Man's Need in Light of the Nature of God

God is set apart from anything impure or unclean. He is defined by holiness, meaning that He is different than all that we know. Because of our rebellion towards God, our experience has always dealt with that which is defiled. However, God has never, in all of eternity, displayed a drop of evil in His thoughts, actions, or words. Not only so, but His goodness, sweetness, and beauty are blazing pure and abounding. Just as the brightness of the sun outshines the light of the stars, so God's holiness causes our self-made goodness to be completely snuffed out. His nature is so majestic, grand, and fiery, that we cannot even look upon Him without completely unraveling at the seams as we recognize our great deficiency of holiness.

When we gaze upon the glorious holiness of God, we recognize that we are lacking. He created us so that He, in all His holiness, might dwell within us. Just as a pitcher is fashioned to hold water, so we were created to contain His life. We were not formed to imitate Him, but to to house Him. In the beginning, man's nature was pure holiness. Yet sin entered into the human race through man's disobedience to God. Because God is set apart from sin, He can not make His home in us. Now there is nothing we can do to make our souls acceptable or holy before God. Ezra 9:15 says, “O LORD God of Israel, thou art righteous... behold, we are before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this.” Upon the realization of such a vast expanse between us and our Creator, we cry out, “Woe is me, I am undone!” As we behold the nature of God and understand that we were created to bear His image, we come to recognize our exceeding wickedness and impurity. In no way will we be accepted into God's presence. 

The Command to Holiness

Just as the sun gives light so that we may see clearly, so the law of God opens our eyes to see our true need for His mercy. If the Israelites were going to be God's people, they had to be a holy people, following God's law perfectly. But they were always breaking His rules, becoming unholy, or unclean before Him. The Israelite people realized very quickly that they could not follow God's rules perfectly. They were becoming more unclean all the time, deserving of death.

When Jesus came to earth, He talked about God's law in even more detail. He said that hating someone was just as sinful as murder. He explained that thinking bad thoughts is just and wrong as doing bad things. And he taught that if we did not forgive others, we would not be forgiven by God. The law was given to show the Israelites that they were not holy; no matter how hard they tried, they could not keep God's rules. They were stuck in a hopeless cycle of sinning. Because God is just, He must punish those who do not obey His law, though He dearly loves us and wants us to love and enjoy Him. 

God wanted something better for His people. He created men and women to be an example to the universe of Who He is. Because His people were constantly in sin, they were no longer a reflection of His nature; they could not express His life. Because God is holy, He must have a holy people, a people who are set apart from the world and live the right way. No one has yet been able to keep God's law- except for One man.

The Fall, Sin, & The Wrath of God

The earth, a beautiful marble of blue and white swirls hanging in a space surrounded by twinkling stars, was perfect. It was set apart for the glory of its Maker. On land there was a green valley full of rich dark soil and countless plants blooming with brightness. Through the valley ran a river teeming with life; colorful scales of swimming creatures sparkled through the clear waters as the sun filled the earth with its rays. In the trees, a man and woman could be seen walking with God. They and the entire garden were covered by His glory.

Man was in covenant with his Creator, having one rule to keep. Should this command be kept, life would go on and on, each day more beautiful than the last. If the rule should be broken, divorce from God and death would ensue. When put to the test, man chose to fail. Both he and his wife sinned by breaking the one simple rule, eating fruit from a forbidden tree.

Evil gained a place in the garden of God and defiled His sanctuary. The presence of the Holy One was immediately forced to withdraw. The man and woman were stripped of the glory they once wore, and found themselves seeking shelter, trying in vain to regain that glorious covering with leaves from a fig tree.

In Adam, all have sinned; we would have done the same were we in his skin. As humans, we are to bear God's image, displaying to the universe who He is, but instead we resemble our father the devil; this is an abhorrence and revulsion to God, who is intolerant of wickedness. His response to our rebellion is hatred and furious wrath, cursing and condemnation.

