Jesus

Jesus’ Atoning Work on the Cross

As we enter Jesus’ Passion on our calendars celebrating Palm Sunday, March 29 and Easter, April 5, let’s remember what Jesus did when he went to the cross.

On more occasions than I can count I have uttered the sentence, “Jesus died for our sins.” That Jesus died for our sins is the crux of the gospel. The glory of that sentence, “Jesus died for our sins” is even more meaningful than we often imagine. Jesus’ death atoned for our sins.

The atonement is a theological term meaning the satisfaction of divine justice in Jesus’ act of obedience on the cross.

Theological liberalism is embarrassed by the concept of divine wrath against sin and has avoided a theologically robust definition of the atonement. As Christians, we must grasp the truth of the atonement to better understand the glory of our salvation.

The Bible teaches the penal substitutionary view of the atonement. Don’t be intimidated by these terms. Penal means that we are sinful, and that our sins deserve punishment. Substitutionary means that Jesus took our place when he atoned for our sins by taking the punishment we deserve.

In his excellent book, The Cross of Christ, John Stott underscored the importance of this doctrine.

All inadequate doctrines of the atonement are due to inadequate doctrines of God and humanity. If we bring God down to our level and raise ourselves to his, then of course we see no need for a radical salvation, let alone for a radical atonement to secure it. When, on the other hand, we have glimpsed the blinding glory of the holiness of God and have been so convicted of our sin by the Holy Spirit that we tremble before God and acknowledge that we are, namely “hell-deserving sinners,” then and only then does the necessity of the cross appear so obvious that we are astonished we never saw it before.

Stott, Cross, 111

The biblical doctrine of the atonement reminds us of three staggering truths that are deeper than we will ever fully grasp this side of eternity.

  1. God is more holy than we imagine.
  2. We are more sinful than we think.
  3. Jesus loves us more deeply than we deserve.

Only a grasp of what Jesus did on the cross—the doctrine of substitutionary atonement—can prevent spiritual distortions. . . . Only this doctrine keeps us from thinking God is mainly holy with some love or mainly loving with some holiness—but instead [he] is both holy and loving equally, interdependently. Only this view of God makes the spoiled or the neglected into the healthy and the loved.

Tim Keller

The atonement emphasizes God’s wrath against sin. The Bible is full of divine judgment against sin. From Adam and Eve being kicked out of the Garden, to the flood, to the plagues on Egypt, to the 40 years of wilderness wanderings, to the judgments and exiles upon Israel, to the cross, and through to the judgments described in the book of Revelation, the Bible is a book that declares judgment. Why does God judge so often? Well, God is supremely holy. He is more holy than we can imagine, and his standard for humanity is absolute perfection and holiness.

The other reason the Bible describes God’s judgments so often is that we are sinful. We are more sinful than we’d like to admit. Our motivations, desires, and longings are sinful. Our actions and dreams and words and ways are sinful. We are sinful.

Our sin deserves judgment. Thus, the cross and the penal substitutionary atonement. Jesus took our place, received in his body the punishment for our sins, and satisfied God’s wrath against sin (penal substitutionary atonement). Jesus’ death on the cross shouts loudly the staggering love of God for sinners.

At the cross in holy love God through Christ paid the full penalty of our disobedience himself. He bore the judgment we deserve in order to bring us the forgiveness we do not deserve. On the cross divine mercy and justice were equally expressed and eternally reconciled. God’s holy love was ‘satisfied.‘

Stott, Cross, 91.

What do we do with this glorious theological truth?

  • Meditate on the holiness of God.
  • Thank God for sending Jesus to take your place.
  • Worship God for the depth of his love.
  • Love God because he so loved you.
  • Follow Christ with your life because this is the only appropriate response to the atonement.

Photo by Luis Vidal on Unsplash

A Tale of Two Deaths

Nearly eight years ago (1/16/2018), my mom died of a massive heart attack. Last night (1/9/2026), my dad died sitting in his recliner at his apartment. In those eight years, my dad grieved, faced depression, moved from Kentucky to Millers Creek, faced surgeries, falls, and a multiple myeloma diagnosis.

My mom’s health journey was long and difficult with many health issues she could not control, but her death was sudden and unexpected. My dad’s health journey has been long and difficult, and his death while sudden was expected. When I left him yesterday afternoon, I didn’t expect it to be last night, but we knew it was on the way.

