0:00

The fact that my debt

0:02

is paid and my crime

0:04

is punished by a substitute

0:06

shows that in the cross

0:08

we see perfect justice with

0:11

perfect mercy. Take away

0:13

the substitution. You take away

0:15

the grace of God. Take away

0:18

the very heartbeat of what the

0:20

Christian faith is all about. As

0:28

a teenager, newly exploring the Christian

0:30

faith, I remember asking a Christian

0:32

why Jesus had to die. Wasn't

0:35

there a less brutal way, a less

0:37

severe way to save sinners? After

0:40

spending their life in church, do you know

0:42

what their answer was? Simply, I

0:45

don't know. How would you

0:47

answer that question? Well, that's

0:49

what R.C. Sproul will examine today on Renewing

0:51

Your Mind, helping each of us

0:53

give a full and faithful answer to

0:55

that question. Dr.

0:57

Sproul reminded us yesterday that the

1:00

Atonement of Christ was absolutely

1:02

essential. And as we approach

1:04

Good Friday and spend time reflecting upon

1:06

the cross, and perhaps

1:08

providentially having the opportunity to speak

1:10

with unbelievers about Christ and His

1:13

saving work for sinners, it's important

1:15

that we consider the cross of

1:17

Christ rightly. That's why we're

1:19

featuring this important series this week. So

1:22

here's Dr. Sproul on the drama

1:24

of redemption and the absolute necessity

1:26

of an Atonement. In

1:31

our first session, we

1:33

looked briefly at the

1:35

dimensions of man's sin against

1:37

God in terms of

1:39

why an Atonement is necessary. And

1:41

so I'm going to put a

1:44

chart on the board now where

1:46

we consider the three

1:48

actors in the drama

1:51

of redemption. Man, God

1:53

the Father, and God

1:55

the Son in His incarnate

1:57

work as Messiah and Redeemer.

2:00

So, we'll say man, God,

2:05

and Christ. The

2:07

three elements of

2:09

need with respect to sin

2:11

was that sin is first of all

2:14

a debt, second of

2:16

all an act of enmity,

2:18

and third a crime. Now,

2:23

when we say that man

2:25

incurs a debt by

2:28

virtue of committing sin, we

2:31

have to go back to understand

2:33

the role of God as

2:36

creator and as

2:38

sovereign over the

2:40

universe. Whenever we speak

2:43

of God's sovereignty, we

2:45

are discussing His authority.

2:49

And you notice that the word authority

2:51

has what other word in it built

2:53

in? Author.

2:56

As the author of all things,

2:59

He has authority

3:02

over all that He creates, a

3:04

kind of sovereignty, and

3:07

what that means basically

3:09

is that God intrinsically

3:12

and absolutely has the

3:14

right to

3:16

impose obligations.

3:20

Maybe I'm spelling out the obvious, I don't want

3:22

to labor the point too long, but

3:24

I notice that in our culture

3:26

there's much confusion over

3:28

the nature of authority. But

3:31

when we talk about

3:33

duly constituted authority, we're

3:35

talking about that person

3:38

or office that has the right

3:41

to impose obligations.

3:43

If I am under someone's authority

3:46

and they issue a command to

3:48

me, that is a morally found

3:50

command of course, that

3:52

then they have the right

3:55

to impose obligation and I

3:57

am responsible to carry

3:59

out. That obligation. And

4:01

if I fail to carry

4:04

out that obligation, then I

4:06

must face punitive sanctions. So

4:09

that's what we're talking about.

4:11

We talk about authorities, and

4:13

so God has the authority

4:16

to impose obligations to his

4:18

creatures, as he does that.

4:21

In. Terms of the demands that

4:23

he makes in terms of

4:25

our obedience u cel be

4:27

wholly for I am Holy

4:30

God does not a Rabbi

4:32

referendum. He does

4:34

not rule by plebiscite.

4:36

He does not simply

4:38

gives ten suggestions or

4:40

ten recommendations to Israel.

4:43

He gives commandments. Bow

4:45

shout for thou shalt

4:47

not was we call

4:49

up addicted law flowing

4:51

from a sense of

4:53

absolute authority and sovereignty.

