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"The Reasons for This Infinite Value" -- Article Four, Second Head of Doctrine, Canons of Dort

Article 4: Reasons for This Infinite Value

This death is of such great value and worth for the reason that the person who suffered it is—as was necessary to be our Savior—not only a true and perfectly holy man, but also the only begotten Son of God, of the same eternal and infinite essence with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Another reason is that this death was accompanied by the experience of God’s anger and curse, which we by our sins had fully deserved.

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At this point, it is important to state with some precision what is implied in the previous articles. The reason why Jesus’s death can satisfy God’s justice and anger toward our sin is found in Christ’s incarnation. Jesus is the God-man who suffers and dies for us in our place. Since he is truly human, Jesus possesses our nature, and therefore can identify with us so that our sin can be imputed to him. He is one with us in every respect—sin excepted. As true man and the Second Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45), Jesus Christ stands in our place as our representative before God, just as did Adam in Eden as the biological and federal head of the human race. But unlike Adam, Jesus Christ endured all temptation without sin and lived a perfect life in fulfillment of all righteousness.

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The Canons of DortKim RiddlebargerApril 3, 2024Substitutionary atonementComment

The Basics -- The Cross of Jesus Christ

As the biblical account of redemptive history unfolds, the story of God’s saving purpose is revealed even as the story takes a number of surprising twists and turns. The New Testament opens with an angel announcing to a young virgin that God’s promised Messiah was at long last coming to visit his people and bring them salvation. Jesus was born of Mary, he grew to manhood, and began his public ministry after his baptism by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-13). As we read in Matthew’s gospel, when our Lord’s messianic mission got underway, “[Jesus] went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people” (Matthew 4:23).

Eventually, Jesus’ public ministry took him to Jerusalem. On the way there, Jesus informed his disciples, “the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death” (Matthew 20:18). It was John the Baptist who said of Jesus upon first encountering him, “behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Since Jesus came as Israel’s Messiah, the mediator of the covenant of grace, and fulfilled the anointed offices of prophet, priest, and king, the necessity of his death comes as somewhat of a surprise–although this death was foretold by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 52:13-53:12), who predicted that God’s promised Messiah was also the suffering servant spoken of throughout Isaiah’s prophecy. When Jesus entered Jerusalem in triumph on Palm Sunday, it appeared to all as though he would at long last take his place on Israel’s throne to restore the nation to its former greatness. But by Friday afternoon of that week, Jesus was dead, hanging on a Roman cross, having died an agonizing death by crucifixion.

Why did the story of our redemption take such a dark and foreboding turn? Why did Jesus need to die? Thankfully, throughout the New Testament, the biblical writers tell us why Jesus died and what his death means for us. When we briefly survey at the terms which the biblical writers use to explain the death of Jesus, the meaning and purpose of his death becomes clear.

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The BasicsKim RiddlebargerAugust 9, 2023The cross of Christ, the death of Jesus, Substitutionary atonement, Propititation, Sacrifice, Christ's redemption, reconciliationComment