The Glory of the Atonement
In the twenty-first century there are few concepts as offensive to modern ears as the wrath of God. The reason why has more to do with us than God. We do not really believe we deserve such wrath. Failing to come to terms with our own sin, depravity, and condemnation, we do not think we stand under God’s righteous judgment. However, Scripture repeatedly tells us that all of mankind stands guilty before a holy God, deserving eternal punishment from his hand for our rebellion against our Creator and King. But that is not Scripture’s last word. While God would have been just to leave us in our condemnation, the Father so loved us that he sent his Son to become incarnate and die for us. His death is not only substitutionary—Christ taking our place on the cross—but penal, meaning that our Savior took upon himself the wrath that was ours. As Isaiah says, this suffering servant was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. In this issue of Credo Magazine, we are reminded that we need a Savior who not only substitutes himself for us but does so in order to be our propitiation, bearing the penalty that was ours. Any other cross simply will not result in the forgiveness we so desperately need.
