The Supreme Malediction

As we consider the atonement it's important to ask what did God allow Jesus to experience on the cross the line of is turned off all blessedness is removed from his son for Jesus to become. He has to be utterly totally and completely forsaken is a sobering thought is welcome to Renewing Your Mind on this Friday I'm going. It's easy for us to forget how offensive our sin is to God when our sin deserves how desperate we really are. Yet there is hope. It's found in the atoning work of Christ on the cross, but to fully appreciate this once for all work. We need to go back to the Old Testament. There's Dr. RC Sproul in the imagery of atonement on the day of atonement.

We know that there are several animals involved in the ritual of that day the priest before they can enter into the holy of holies, where the high priest that only the high priest and only this one day of the year can go must first himself make a blood sacrifice, and goes through an elaborate process of purification and then there are two more animals involved, one who was killed the other that survives the one that is Carol yields his blood which they provide free states into the inner sanctum and sprinkles on the mercy seat sprinkles on the throne of Yahweh to bring reconciliation and yet in this drama. There is no power in that blonde other than it's pointing forward to the blood of the Lamb, even as the blood on the door posts on the night of Passover pointed beyond itself to Christ our pass over who was sacrifice for us. We know two things from the day of atonement, one that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

We also learn from the author of Hebrews that the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin. But in that half of the drama with the blood sacrifice that is sprinkled on the mercy seat. What is symbolized is an active propitiation, which some brilliant translators in the middle of the 20th century decided that they got of the New Testament, to their everlasting shame. Those two words that are so central to the core of the gospel propitiation expiation. What's the difference they have the same root, but different prefix. I want our people at St. Andrews sin Sanford, Florida always understand propitiation expiation if they're going understand the gospel and I tell them I said you know our church is built on the classical style that's called the cruciform so that if you looked at it from the air. The shape of our building forms the shape of a cross in the safe. You come down the center. I'll let it remind you of the vertical piece of the cross, let it remind you of initiation because in propitiation the son does something to satisfy the injustice in the rock of the father is a vertical transaction. That is what is prefigured in this sacrifice that is made on the mercies. Let's not forget that other animal that liberal theologians try every which way to a race. From the biblical record as we've already heard. Yes I'm speaking of the goat. The scapegoats who becomes the object of imputation where the priest now lays his hands on the back of that goat symbolically indicating the transfer or the imputation of the guilt of the people back to bed.

Go so at the end of that ceremony. The priest lays his hands on the note says by the sins of the people be upon the scope and then says to the goat, thank you very much for standing still boring. This and he says the people you are dismissed. No no no no significance really reaches its crescendo after the imputation of the sin of the people to the back of the goat when the goat is driven then in to the wilderness out side that can remember when God numbered the people according to the tribes and they pitched the tabernacle, the tribes were in a circle and what was in the middle equidistant of every settlement of every tribe was the tabernacle, indicating God is in the midst of his people and to be driven out of the covenant community to be driven outside the camp was to be driven to the place where the blessings of God did not reach sense into the outer darkness in the wilderness into exile, into the curse. Thanks. Expiation one in the cross. Not only is the father justice satisfied by the atoning work of his son by us in bearing our sins, the Lamb of God removes our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. How does he do it by being cursed. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law… Not simply by being cursed for us, but becoming a curse for us. He who is the incarnation of the glory of God. Now becomes the very incarnation of the divine curse as it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs upon the tree many many years ago I was asked by the Quaker community of Pennsylvania society of friends to come to one of their meetings and explain to them the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant. And there I talked about the day of atonement in Israel and the crucifixion of Christ in the New Testament.

In this I spoke of Christ's becoming curse my message was interrupted by guy in the back who stood up and shouted out loud that's primitive to see that around you your break. I was taken back and just to give myself a chance to think I said what did you say as if I didn't hear from everybody in the room are I see what is and with great hostility.

He said I said that's primitive and see how nice you are right. I love the words that you have chosen to describe this dynamic. What could be more primitive than killing animals and sticking their blood over the throne of God or taking a human being and pouring out his blog is a human sacrifice that is primitive, you're right, no one of the things I love about the gospel's are is that it wasn't written merely for a Gnostic elite group of scholars who had to have their PhD in theology and order to understand but the drama of redemption is communicated in terms so simple, so crass, so primitive that a child can understand, but I really like the second word to use up see FC if there ever was an obscenity that violates contemporary community standards. It was Jesus on the cross because after he became the scapegoat and the father imputes to him every sin of every one of his people.

We see the most intense dance concentration of evil ever experienced on this planet. Jesus was the ultimate obscenity and so what happened Bible tells us God is too holy to even look at sin and he cannot bear to look at this concentrated monumental condensation of evil, and his eyes are averted from is some the light of his countenance is turned off all blessedness is removed from his son Camilla and in its place was the full measure of the divine curse all the imagery that portrays the historical event of the cross is the imagery of the curse, it was necessary for the Scriptures to be fulfilled that Jesus not be crucified by Joe's but it has to be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles be asked to be executed, not by stoning.

