Satisfaction of Christ Jesus

By Nick Bibile

 

 

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Isaiah 53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

There are many meanings on the word of satisfaction, someone is satisfied when his wishes are met, and when your appetite is met you are satisfied.  Also, if you look in an old Webster’s dictionary it says ‘atonement’ fulfill conditions, rightful demands are met.  God the Father is satisfied because someone met his demands.

I want to show you this subject from a courtroom setting, from a legal perspective. In this court, settings there are three parties involved. The one who is offended. The one who is guilty and the attorney.

The one who is offended is God almighty; the guilty party is man, the whole humanity. You cannot charge someone and bring any guilty charges to that person, unless that person has broken a law. If there is no speed limit on the highway, the police officer cannot give a ticket for speeding. Who is the lawgiver and who was offended?  The lawgiver was God almighty and the offended person is God.  Meaning of Adam is mankind; the fountain of mankind broke the law of God in the garden of paradise.

Ro 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

Now man is brought to the courtroom, before the judge. Who is the judge? God is the judge, who is the lawgiver, God is the giver. Who is offended, God, the Judge is offended, the judge and the lawgiver is the offended party. How did man offend God?

Adam the fountainhead of mankind broke the law of God in disobedience. Man also violated the moral law of God; he is guilty in violating the Ten Commandments.  Man is guilty of breaking the laws of God. All have sinned against God; sin is attacking God’s righteousness by becoming above the law, challenging God’s authority. If you are breaking the laws of the country, you are challenging the authority of the law by becoming lawless. When someone kidnaps a little girl, the authorities are looking for the convict and the parents are hurt, when the little girl is found the parents are satisfied and the convicted person be penalized for the crime. How much more you have broken the laws of God and come against the authority of God. God needs satisfaction.

If you are brought to an earthly court of a crime that you did not commit, yet when you look at the judge there is a fear. How much more when we appear before the Judge of the universe.  How much more when we are aware the offended party is the Judge himself. We are facing us our Creator, the Almighty God, the lawgiver and he is charging you as “Guilty.”  

Rom 3:19 That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

You are speechless, as your mouth so prideful and boastful on this earth now cannot utter a single word; your mouth is stopped, guilty, guilty and guilty. You are speechless and stand absolutely guilty.

Jas 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Now in the courtroom, we see the Judge, the lawgiver is a righteous and holy judge will punish the guilty party. The punishment is against an infinite God and the punishment is infinite in hell.  Is there a righteous man on earth who can help us? No not one. Is there anyone on the earth who can rescue mankind? No not one as all have fallen short of the glory of God.  Man is in a hopeless condition.

Man is in deep trouble, speechless before God, guilty of violating the laws of God. God is angry with man (Ps 7:11) God provides a Savior, his mission is to fulfill the demands of the law, to pay the price, to undergo the penalty of punishment that God will be glorified. God becoming man is a mystery.

1Ti 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

In 1098 A.D a theologian by the name of Anselm, completed the greatest of his works, called “Cur Deus Homo” meaning “Why did God become man?” It was a treatise on the atonement of Christ, which he rejected the theory at the death of Christ a ransom paid to the devil, but Christ’s death was to satisfy the offended God the Father. God did not owe anything to the devil to give him a ransom. Anselm saw the natural depravity of man, his guilt before God and man’s inability to satisfy the Father God, but Christ coming to this earth and his work on the cross was necessary for man’s salvation.

Let me ask you some questions. Why he had to be born through a virgin and come as a man? Why is it that Christ had to become a man? Was it possible for Christ to save us without becoming a man, but coming in his divine nature, like how Christ appeared to saints in the Old Testament?  If Christ came in his divine nature only and said, “I am God”. Can he provide salvation? Absolutely no. Why? Because divine nature is not capable of obedience, obedience is always subject to a higher authority and God is not subject to another God as there is only one God. And the other thing is divine nature or God cannot suffer as he is above suffering.

God became man, a savior is born, his name Jesus, who shall save his people from their sins. Remember through Adam death came to all as all sinned. But Christ came to destroy the devil and the power of death. Also to deliver us from the wrath of God, he was our high priest, the high priest who is the mediator between God and man, and man and God. He is not only the High priest but also the victim and the sacrifice.

Heb 2:14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

The word propitiation means to appease and to calm the anger of someone, also we saw God is angry with the sinners daily and we were enemies of God. Christ Jesus came as a mediator to appease, calm the anger of God. Christ satisfied the Father. How did he do?

