Chapter 8: The Atonement and Exaltation of Christ

IN THIS CHAPTER, you will discover:

·   The situation and cost of the Atonement.
·   The Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
·   The Ascension of Jesus Christ.
·   The Session of Jesus Christ.
·   The blessings of Christ's session.

AS A RESULT, you will be able to:

·   Count the cost for the forgiveness of your sins.
·   Certify the importance of Christ's resurrection from the dead.
·   Describe why Christ's ascension gives you spiritual victory.
·   Appropriate the benefits of Christ's session at the right hand of the Father.
·   Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Key Scripture: “"In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness"” (Heb. 9:22).

With the background of the Atonement established in the last lesson, we will now examine the cost of our forgiveness from sin. Humanity'’s situation was one of sin and disobedience. A rebellion against the holy God of love had occurred. Instead of freedom, man acquired guilt and misery. This also resulted in condemnation. Humanity was lost and without hope. A vast gulf existed between God and man. The breach was impossible to overcome, unless God acted to close it.

God’'s solution was to send His Son Jesus Christ to earth. His sacrificial death on the cross reconciled God and man. His identification with man’'s guilt, misery, and alienation was complete. Because of His great love and compassion, Jesus became sin for humanity. He took the condemnation and judgment on Himself that was due humanity. The result of Christ’'s atonement was that man was set free - free from the law, Satan, death, even ourselves. Paul expressed the realization of this truth in Romans 7:24-25: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

The cost of God’'s forgiveness was the death of Jesus Christ. Through the shedding of His blood, our sins are forgiven. On the cross He endured the crown of thorns, the nails in His hands and feet, and the mockery of the onlookers. He did not fight back, but instead loved His persecutors. He voluntarily bore the shame and guilt of sin. Isaiah 53 prophesied the punishment of piercing and crushing He would endure. “Father, forgive them” were His words from the cross. His forgiveness assured the peace and salvation of all people. From the description of the cost of forgiveness, it is apparent that the Atonement is not a means to “cheap grace” or “easy believism.” Because God gave His all in Jesus Christ, we too must give everything to Him.

Three final points will conclude our discussion. First, Christ reconciled all people, no matter what race, language, or culture. His atonement was not limited to only the elect. Universal atonement does not mean universal salvation, however. The Atonement only benefits those who believe in Jesus Christ. Second, Christ's atonement was a finished work "It is finished," Jesus said from the cross. Christ did not leave anything undone (Recall our discussion in the last lesson about the view that He completed our redemption in Hades.) We need not add any of our efforts to complete the work. Finally, to gain the advantages of the Atonement we must receive Christ's work of reconciliation. Christ's death on the cross is of no benefit to us unless we believe that Christ died for our sins. We might be the beneficiaries of a large inheritance. Unless we claim the money through the proper legal channels, it is of no gain to us. So it is with Christ's atonement. With gladness and thanksgiving, we receive God's generous spiritual provision.

Williams examines three historical theories of the Atonement:

Ransom to Satan - Proposed by many early church Fathers.

Problem: If Christ's life was given as a ransom, to whom did God make payment?

Answer: Satan purchased the right to Jesus in exchange for the release of captive humanity.

Weakness: God did not trick Satan into making a deal to purchase humanity's redemption.

Strength: This view stresses Christ's total victory over Satan and the forces of darkness.

Satisfaction to God - Proposed by Anselm (11thcentury A.D.).

Problem: God's honor was impugned by sin and thus disorder reigned in the universe

Answer: Jesus became man to render proper satisfaction to God, in order that His damaged honor might be restored.

Weakness: The commercial nature of this theory makes man simply a passive spectator in His own salvation. Sin remains unremoved in the transaction between God and Christ.

Strength: The seriousness of sin is stressed. God's requirements, not Satan's, are emphasized within the setting of a moral universe.

Moral Influence of Man - Proposed by Abelard (12th century A.D.).

Problem: The human heart is hardened to God's love and is thus an obstacle to man's salvation.

Answer: Christ's redemption transforms the human heart to receive God's love and compassion.

Weakness: Christ's death is subjective only. Reconciliation does not occur unless man responds in love. Christ's death and suffering serve only to demonstrate God's love and provide no expiation or propitiation (see the last lesson for a definition of these terms).

Strength: God's love is emphasized as the motivation for the Atonement. His love, demonstrated in Christ's death, makes salvation possible.

Note the truths in each of these views. A satisfactory understanding of the Atonement incorporates aspects of each by maintaining the tension between God's righteousness and His love.