4:56

Now, if God imposes

4:58

obligations upon us that

5:00

we fail to perform,

5:02

we incur. That. And.

5:05

God now is the

5:07

creditor Know what do

5:09

you suppose is the

5:11

role of Christ when

5:14

the Bible speaks of

5:16

indebtedness and that we're

5:18

debtors. Incidentally, A Je

5:20

speaks on the same

5:22

and describes our situation

5:24

as being does hers.

5:27

Who. Cannot pay their

5:30

debts. Is one

5:32

thing to be in debt. And.

5:35

To be on some kind

5:37

of for that retirement program

5:39

whereby we're playing off our

5:41

that a little bit at

5:43

a time. But the

5:46

indebtedness that we have here with respect

5:48

to obedience to God. Is.

5:50

Impossible. For. Us

5:53

to pay back and installment

5:55

plan. Why? What

5:58

Is the obligation? Ethically.

6:01

The. God imposes upon his creatures.

6:04

How righteous some moral

6:06

or we call to

6:08

be by divine mandate.

6:12

Sin. Last. Perfect.

6:15

Okay Member: Lady Macbeth.

6:19

After see committed the murder,

6:21

she's trying to wipe out

6:23

that spots but the spot

6:25

is indelible. She can't get

6:27

rid of it. The

6:30

problem with our obligation at this

6:32

point is that if I am

6:34

called and responsible to be perfect.

6:37

And I sin once. Now

6:40

what must I do to be?

6:43

Perfect. How

6:45

much interest payment can I make

6:48

an addition to the principal's in

6:50

order to make up for the

6:52

blemish. For. Don't have

6:54

to do to become perfect after

6:57

I have one been imperfect. It

7:03

is Impossible. Or.

7:06

We we get around and our

7:08

culture by saying will everybody gets

7:10

a second chance right? Everybody deserves

7:12

a second say. Well.

7:15

Let's look at that for a second. Who.

7:18

Says anybody. Deserves.

7:21

A second chance. This.

7:23

Justice require that everybody get a

7:26

second, say. A

7:28

Circumstances. Grace. A

7:31

seconds as his mercy and

7:33

mercy and grace are things

7:35

that are never deserved. so

7:37

it's nonsense to talk about.

7:39

Everyone deserves a second she

7:41

has. But even if that

7:43

nonsensical hypothetical condition contrary to

7:45

fact of principle were true,

7:48

What? Good would it do us? How.

7:50

Long ago did we use up our

7:53

friends and stuff and it's. Such

7:56

a problem like that. We are

7:59

are almost. Pack a bowl.

8:01

Moral creatures with issue One

8:03

tiny little blemishes marring a

8:05

perfect record. Rather, The

8:07

scriptures describe us as

8:09

being woefully. Inadequate.

8:12

In terms of our performance of obedience

8:14

to God, not the to, we're just

8:16

that tainted here. and there was a

8:18

pack and below now and then. So.

8:21

That we encourage debt. That.

8:24

Is impossible for us

8:26

to pay. And

8:29

there's no way we can pet so

8:32

what does Christ what? is the role?

8:34

but he functions ear in terms of

8:36

his work as our Redeemer. The New

8:38

Testament has a word for it. That.

8:41

Christ is our. Surety.

8:45

Christ. Is our surety know

8:47

it's an economic terms? As bad

8:50

as an economic term Christ is.

8:52

Our surety means the one who.

8:55

Co. Sign the note. He is the

8:57

one who stands there. Backing.

8:59

Up our indebtedness.

9:02

taking upon himself, The.

9:05

Requirement. Of

9:07

what must be. Paid.

9:11

Now. In the

9:13

level of enmity. A

9:16

We don't disobey God because we love

9:18

him so well. We. Disagree

9:20

God because we have an

9:22

inborn hostility Tour in the

9:24

Bible says that we are

9:26

by nature. Enemies.

9:29

Of God, we have a natural

9:32

antipathy in our fallen lists towards

9:34

the reign of God over us.

9:36

So it with respect to enmities

9:39

god. Is the

9:41

injured party for the

9:43

offended? the offended party.