There is coming a day of wrath (Zephaniah 1:15), when sinners will receive their reward of death and eternal suffering in hell, a lake of fire where God's wrath and the devil's torments meet and are poured upon man without dilution (Romans 3:23, Revelation 20:10). This is a perfectly just payment for those who have rebelled against the God who deserves our loyalty, honor, and praise.

Johnathan Edwards, in his sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, said, “[...E]very unconverted man properly belongs to hell; that is his place; from thence he is, John 8:23. 'Ye are from beneath.' And thither he is bound; it is the place that justice, and God’s word, and the sentence of his unchangeable law assign to him.”

What can our God do? He is a God who is loving and gracious, long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but He is also holy, holy, holy; intolerant of sin and displaying wrath upon those fitted for destruction (Romans 9:22). He cannot simply ignore the fact that we are unholy; for He can have no part with sinners. He hates sin and holds sinners in derision (Psalm 2:4). He is a God who has chosen to be both merciful and just, and it will kill Him.

The Incarnation: Jesus, Fully God, Fully Man

“Jesus Christ is infinite and eternal; there is no end to Him. God wants us to pursue Him relentlessly and passionately with all we have for all of eternity.” -Michael Morgan. Initially, God walked with man, and was clearly seen and known by His people. However when sin entered our nature, He removed Himself from us until we could be returned to our first state. God was still revealed through creation, but men chose to ignore His image stamped upon themselves and upon all else in the universe (Romans 1:18-21). Can a child forget his parents? Yet we have intentionally forgotten and left Him Who begot us.

Still God is after His people and wants us to know Him. So He crafted a pattern of ways for His chosen people to follow, that they might behold, love, enjoy, and glorify their God. This revelation, put into effect through angels, was forsaken by a rebellious people (Acts 7:53). Yet that they might know Him, God sent prophets to disclose His nature (Hebrews 1:1), still, men rejected and persecuted these (Acts 7:51-52).

“[H]e had long contended with a stubborn world, and thrown down many a blessing upon them; and when all his other gifts could not prevail, he at last made a gift of himself to testify his affection and engage theirs.” -Henry Scougal. It takes a supernatural work to draw man back to God, thus the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, that through Him we might come to know the Father. By an inconceivable act of passionate obedience, Jesus, the Son of the Most High, in essence God Himself, left the throne room of heaven, approached a young girl, and became a single cell within her body. That cell multiplied and grew into a weak infant, born in a barn, laid in a feeding trough, and raised by two sinners. He grew up amongst His creation; from it He experienced rejection, temptation, oppression, betrayal, condemnation, revilement, scourgings, mockings, wounds, bruises, and ultimately crucifixion.

Henry Scougal wrote, “[...H]e hath testified his affection to us by suffering as well as by doing, and because he could not suffer in his own nature he assumed ours. The eternal Son of God did clothe himself with the infirmities of our flesh, and left the company of those innocent and blessed spirits, who knew well how to love and adore him, that he might dwell among men, and wrestle with the obstinacy of that rebellious race, to reduce them to their allegiance and fidelity, and then to offer himself up as a sacrifice and propitiation for them.”

Jesus stated His purpose in coming to earth: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10b). He defines “life” in John 17:3, “And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” Jesus is the full revelation of God. He is not a copy; He is fully God and fully man, manifested that we might seek and know the Father Himself.

The Atonement: The Perfect Man Become the Perfect Sin Offering

A sin offering was God's provision for the Israelites to transfer their sin and guilt to an animal. The animal, usually a lamb, had to be perfect, because in this process the sinfulness of the man was exchanged for the purity of the animal. If the animal had any blemish upon it, that spot would transfer over to the man, and he would not be made clean in the transaction. The lamb received the punishment, being killed instead of the unclean person; the sinner would then receive the animal's position of innocence and be cleared before God.