Personal Application: Recall the cost of obtaining something precious and valuable to you. What did it cost God to save you from your sin?

Group Application: Discuss the theories of the Atonement. Which theory receives the most emphasis in the church today?

Key Scripture: "'Don't be alarmed,' he said. 'You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here'" (Mark 16:6).

The exaltation of Jesus Christ is the subject of our next lessons. There are three stages in His exaltation: the Resurrection, the Ascension, and the Session. Our first study will examine Christ's resurrection.

Our Christian faith is based on the fact that Christ was bodily resurrected. Paul writes, "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith" (1 Cor. 15:14). Much evidence exists to document the actuality of the Resurrection. The four Gospels each attest to the event. They record Jesus' appearances to the apostles as well as to certain women and other disciples. The book of Acts repeatedly affirms Christ's resurrection from the dead. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15, lists numerous resurrection appearances, including one to over five hundred disciples. The New Testament witnesses to this great truth over and over.

From the moment the soldiers discovered that Christ's body was missing, alternate theories have been proposed to account for its disappearance. The Romans devised a plan to blame the disciples for stealing the body (Matt. 28:12-15).  These are rebutted by five possible explanations of the data in Scripture:

• Eyewitness accounts confirmed its factuality.
• The disciples were transformed from faithless to faithful.
• The Roman and Jewish authorities could not disprove the fact of an empty tomb.
• The survival of Christianity for two thousand years attests to the authenticity of the event.
• Christ is experienced by His followers as a real presence, rather than just an important influence.

This final point regarding faith and experience is an important one. Unlike Thomas, we cannot see the nail prints in His feet and hands. However, believers continue to experience His presence in their lives. Faith, just as sight, authenticates the fact that Christ lives.

The form of Christ’'s resurrection was bodily. Thomas could touch his hands and feet. When Jesus suddenly appeared in the midst of His disciples, they thought He was a ghost. Jesus replied, “Look at my hands and feet…...Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have”" (Luke 24:39). Later they offered Him a piece of fish and He ate it. Jesus resurrection form was corporeal.

It was also spiritual. We already mentioned how Jesus could pass through walls and suddenly appear. As He broke bread with the disciples at Emmaus, He suddenly vanished. Others in the Bible (like Lazarus) who came back to life were only resuscitations. Their return from the dead was only temporary, for later they died again. Jesus’ resurrection body was the spiritual body Paul speaks about in 1 Corinthians 15. His spiritual body had continuity with His previous physical body, but some discontinuity also existed. This is evidenced by the mystery involved with His resurrection body. One of His closest followers, Mary Magdalene, failed to recognize Him at the tomb. The disciples bound for Emmaus "“were kept from recognizing him”" (Luke 24:16). Eventually, these all recognized Jesus, but there was an initial mystery to His appearance.

The Resurrection has threefold significance for our Christian lives. First, Jesus’ divine Sonship was fully revealed. During His earthly ministry Jesus cloaked His deity in mystery. Now, as Paul says in Romans 1:4, "“through the Spirit of holiness (he) was declared to be the Son of God by his Resurrection from the dead."  His Lordship was made complete by His triumph over death and the grave. Second, without the resurrection “"your faith is futile; you are still in your sins”" (1 Cor. 15:17). The great work of atonement on the cross secured our justification from sin. Yet it remained for the Resurrection to bring victory over death. Satan'’s power over death was broken; the sting of death was removed forever. Jesus’ resurrection assured salvation and new life for all who believe in Him. Third, Jesus'’ resurrection assures our own future resurrection. Paul writes, “"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep"’ (1 Cor. 15:20). Christ’'s resurrection is the beginning of a new order: “"In Christ all will be made alive...…Christ the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him" (v. 22-23). What excitement there will be for His followers at His coming! We, too, will be given resurrection bodies to join Christ in heaven for all eternity.

The proofs and evidences we have studied in this lesson are objective verification of the Resurrection. Each Easter we celebrate this miraculous event. "He Lives" is a popular Easter hymn, which acclaims this reality. A line in this hymn summarizes perhaps the ultimate proof of the Resurrection for each believer: "You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart." Such verification is undeniable and irrefutable.

Personal Application: Recall the joy and excitement surrounding Easter Sunday. How can the wonder of the Resurrection become a year-round reality for you?

Group Application: Read Paul's description of the resurrection body in 1 Corinthians 15:35-58. How is it similar and different from our present bodies?

Key Scripture: "After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight" (Acts 1:9).