9:45

It's not that God

9:47

has manifested enmity towards

9:49

us. But. We.

9:52

Have been the ones who have violated him.

9:55

god has never broken a promise

9:58

he's never violated a covenant He

10:00

has never sworn a vow to us that

10:02

he failed to pay He

10:05

has never treated a human being

10:07

in this whole world unjustly

10:11

He has never violated me as a

10:14

creature he's never violated you So

10:18

he has kept his side of the

10:20

relationship Perfectly, but

10:23

we have violated him. He is

10:25

the injured party Not

10:27

we now we go over this

10:29

and we say well that's simple we learned that in Sunday

10:31

school And I want to

10:34

say oh yeah, I Find

10:37

people every day Who

10:40

are angry? deeply

10:43

angry against

10:45

God Because

10:47

deep down in their bones they

10:49

feel that somehow God

10:52

has not given them a fair

10:55

deal How

10:57

could God allow this to happen

10:59

to me is the complaint? How

11:02

could God let this up

11:04

because the the unspoken? Statement

11:07

there how could God allow this to happen

11:09

is what if God

11:11

were really good if God

11:13

were really just He

11:16

would recognize my

11:18

merit and treat me

11:21

Accordingly he would give

11:23

me more than I have God's

11:27

not fair That's

11:30

the complaint. It's deeply lodged in

11:32

our bones But

11:35

we have to understand from a biblical perspective

11:39

That it is God who is

11:41

the injured party not us Wait

11:46

a minute we say wait a minute. Hey, that's crazy

11:49

God doesn't suffer We're

11:52

the ones that suffer God

11:55

doesn't have to go through the veil of sorrows

11:57

that we're called to go through in this world

12:00

God has perfect felicity.

12:03

He's eternally happy. We're

12:06

periodically happy, but for

12:08

the most part miserable. So

12:10

how can we talk about God's being the injured party?

12:14

Because God is the

12:16

one who is violated, and

12:18

He is perfect. He does not deserve

12:21

any of this violation that

12:23

we heap upon Him. Can

12:27

I ever say to God, hey God,

12:29

I suffer in this world unjustly.

12:32

I may suffer at your

12:34

hands unjustly. You

12:37

know that there's injustice that bounds in

12:39

this world between people, among people, where

12:42

one rips off another one, or lies to another

12:44

one, or cheats to another, or harms another one.

12:47

And so on a horizontal level, there's

12:49

all kinds of injustice in the world,

12:51

and the Christian community is called to

12:53

work for the promotion

12:56

of justice among people.

12:59

But how much injustice goes vertically

13:01

from God to man? Even

13:04

if Tim violates me

13:08

and makes me a victim of

13:10

his unjust activity, I

13:13

can say to God, God, avenge

13:15

me of this, vindicate

13:17

me, restore me, redeem me

13:20

from this man's unjust

13:23

activity toward me. But

13:26

can I say, God, the

13:28

fact that you allowed him to

13:30

commit an injustice to me is

13:32

unjust on your part, in

13:35

terms of our vertical relationship. Is

13:40

that possible? Is that legitimate? There's

13:44

nothing that could ever happen to me

13:46

in this world that could give me

13:48

a just reason to

13:51

assault the integrity

13:53

of God, in terms of our relationship.

13:56

God is the injured party.