Death is a horrible enemy. It is relentless. A number of years ago, I preached through Psalm 23. In that most famous psalm, David penned these words, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). Several things stood out for me as I studied this verse.

First, the Shepherd who leads through green valleys and still waters is still leading through the valley of the shadow of death. In my mom’s sudden death, we saw the Lord leading and showing grace given the many other health challenges she faced. In my dad’s journey these past several years, the Shepherd was leading as well. Even in sorrow and illness, my dad was not alone.

Second, the valley of the shadow of death casts a long shadow. We are trained to think of death as a moment in time when one’s heart stops beating. But the imagery of Psalm 23 indicates that David viewed death as an enemy with tentacles reaching into life to entangle the living. Dad experienced death in this way over the past few years. From depression that began with my mom’s death to the isolation brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, to chronic health issues from life choices to the incurable multiple myeloma diagnosis a couple of years ago, death’s shadow reached my dad long ago. The moment of death was last night, but the moments of death have been many and varied over the past few years.

Third, death is a real enemy but not an ultimate one. David ends the Psalm, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:6). David’s testimony reminds us that the believer may die, but lives on forever. Death took my dad last night, but my dad is alive in the presence of the LORD forever. He’s with the LORD, many of his loved ones who have already passed, and with my mom, the love of his life.

My dad’s suffering and death have taught me some things about the goodness and mercy of the LORD. Sometimes stubbornness is a gift to the living. My aunt was talking to me earlier about how my dad got some of his stubbornness honestly from his mom and his grandfather. And boy did he. He was stubborn, strong-willed, and just didn’t listen to much of what I told him these past several years. I’ll never forget him raising his arm, looking at me and the hospice nurses and declaring in that commanding tone I was so familiar with as his son, “I’m ready to die, and I would just as soon die sitting right here in this chair.” My dad’s stubborn will to live and to die in his chair was granted. He lived as long as he did because of his stubborn refusal to give up.

Sometimes God’s goodness and mercy is shrouded in unlikely clothing. There have been many times over the last few years that I struggled to see the goodness and mercy of God in my dad’s circumstances and my responsibility to care for him. My dad struggled with pain, cognitive decline, weakness, and his attitudes reflected these difficulties. As a caregiver, at times I’ve been angry, resentful, frustrated, argumentative, and plain difficult to be around. But even in these challenging days, God’s goodness and mercy chased us.

From his Home Instead caregiver to his deacons at church to church members who brought him meals and doughnuts, God reminded him and me of his goodness and love.

  • God showed his goodness and mercy through my wife’s practical, problem solving advice. In my frustrations and complaints, she was always quick to find and offer solutions. Nearly every major help my dad received traces back to an idea or suggestion she made.
  • God showed his goodness and mercy through cancer nurses and steroids. My dad was always at his best behavior when we went to his cancer infusions at the hospital. I think it was because the cancer nurses coddled him and treated him so well. I’m deeply grateful for the doctors and nurses that helped him battle the cancer and encouraged him along the way. Dad, my siblings, and I made the decision to stop his cancer treatments last spring due to weakness, loss of appetite, and other side effects. At that time, none of us thought he would make it through the summer much less the rest of 2025. But a steroid and moving off of cancer medications restored his appetite and gave him several months of quality living.
  • God showed his goodness and mercy through hospice care. I’m thankful for Mountain Valley Hospice who provided guidance for this season of my dad’s life.
  • God showed his goodness and mercy through many friends, prayers, encouragements, and moments even when I had trouble seeing it.
  • God showed his goodness and mercy through a family in our church who showed up at my dad’s apartment to sing Christmas carols. They sent me a video of him listening and even singing along.

My dad and mom are no longer with us. I deeply miss my mom’s prayers and even the stories she would tell over and over again. I miss my dad always asking about my sons even when his memory wasn’t great. I even miss his ornery orders that he would give me nearly every time I went to care for him. From now on, January will always be the month of two deaths. The tales of my parent’s deaths are much like the stories of so many friends, family, and church members that I’ve gotten to know. But their tales don’t end in January 2018 and 2026. For the death that our LORD died some 2,000 years ago means that my parents are more alive now than ever before. The death that our LORD died means that however I go through the valley one day in the future, I know that I will live forever in the presence of the LORD.

Photo by Katherine Hanlon on Unsplash