Key Word: Maranatha

The second stage of Christ's exaltation is the Ascension. Forty days after His resurrection Jesus ascended into heaven. The actuality of the event is recorded in our Key Scripture. The apostles witnessed this momentous occasion, perhaps in the company of other disciples. However, no unbelievers witnessed it. Luke's account is only one of many New Testament references to the Ascension. Christ's exaltation was incomplete; His ascension brought Him home to His Father in glory.

Like His resurrection body itself, Jesus' ascension was a mystery. The form of Jesus' ascension is threefold. First, it is a parting. For over three years Jesus had lived with the disciples. Now it was time to say "goodbye" to them. The disciples still believed Christ was going to establish His earthly kingdom at that time (Acts 1:6). Instead, He renewed their commission to be witnesses and immediately disappeared from their sight. Second, Christ's departure was an elevation into the heavenly realms. Clouds enshrouded His form as He was taken up. By divine power He was raised from the earth. Third, His destination was heaven. He returned to the Father's presence. He did not journey into outer space like an astronaut, but passed out of our solar system into the spiritual plane of heaven.

Christ's ascension has much significance for our lives as Christians. Paul in Ephesians 4:8 describes His victory celebration: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." This is a quotation from Psalm 68:18 and describes a conquering king who is displaying the spoils of his victory. Jesus conquered Satan's forces, "triumphing over them by the cross" (Col. 2:15).

Christ the man ascended into heaven, glorified as the perfect man. Since human nature is incorporated into the Godhead, God now has a fuller understanding of man. Because of our corporate identity with Christ, we are now present with Christ in heaven. Christ's elevation means that we are already elevated spiritually in heaven. This fact should give us a different perspective on how we live on earth. Paul write, "Our citizenship is in heaven" (Phil. 3:20). Victory does not await us at death; it is a present reality for all who believe in Christ. Since we are spiritually raised with Christ, our priorities and thoughts should be heavenward, not earthward. Paul exhorts us: "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things" (Col. 3:2). This heavenly perspective is possible because of Christ's ascension.

Christ's ascension inaugurated a new period in history. This period, which will be culminated by His second coming, is called the "last days." Jesus is physically hidden during this time. He is not absent, however. His presence spiritually fills both heaven and earth. Christ's last words in Matthew promise this: "And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age" (28:20). This interim period is a time of expectation for the church. After Christ's ascension, the two angels gave those gazing into heaven a promise: "This same Jesus…will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). Since that day, Christ's followers expectantly await its fulfillment. The Aramaic word that expresses this expectation of the early church is transliterated into English as maranatha. Its translation also reflects our hope: "Come, O Lord" (1 Cor. 16:22).

Personal Application: How does the fact of Christ's ascension affect you personally? How has this study given you a new perspective on your Christian walk?

Group Application: Put yourselves in the apostles' sandals. How would you feel when Christ suddenly left? Would the words of the angels have been a consolation?

Key Scripture: "It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand - with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him" (1 Peter 3:21-22).

Key Word: Session

The last and climactic stage in Christ's exaltation is His session, as our Key Scripture states. Session describes Christ's present ministry, seated at the right hand of God the Father. Though Christ is now hidden from our eyes, the church constantly experiences the effects of His session. Thus, it is critical to understand the nature of His seat in the heavens.

The New Testament repeatedly affirms the factuality of this act. Unlike the Resurrection and the Ascension, there are no witnesses; it is thus a matter of biblical revelation. Two noteworthy accounts in the New Testament attest to Christ's session. Before His martyrdom, Stephen gazed into heaven and saw "heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God" (Acts 7:56). And John in a vision "saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne..…." (Rev. 5:6). Because of our corporate identity with Christ, Paul says that God "seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:6). Jesus now sits in heaven, and by faith we are spiritually seated with Him.

The form of Christ's session is a "sitting," accomplished both by Christ's own action and by the Father's. The imagery denotes an installation or enthronement of a royal personage. How do we understand the two illustrations where Jesus is seen standing? This posture refers to actions subsequent to His original session. Obviously, Christ is free to move on His heavenly throne. The right hand is a position of status. In biblical times it was the hand of blessing (Gen. 48:12-20); it was also the place of honor at a feast. Following His humiliation, Jesus was restored to His eternal position within the Godhead. He was no longer separated from the Father. Does this mean there are two thrones in heaven - one for the Father and one for the Son? We may recall Jesus' words, "I and the father are one" (John 10:30) father and Son have distinct identities, yet both are God and occupy one throne. Hence, when we praise and worship Jesus we do not worship Him apart from the father. There is one God - father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What a great mystery!