14:00

us. Now the

14:03

role that Christ plays in

14:05

our redemption is called the

14:08

mediator. And

14:12

what does the mediator do? Where

14:14

does the mediator stand? In

14:17

the middle. All right, he stands in the

14:19

middle. And that's not a very

14:22

popular place to be, because

14:24

in human elements

14:26

of estrangement, the

14:29

mediator usually

14:31

catches flak from which side? Both

14:34

sides. This is like being an umpire,

14:37

or a referee between two combatants. Now

14:39

when we talk about mediation,

14:43

we are talking about two

14:46

concepts that are crucial to

14:48

biblical Christianity. First

14:50

of all is the theme

14:53

of reconciliation. The

14:56

purpose of mediation, the

14:58

purpose of getting a mediator involved,

15:00

for example, in an industrial contract

15:02

dispute between labor and management, where

15:05

the two sides are

15:07

unable to come together and you

15:09

hire a mediator to come in,

15:11

what you want that mediator to

15:13

accomplish is reconciliation. If

15:15

there is no need for reconciliation, there's

15:18

no need for a mediator. Now

15:20

what does reconciliation

15:23

presuppose? What

15:25

is the absolute prerequisite

15:27

for reconciliation to

15:29

be necessary? A

15:32

prior relationship. Okay? And

15:34

what has to happen to that

15:36

prior relationship before we need to

15:38

talk about reconciliation? It

15:41

has to be ruptured. It has

15:43

to be broken. There has to

15:45

be estrangement of sorts. And

15:48

so that the Scriptures speak of

15:50

a ruptured personal

15:52

relationship, a relationship

15:54

that has been broken between

15:57

two parties, Between two persons. God.

16:01

And. Man. Now.

16:04

There is a strange meant there.

16:07

And reconciliation is necessary. and

16:09

Christ comes as the mediator.

16:12

Know this, creates. Quite

16:15

a a difficulty right off the

16:17

top. For. This reason.

16:21

The. Relationship is broken. Whose mad

16:23

at home here? Who's.

16:26

Man in his relations. Who's.

16:28

The strangest. Or. We're

16:30

straying from go. From.

16:33

A biblical present we met of got. This.

16:38

We. Exercise and manifest

16:41

are enmity by

16:43

our continual disobedience.

16:46

So. Is. Is it really

16:48

proper to talk about God's. Being.

16:52

A stray from us. Said.

16:55

God is. Angry. With

16:57

us. Is

17:00

a proper to talk like that? I

17:03

as you let me ask it again. Is.

17:06

It appropriate to talk about God's being.

17:08

I agree with man. What?

17:10

We do with the fact that the

17:12

Bible speaks frequently of the wrath of

17:15

God. Or yes,

17:17

there's a sense in which

17:19

that is using human language

17:22

to describe God. But the

17:24

point is, God is sorely

17:26

displeased with this offense. And

17:29

God. The father being

17:31

the injured party is angry with

17:33

our sin. But why the we

17:35

have a problem with that? One

17:38

of the great distortions of the

17:40

biblical concept to the term is

17:42

this simple written. Look at it

17:44

this way Will: There's God the

17:46

Father whose matters A hornet. At

17:49

Man. But.

17:52

God the Son, Identifies.

17:57

So. closely with our fault

18:01

and with our need, and

18:03

that his love and patience

18:05

and long suffering seems

18:07

to be so much more compassionate

18:09

and enduring than that of the

18:12

Father, that the Son sort

18:14

of sides with us in

18:16

our need and acts

18:18

as our mediator to calm

18:21

down the

18:24

Father who's angry. And

18:29

so we see a tension or

18:31

a split within the Godhead itself

18:35

as if the Father has one agenda

18:37

and the Son persuades him to change his

18:39

mind. The Father is angry and

18:41

he says, I'm going to punish everybody and send

18:44

them to hell. And the

18:46

Son says, please don't do that. Punish

18:49

me instead. Let

18:51

me stand in their place. Let

18:54

me not only mediate the

18:56

discussion, but let me absorb

18:59

the anger. Pile

19:02

it on me, not on them. Let

19:06

me be the lightning rod and

19:09

you can bounce your wrath off

19:11

of me. You

19:14

may think that's a ridiculous scenario, but

19:18

that's a serious objection raised

19:20

by sophisticated theologians at a

19:22

very technical level. But

19:25

not only that, it's a

19:27

very widespread, prevalent

19:31

picture among

19:33

Christians. I've

19:36

wondered frequently why it is

19:38

that evangelical Christians tend to

19:40

be unitarians

19:44

of the second person of

19:46

the Trinity. Why

19:50

there's so much warm passion,

19:54

love, affection for Jesus,

19:58

but the Father is All. Almost

20:00

totally ignored in Christian

20:02

study. In Christian devotion

20:04

and Christian liturgy. Can

20:08

that the? Maybe.

20:11

They're still the sense

20:13

that okay, ceases. We.

20:16

Can relate to. But.

