is impossible for a holy and just God to save any sinner apart from the satisfaction of justice (Heb. 9:22).
God declares, “I will by no means clear the guilty” (Ex. 34:7). Yes, God is omnipotent, almighty, and sovereign. He does what he will. I know of no one who declares that glorious truth more fully, more frequently, or more forcibly than I do. But God cannot do that which is contrary to his nature and character. We do not rob God of his sovereignty when we repeat the declaration of Scripture and say, “God cannot lie.” He who is the Truth cannot lie. Neither do we rob God of his sovereignty when we assert this truth of Holy Scripture -- God cannot forgive sin without the satisfaction of justice. The just, holy, and true God must punish sin.
4. The only way the justice of God’s holy law
and justice could ever be satisfied is by the substitutionary sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ (Job 34:23; Rom. 3:24-26).
God could not die, and man could not satisfy; but the God-man both died
and satisfied. Two facts demonstrate clearly that there was no other way for
justice to be satisfied. Only the death of Christ upon the cross could do it.
The love of God the Father for his Son proves
it. Would God almighty slay his darling Son, if there
were any other way to save his people consistent with his justice? Would the
Father sacrifice the Son in vain? Perish the thought! Yet, if righteousness
could have come to sinners in any other way, then the Holy Spirit tells us
plainly, that “Christ is dead in vain” (Gal. 2:21).
The prayer of Christ in Gethsemane proves the
necessity of his satisfaction, too (Matt. 26:39). If the
salvation of his people could be accomplished by any means other than his death
upon the cross, would not God the Father have granted his tormented Son the
desire of his soul?
What can justice satisfy?
Nothing but the blood of
Jesus!
What can God’s law magnify?
Nothing but the blood of
Jesus!
Oh, precious is the flow,
That makes me white as snow!
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of
Jesus!
5. It
is impossible for God, in his holiness, to punish any sinner for whose sins
justice has been satisfied by the blood of Christ (Isa. 53:11 Romans 7:14) -
The law has no claim upon an executed felon.
Payment God cannot twice
demand,
First at my bleeding
Surety’s hand,
And then again at mine!
6. Every sinner who trusts the Lord Jesus Christ
has been chosen, redeemed, and called, and must be forever saved (Heb. 11:1).
Faith in Christ is the result of grace, not the cause of it. This God given faith is the evidence of election, redemption, and calling. If salvation and eternal life is promised to all who believe on the Son of God, and that salvation and eternal life comes only to chosen, redeemed sinners, called by the Spirit, then I must conclude that if I trust Christ, God the Father chose me from eternity, the Lord Jesus Christ died for me at Calvary, and the Spirit of God has called me by his almighty grace.
What a horrible evil sin is - Nothing but the blood of Christ could
make satisfaction for it. God almighty must and will punish sin. The death of
Christ as the sinner’s Substitute demonstrates the strictness of God’s holy
law. Yet, there is a way open for sinners to come to God. Christ is the Way. He
has made satisfaction for sin. If you trust him, if you come to God by faith in
him, he made satisfaction for your sin.
Let us ever admire and adore the perfections of our God (Ps. 85:10-11).
Admire his love. Adore his mercy. Rejoice in his grace. Stand in awe of his
wisdom, holiness, justice, and truth. All shine forth gloriously in the
satisfaction of Christ. -- “For it became
him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons
to glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” Divine wisdom found a ransom for our
souls in Christ. Holiness approved of it. Justice is satisfied with it. Truth
proclaims it.
[1] The word “Unholy” in Hebrews 10:29, means “common”. Those who make the blood of Christ a common thing, without efficacy, without merit, are without hope. There is no other sacrifice for sin.