But he has to be killed by Gentiles outside the camp outside Jerusalem. The golden so that the full measure of the curse in the darkness that attends it be visited upon Jesus and God adds to these details. Astronomical perturbations were admitted day he turns the lights out on that hill outside of Jerusalem, so that when his face is moved away when the light of his countenance is shut down. Even the sun don't shine on Calvary bearing the full measure of the curse Christ screams, so my God, my God, why have you forsaken me look at how the theologians play with that I will. Jesus was taking this occasion to identify with the psalmist in Psalm 22, which begins with those words so they can call attention to those who are looking upon the spectacle that this is really a fulfillment of prophecy the Jesus was in the Bible quoting move that Oris Albert Schweitzer find this was a cry of a dissolution prophet who believed that God was going to rescue him at the 11 hour and he felt were sick and just feel for sick he was for sick for Jesus to become the curse he has to be utterly totally and completely forsaken by the father. I start off by saying to you. I've been thinking about these things for 50 years and I can't begin to penetrate that what it meant. The Jesus was fixated by God, but there was none of this to be found in the pseudo-gospels of our day, dear brothers every time I hear a preacher on television or live who says to his people.

God loves you unconditionally. I want to ask that this man be defrocked for such a violation of the word of God. What pagan who hears that announcement that God loves them unconditionally does not dear in that statement that he has no need of repentance. They can continue in sin without fear knowing that is all taken care that God doesn't hold grudges that God loves them. There is a profound sense in which God does love people even in their corruption, but they are still under his anathema. I know that almost everybody here is a minister related to minister, and so on. But you know this because your ordained is no guarantee that you are in the kingdom of God and with the size of professing Christians assembled a one-off. The odds are astronomical, that there are many people in this room right now who are still under the curse of the cross were still counting on this nebulous idea of the unconditional love of God to get them through, or even worse still, thinking that they can get into the kingdom of God through their good works through their service done understand that unless you perfectly obey the law of God which you have not done for five minutes since you were born you were under the curse of God. And here's the reality that we must make clear to our people that they will either bear the curse of God himself far they will flee to the one who took it for them. Curse God father turns his back. Thomas Aquinas once was asked Thomas. Do you think the Jesus enjoyed the beatific vision for his whole life Thomas that I don't know but I'm sure that our Lord was able to see things that our sin keeps us from seeing. Remember that the promise of the vision of God in the Beatitudes is the promise made to home to the pure love of the reason why you can't see God with your eyes is not because you have a problem with your optic nerve. What prevents us from seeing God is our home, our impurity, but Jesus had no impurity Thomas that he was pure in heart, so obviously he had some some experience of the beauty of the father to that my sin was placed upon him and the one who was pure was pure no more. And God cursed him. It was as if there was a cry from heaven. Excuse my language, but I can be no more accurate than to say it was as if Jesus were the words God damn you.

That's what it meant to be Began to be under the anathema of the father. As I said I don't understand, but I know that it's true that every person in this room. Every person outside of this hotel and on the street and across the world was not been covered by the righteousness of Christ right this minute draws every breaths under the curse, if you believe that you will stop adding to the gospel and start preaching with clarity and with boldness because dear friends, it is an is in a bed. The gospel is good news. It is hope.

Our only hope you're listening to Renewing Your Mind on this Friday by Billy Webb and thank you for joining us all week.

We have been considering the atonement, the nature and necessity and consequences of Christ's work on the cross were bombarded with challenges to the gospel every day. Sometimes we can even doubt the truth of God's word for ourselves. Dr. RC Sproul series on the atonement of Jesus is one resource we pray will bolster your confidence in the finished work of Christ and would like to offer the entire series to you for your donation of any amount, connect with us online@renewingyourmind.org or call us at 800-435-4343.

By the way, we've included the message we heard today on the MP3 CD so we hope you'll contact as soon our number again is 800-435-4343 and let me thank you in advance for your donation. Well, it's only July, but to what a year this is been already and that we hear that sentiment over and over. Don't we were living in unprecedented times were told heard someone say the other day. I miss the precedented times. Dr. Steven Nichols stop by the studio recently. He of course is the president of Reformation Bible college and the noted church historian and I wanted to share with you his take on that popular notion yeah sure you know it. On the one hand, we can sort of understand what people are dealing with. There are uncertainties and it causes everybody to wonder and were not sure what's next in some of that's the source for this unprecedented times is always helpful to have historical perspective. One of the things we realize is that times of calamity even in times of plague are not new for the church and for the people of God. As we look back over the past centuries, we see that God's people suffered in God's people face these things and what they found was that God was faithful. We see it actually in the pages of Scripture to only how plague and calamity comes upon people that we see it in the early church is a time of persecution and calamity actually in the Reformation. There were plagues literal plagues.

This was the time of the Black death bubonic plague in various moments, and in various cities that the plague would run up to that happened in Wittenberg. The great plague also struck London. This was the time of Shakespeare and the time of the Puritans, and so to look back on these, we can see examples we would have the Spanish flu when three of examples from pastors in 1917 and trying to help people deal with that.

One of the things that I found very helpful was a comment by Luther in a text he wrote about whether one should flee from a deadly plague in Luther tocsin there gives practical advice, Lee talks about fumigated in the house fumigated in the yard right in taking medicine and being cautious. But then Luther says this week. Pray for God's merciful protection of us all, and I think that's good advice. Whether we live in precedented or unprecedented times. We need to remember how fragile we are, how frail we are, how fragile and frail.

Our neighbors are how we are called to love them and care for them and we remember and pray for God's merciful protection of assault. Amen.

Our thanks to Dr. Steven Nichols in our thanks to you for joining us and we hope to see you right back here Monday for Renewing Your Mind