Christ's session has significance in three major areas, so we will next examine these. First, it signifies His blessedness. As mentioned earlier, the right hand is a place of favor God was "well pleased" (Luke 3:22) with His Son during the Incarnation. The climax of God's favor was the Session of Jesus at His right hand. Christ endured a terrible humiliation at the cross through the hands of His enemies. Such dishonor was turned into supreme honor and glory at His return to heaven. His name is now "above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth" (Eph. 29-10). Before the Incarnation, Jesus was a little known member of the Godhead; now He is universally known. The right hand of God is a place of joy and pleasure. What a contrast with the agony of the crucitixion! Yet it was for this joy that Christ endured the cross The promise of returning home to His father carried Him through the suffering. Since we now spiritually join Christ at the father's right hand, these blessings are ours, too. Favor, honor, and joy are the inheritance of those who believe on Christ.

Second, at His session, Christ was invested with total power and authority. Although the right hand is a place of blessedness and rest it is also a place of rule and authority. Christ assumed an authority different from His pre-Incarnation rule. He is now the God-man. His human nature participates in His present rule. Christ has triumphed over death, hell and Satan. He is now the co-regent with God over all things. Paul writes in Ephesians 1:22 "God placed all things (i.e., all rule, authority, power, dominion, and titles – v. 21) under his feet." This even includes the forces of evil. The sinful world was overcome, Satan was cast out and the power of evil neutralized. Such universal victory indicates His Kingship over the earth. He is now "the ruler of the kings of the earth" (Rev 1:5). Although evil forces continue to exercise power on earth, such power is only temporarily permitted by God. Everything is under Christ's control, and one day He will bring His rule to earth.

Christ's rule, third, is also over the church "He is the head of the body the church" (Col 1:18). He guides the church through the fivefold ministry outlined in Ephesians 4:11. The function of these ministers is to build up the saints unto maturity and then to equip them for ministry. To edify in order to evangelize is the mission of Christ's equippers in the church. The church has a commission - to reach the world with the gospel. Christ directs His church unto that end. It will certainly encounter opposition, but the Lord is also the church's defense against evil. Jesus promised that "the gates of Hades will not overcome it" (Matt. 16:18). Throughout the New Testament, the church was repeatedly attacked. Yet with supernatural resiliency the effect of such persecution was to spread the gospel - in one instance "throughout Judea and Samaria" (Acts 8:1). Related to Christ's rule over the church is His rule over the believer. At our salvation we confess Him as Lord of our lives. Paul writes, "...the head of every (believing) man is Christ" (1 Cor. 11:3). We now live under His headship and authority. Thus, our goal as Christians is to please Christ in everything we say and do.

Personal Application: Christ now rules both the church and each believer. In what ways do you see Christ's Lordship expressed in your life?

Group Application: Discuss Christ's dominion over all principalities and powers. If Satan is already defeated, why does he continue to exercise authority on earth?

Key Scripture: "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles" (Acts 10:44-45).

Christ's session is a source of manifold blessings for the believer. The first blessing is repentance and forgiveness of sin. This is the heart of the gospel message. From the exalted Lord comes the gift of eternal salvation. This gift is the primary gift of the exalted Lord. The second blessing is the fruits of Christ's continuing intercession. The book of Hebrews declares that He is now our high priest after the order of Melchizedek; hence, "he always lives to intercede for them (believers)" (7:25). Christ, who interceded for the disciples while on earth, now intercedes in heaven for all saints. He prays for our perseverance in salvation, for our comfort in trials and temptations, and for our freedom from guilt and condemnation. Christ's continuing intercession is the reason we have joy and victory in our daily Christian walk.

The climactic blessing is the gift of the Holy Spirit. After the Spirit's coming, Peter said: "Exalted to the right hand of the Father, he (Jesus) has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear" (Acts 2:33). This gift is the third person of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit Himself. Joel prophesied this glorious event in 2:29: "Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days." It was also announced by both John the Baptist and Jesus. Before the Spirit could be given, however, Christ's Incarnation, Atonement, and Exaltation needed to occur. This promise was received on the Day of Pentecost by the believers. Immediately they began to proclaim the good news of repentance and forgiveness. This gift thus follows salvation. Because of Christ's present session, the promise holds for today. The Holy Spirit can be received even as the early church did. The gift of the Holy Spirit is a wonderful conclusion to our study of the "Great Themes!"

Personal Application: Have you received the gift of the Holy Spirit? If not, pray to receive the wonderful third person of the Trinity.

Group Application: Discuss how Christ's heavenly intercession helps you maintain your Christian walk. Can you think of a time when his prayers kept you going?