He redeemed us. What is the word redeem means? The meaning here is to buy back- to release from captivity or bondage,  to ransom, purchase.  To redeem someone, a price has to be paid. We are morally indebted to God, as we have violated his laws, sinned against him. Morally indebted to him, a debt must be paid to satisfy our obligation to God. How much is the price?  God is infinitely holy and righteous and the price is infinite, which we can never pay!

Psalm 49: 7 Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life.

Now let us return to the courtroom scene. Here we are in the Court of heaven, God is angry with you and demanding satisfaction of a price as you are guilty before him. God is just about to pour his wrath that you will be eternally punished. Then comes an advocate in our defense.

1John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

(Now as a footnote on verse two, he not only appeased the wrath of God not for ours means, not only for the Jewish believers as John a Jew writing to the Jewish believers but also to the whole world, whole world means the believing Gentiles. See the following scripture.

Acts 13: 48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.)

Oh, how precious and comforting the word of God to the believer. Our advocate is Jesus Christ and he is a righteous advocate, holy, sinless, blameless and righteous.

Our advocate Christ Jesus is called righteous. From a human perspective righteous means to be right with God.  Before we were not right with God, we were unrighteous.

Rom 3:10 None is righteous, no, not one.

Mt 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Remember how the children of Israel were delivered from the hands of Pharaoh. The exodus was a redemptive deliverance; there was a ransom price of the Passover Lamb.

Ransom is to pay a price by releasing someone in captivity, in bondage. We were bondage to sin, slaves to sin; we were in darkness, lost. We needed a deliverer, a Savior who can pay the ransom price to God the Father.

Christ Jesus came to pay that ransom price.  We know that Christ fulfilled all the demands of the law and he fulfilled them by his obedience. Fulfilling the moral law of God is absolutely necessary, (active obedience of Christ) yet the ransom price is required to be paid.

If you go to the store and steals some valuable items and when you come to the cashier you pay only one item, then just as you are about to leave, someone come and arrest you as they saw you on the camera stealing. Now you are caught, the value the things that you stole come up to $3000, the police come and handcuff you, but your good friend walks into the store and he discover what happened. He asks the manager the damaged and he pulls out his wallet and pays $3000 to the store. My question is, are you free to go now?  No, why, because you still violated the law being a thief and robbery, this is where the penal code comes in, as justice has to be satisfied. Even though your friend paid the price for the damage, still you need to be punished for violating the law.

What if Jesus scratched his little finger with a nail and few drops of blood came.  Will he qualify to redeem us? Why not?

This is where passive obedience comes in. Passive obedience means our mediator he paid the penalty.  There is a law word called penal code, it is a code of laws relating to punishment of crimes. The word penal comes from the Latin word poena, meaning pain and punishment.

Isaiah 53: 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.

Smitten means to strike someone, to give blow with the hand, to punish, to slay and to kill.  Affliction has to do with great pain, acute pain, body or mind or both.

Now back to the courtroom, the Father sees Jesus a man, fully man but not a fallen man but a glorious heavenly man who have paid the price for the believing sinner with his own precious blood and who have conquered death.

Rev 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,

I Corinthians 6: 20 for you were bought with a price.

(A price was paid; the ransom price was paid to the Father)

How much was the price, what is the value of the price paid to the Father?

1Pet 1:18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

It cost the life of his Son, the blood of Immanuel. No minister can save you, no priest can save but Jesus who is able to save to the uttermost, for he is God as well as man. Jesus is almighty to save! That which was impossible with man is possible with God. Nothing can remove sin but only the blood of Immanuel, our beloved Savior, God with us, he paid the penalty, the price with his own blood, beloved this is the good news!  

 Eph 1:7  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.

We owe God an infinite debt according to the legal demands of the law.

Col 2:14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

God the Father was well pleased of His beloved Son as he satisfied him and the demands were met.

Mt 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Christ laid down his life for the sake of his friends; he made complete satisfaction to offended justice of God, presenting himself as a vicarious sacrifice, in our place. He took the place of another, that is us, he became our substitute, we are reconciled to God, and we are accepted in the Beloved.

It is the man who sinned, but it is God who found the ransom. It is the man who is going down to the pit of hell, but it is God who finds a ransom. His only begotten Son came from the very bosom of the Father. God gave up himself to be punished, bleed and die for unworthy mortal men like us. Oh, beloved, this is wonderful grace.

If you are not a Christian today and hearing the gospel message for the first time, put down your pride and fall at the feet of Jesus, confess to him your filthiness of sins, cry out to him asking for mercy instead of judgment and whoever comes to him he will never cast you away. If you are enlightened by this ministry, please write to us and we can send you free materials for your spiritual growth.

May the Lord’s light shine on your souls. 

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