One of my readers made a comment previous blog post wanting to explore a little more deeply about why the divinity of Christ was necessary for the atonement to be sufficient.
I wanted to try and address that here a bit more.
The point that Grudem was making is that either Jesus is eternal deity or He is a created being. If He was created, does He become part of the creation marred by the sinful fall of man?
Grudem's point is that it if difficult to see how a created being could offer sacrifice in full propitiation for divine wrath? Could any creature, no matter how great the standing in the order of creation, save us from our sins?
I guess you could argue that there are aspects of creation outside of the heavenly realm that are not marred by a sinful humanity. There is the heavenly realm, populated of angels. But aren't demons no more than fallen angels? Is there an essential, elemental goodness, a perfection within the angelic realm that would allow perfect sacrifice on our behalf.
As I think about it, anything in creation can be subject to pride and arrogance and fall into sin. Satan, the greatest of angels did, and took a third of the angelic host with him.
The point is nothing within creation can stand the rigors of divine wrath and satisfy it fully. It takes a transcendent being, standing outside of creation to do that. And that can only come from the divine Creator. Hence, Jesus must be God to fulfill the requirements of divine wrath.
I wanted to try and address that here a bit more.
The point that Grudem was making is that either Jesus is eternal deity or He is a created being. If He was created, does He become part of the creation marred by the sinful fall of man?
Grudem's point is that it if difficult to see how a created being could offer sacrifice in full propitiation for divine wrath? Could any creature, no matter how great the standing in the order of creation, save us from our sins?
I guess you could argue that there are aspects of creation outside of the heavenly realm that are not marred by a sinful humanity. There is the heavenly realm, populated of angels. But aren't demons no more than fallen angels? Is there an essential, elemental goodness, a perfection within the angelic realm that would allow perfect sacrifice on our behalf.
As I think about it, anything in creation can be subject to pride and arrogance and fall into sin. Satan, the greatest of angels did, and took a third of the angelic host with him.
The point is nothing within creation can stand the rigors of divine wrath and satisfy it fully. It takes a transcendent being, standing outside of creation to do that. And that can only come from the divine Creator. Hence, Jesus must be God to fulfill the requirements of divine wrath.
Logging you in...
No comments:
Post a Comment