Does_God_Take_Away_Free_Will_Jesse_Morrell 2.pdf - PinPoint ...

51:16-17; Heb 10:6; 10:8). The way that wicked men treated His
Son did not itself please God (Mk. 12:6-9; Lk. 20:13-16; 1 Thes.
2:15). The satisfaction (Isa. 53:11) and the pleasure (Isa. 53:10)
which God the Father has in the atonement is not sadistic or
personal vindictiveness, but rather this satisfaction and pleasure is
because God delights public justice, rejoicing that His laws are
being enforced and upheld through the public demonstration of
Christ’s bloody sacrifice (laws designed for the well-being of all),
and rejoicing and delighting that mercy and pardon can now be
granted to repentant rebels who have violated His moral law. This
is the reason for the satisfaction and pleasure God the Father had in
the suffering of the Son (Isa. 53:10-11). Just as punishment is a
means to an end, and not the end itself and therefore God rejoices
in justice, not for the pain as an end but as a means, not for its own
sake, but because of what it brings. So also the blood atonement is
a means to an end, and not the end itself, therefore the pleasure
God gets from the blood shed is not in the blood as an end, or in
blood shed for its own sake, but as a means to an end, delighting in
it because of what it brings. It’s the mercy and not the sacrifice that
God desired (Hos. 6:6; Matt 9:13; 12:7).
2. The atonement does not change God, the atonement
changes man (Matt. 1:21; Jn. 1:29; Acts 3:26; Rom. 2:4 (with
Rom. 5:8); 2 Cor. 5:15; Eph. 5:25-27; Col 1:21-23; Titus 2:11-12,
14; Heb. 9:26; 10:10; 1 Pet. 2:24; 1 Jn. 1:7; 3:5; 4:19). The
atonement does not change God from being stern, severe, and
angry, to being mild, forgiving, and kind. God was merciful,
loving, and forgiving before the atonement was made (Ps. 86:5;
Neh. 9:17; Jonah 4:2; Joel 2:13) which is why He gave us the
atonement (Jn. 3:16; Rom. 5:8). God did not have to be reconciled
unto man, but man had to be reconciled unto God (Rom. 5:10-11;
11:15; 2 Cor. 5:18-20; Eph. 2:16; Col. 1:20-22), man needed to
change, not God. So the atonement changes man, not God. God is
the same after the atonement as He was before the atonement (Mal.
3:6; Heb. 13:8; Jas 1:17). It was not that the Father wanted to
punish men, seeking personal vengeance, so the Son stepped in to
shed His own blood to satisfy the Fathers personal vindictiveness
wrath, so that now the vindictiveness of God is satisfied and
therefore He doesn’t want to punish men anymore. Rather, the
Father wanted to reconcile men and bring men back into a
relationship with Him, He wanted to set aside their punishment
through forgiveness, and therefore He sent His Son to die for their
sin, to change them and bring them to repentance, to make a way
for His wrath to be set aside while also protecting the highest wellbeing
of all, so that their punishment would not be a governmental
necessity anymore. The Lord wanted to set aside the penalty of the
law while upholding the authority, influence, and dignity of the
law at the same time. So the Son changes men on behalf of the
Father, as opposed to the Son changing the Father on behalf of
man. Men are reconciled unto God, instead of God reconciled unto
men.
3. The atonement is not the exact and literal punishment
that we deserve; blood shed is not the exact and literal payment of
our debt. Nowhere in the Bible is it said that Jesus took the eternal
punishment that we deserve, or paid the eternal debt that we owed,
but the Bible says everywhere that the Savior suffered for our sins
(Lk. 9:22; 17:25; Acts 3:18; 26:23; 2 Tim. 3:12; 1 Pet. 1:11; 2:21;
3:18; 4:1; 4:13; 5:1). The atonement is a substitute for the
punishment that we deserve; blood is a substitute for the debt that
we owe. If Christ were to literally serve our prison sentence, He
would have had to suffer in hell for all of eternity.
This is a dialog I had with a friend:
“What is the punishment that we deserve for our sin?”
“Hell.”
“Did Jesus suffer in eternal hell?”
“No.”
“So did Jesus take our punishment?”
“That’s a good question.”
The atonement consisted in wounding and bruising (Isa.
53:5), agony of soul (Isa. 53:3-4; 10-12; Matt. 26:38; Mk. 14:34)
and the shedding of blood (Lev. 17:11; Heb. 9:22) on behalf of our
sins, iniquities, transgressions, offenses, and crimes. But our
punishment was eternal torment in hell fire (Matt. 25:46; 2 Thes.
1:9; 2 Pet. 2:9; 3:7; Jud. 1:7). The suffering of Christ was a
substitute for the punishment of our sin, the atonement of Calvary
is a substitute for the torments of hell. This substitution is four
fold: Christ is a substitute for sinners, the cross is a substitute for
hell fire, Calvary is a substitute for the lake of fire, and six hours is
a substitute for eternity.