An animal sacrifice, however, could not provide freedom over sin and death, therefore, man was stuck in a broken relationship before God. Something more was needed: more than an animal sacrifice, more than the mere mercy of God; more than repentance on our part. These could not deliver us from the power of sin and death. A perfect life in exchange for ours can alone bring the restoration necessary for our deliverance and return to God. All have sinned: so, who could give himself as a perfect sacrifice? Only God.

To be a legitimate atonement, the sacrifice must cooperate with the current law's conditions; the exact amount required by the commandment must be paid, or else it will not effect the situation. God limited Himself to one means for full rescue of the human race when He put the law into effect; the only way to save us wholly was by His own suffering and death.

By Hebraic law, before a lamb was slain to be given as a sin offering, it had to be examined well to prove its purity. In the same way, Jesus was cross-examined and found to be without blemish or fault: Judas stated that Jesus had “innocent blood” (Matt. 27:4). Pilot's wife declared Him to be a “just man” (Matt. 27:19). Pilot said he found “no fault in this man” (Luke 23:4). The centurion at the cross said, “Truly this was the Son of God” (Matt. 27:54). And the thief on the cross testified that Jesus had “done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:41). Jesus was our perfect sin-offering.

He became sin for us, transferring His righteousness over to our account in exchange for our lives of filth and sin. He caused our sin to cleave unto Him as He died. When He descended into hell, our sin was cast into the lake of fire, and when He arose from the dead he was pure again. Because we received His righteousness when He was on the cross, we can now have communion with Jesus, knowing and loving Him more each day.

It is as if we had been traveling along the road of sin and death our entire lives, and suddenly discovered a fork in the road. To the left, we may continue on to death, but to the right, there is a way of atonement. This atonement was the costliest thing in the universe, for it was purchased by the blood of God. The atonement was the work of Jesus necessary for God be satisfied with our condition; He payed what was due for our sins. Those who take the way of atonement no longer suffer death as we know it: they have obtained eternal life through Christ Jesus.  

Atonement: The Wrath of God Pacified & Man Reconciled to God

Impending doom. This is in store for children of wrath, and we were all born as such (Ephesians 2:3). God's wrath is coming, and has in part been poured out (Romans 1:18). Those who practice sin are storing up for themselves wrath to come (Romans 2:5), which will be revealed in fullness at the judgment of God (Romans 2:5, 12:19; Revelation 14:10, 15:1, 16:1, 18:3; 19:15).

If we do not understand this, we will never ask, “Is there a way to flee the coming judgment?” This question must be posed. And when it has been asked, the unbelievably good answer is: “God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Thessalonians 5:9).

How can such salvation be gotten? We know that we are deserving of wrath, and that God must serve justice. When Jesus came to earth, He died on a cross because He took upon Himself all our guilt and sin, being made a curse in our place (Galatians 3:13). God's design was to set the wrath upon Jesus that was to come to us (Psalm 22:1, Isaiah 53:4, Isaiah 53:10). He did not pour out all His wrath upon Christ (otherwise all men would be delivered from God's wrath), but only that portion of judgment which was to come to those who believe in Him. For belief alone cannot save us: our sin and its consequences must be dealt with, and He did indeed remove these, reconciling us to God.

To reconcile means to call back into union. We were at enmity with God (Romans 5:10), but the work of Christ upon the cross removed all that brought us condemnation. In His death, He restored that which was lost through the fall (Colossians 1:20-21), giving us the robe of His perfect righteousness in exchange for our sin and condemnation which He wore on the cross. Having therefore deleted all existence of our sin, God has no reason to punish us. He sees in us the Life of His Son; therefore, we have been translated from His foes into the children of God (I John 3:1).

“In the heavenly tabernacle behind the veil, the blood of Christ was sprinkled and accepted to the full satisfaction of the Father for the sins of His covenant children (Hebrews 6:19,10:24,13:20). Therefore, the guilt of God’s elect is forever removed from heaven’s court docket and the sovereign verdict now reads, 'Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.' (Hebrews 10:17)” – O.B. Mink, Atonement Sufficiency Examined.