20:19

A father. You. Know

20:22

we still have to look out for

20:24

the father because sees the I Agree

20:26

one right? But.

20:28

Whose idea was it? For.

20:31

Us. To have a mediator.

20:34

Whose. Son's the mediator.

20:38

God. So loved the were.

20:41

That. He. Gave.

20:44

He gave. That.

20:46

He sent. Those.

20:49

Are the two words that you find

20:51

the to burbs biblically. Again

20:53

and again and again. The father.

20:56

Sens. The

20:58

sun. The

21:00

father. Do this.

21:03

The son. For

21:07

our. Redemption. I

21:10

let's look at this final

21:12

point: the crime dimension. Here.

21:16

God functions as

21:18

the governor. And

21:21

the judge. God

21:23

is all. I'm at least the judge.

21:26

Of all matters. Of

21:29

Justice. He's. The

21:31

ultimate standard of righteousness and

21:33

his own characters. The ornaments

21:35

standard of justice. but he

21:37

functions person lights as the

21:39

judge of heaven on earth.

21:42

Christ. In the drama

21:44

of the Atonement. Functions not

21:46

as the judge. Is

21:51

given elevated to the role of

21:53

judge in his ascension. And

21:56

as very significant. But.

21:59

in his these attention to

22:01

this world. He

22:03

comes under judgment,

22:07

and his role here is

22:09

as priest, victim.

22:13

He comes to

22:15

be judged. If

22:18

I owed God the death penalty because I

22:20

sinned against him, and Jesus just walked down

22:23

the street and said, I will die for

22:25

him, and lay down his

22:27

life and died for me, would God

22:29

be under any obligation whatsoever to accept

22:31

that payment? None

22:33

whatsoever. There

22:36

first must be a judgment

22:39

by the governor of the

22:41

universe that he will in

22:43

fact accept a substitutionary payment

22:45

for my debt and crime

22:48

to be covered. And

22:51

so what you have here is

22:54

a prior decision of

22:56

the father that is sheer

22:59

grace. Because

23:03

a penal debt

23:06

has been acquired by us,

23:10

and the only way my

23:13

penal indebtedness can be

23:15

paid off by

23:17

somebody else as if the

23:20

law, Supreme Court, first

23:24

decides to accept a

23:27

substitute for me. Is

23:29

that clear? And

23:31

what God does here

23:33

is that he says justice

23:37

will be done.

23:40

The price will be

23:42

paid. The

23:44

debt will be paid in full, both

23:47

from a pecuniary sense and a

23:49

penal sense. I will

23:52

judge the crime. The crime

23:54

will be punished. The

23:57

debt will be paid so

23:59

that God will be paid. God does not

24:01

negotiate at all His justice. But

24:04

at the same time, the

24:06

fact that my debt is paid

24:09

and my crime is

24:11

punished by a

24:14

substitute shows that

24:16

in the cross, we see

24:18

perfect justice with perfect

24:20

mercy. Take away

24:23

the substitution. You

24:25

take away the

24:27

grace of God. Take

24:29

away the very heartbeat. Love

24:33

when the Christian faith is all in it.

24:42

That's why Christians and the church

24:45

need to be faithful and clear

24:47

in our proclamation of both the

24:49

bad and the good news, despite

24:51

the perceived felt needs of a

24:53

society. You're listening

24:55

to Renewing Your Mind, and that

24:57

was R.C. Sproul as we spend

24:59

a week considering the cross of

25:01

Christ in great detail in the

25:03

lead up to Good Friday and

25:05

Resurrection Sunday. For a donation of

25:07

any amount at renewingyourmind.org or

25:10

by calling us at 800-435-4343, we'll

25:14

give you lifetime digital access to this

25:17

six message series and its study guide,

25:19

plus send you the new edition of

25:21

R.C. Sproul's book, The Truth of the

25:23

Cross. Request all three

25:25

resources when you visit renewingyourmind.org or

25:29

when you call us. That number again is 800-435-4343. Your

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weekly Spanish edition. Jesus

25:46

said that he came as a ransom

25:48

for many. What did he mean? That

25:51

will be our topic tomorrow here On

25:54

Renewing Your Mind.