What happened with the cross?
What happened is much easier felt then through academic explanation. There are lots of wrong ideas running around:
You do good to see the problems with penal substitution (PS), the ransom theory (although it is a ransom but it is not paid to God or satan) and the others.
I had to develop my own understanding, since I could not find anything that did not contradict God, His Love, mercy, justice and God being our Father.
The most popular explanation of atonement seems to be penal substitution (PS), but there are lots of issues:
PS is the whipping boy scenario which is not fair or just by human standards even if the innocent is willing, so why would God give us a different standard and say His is perfect?
PS makes God out to have the problem needing something in order to forgive people.
PS has God responsible/cause for the torture, humiliation and murder of Christ.
PS loses all the benefit that comes from punishing the guilty
If God is Love, how could God have a problem forgiving people? The reason given for penal substitution is God cannot forgive us without Jesus being our substitute, but that makes God out to having a problem, lacking in Love someway, and being almost blood thirsty.
What is the relationship between forgiveness and punishment for a transgression?
Would the perfect parent (the one you would like to be and be like God) see to the punishment of his/her children in order to have the Love to forgive those children?
The best parent does not punish (discipline) their children in order for the parent to have the love to forgive, they punish (discipline with time out or something) their children for the benefit that punishment provides?
God does not have a problem forgiving us, but we need to be punished somehow in order to obtain the benefits from being disciplined. So God somehow need to see to our discipline for our transgressions without killing us and yet be fair, just and show us His concern/Love.
What are the benefits to being fairly punished (disciplined) for our transgressions?
Answers:
Deterrent for the person being punished and others aware of the punishment to keep from repeating the action.
It places the value on the transgression (the greater the punishment the bigger the transgression), so times we do not know how much pain it has caused until we know the punishment for the transgression.
It shows fairness and justice, the parent needs to be consistent and we want to know we have a fair and just parent.
It is a way to put the transgression behind us, since we have done the time for the crime.
We know wonderful parent see to the discipline of the children they Love, so if our parents do not discipline (punish) us, we should rightfully question their love/concern for us.
Let me ask you a few questions:
1. How hard and why was it hard for God to allow Christ to do what did on the cross?
2. Christ is not standing in for me, but Christ is going to the cross because I did not keep from sinning, It is my fault Christ is allowing Himself to be tortured, humiliated and murdered, so I can personally be tortured for my sinning, not physically tortured like He was, but to tortured similar to the torture God went through watching His Son. Are there something worse than your own death?
3. As with those in the crowd (Act 2:37) I should experience a death blow to my heart from realizing what I have done, fully coming to the realization that my greatest Love has undergone torture, humiliation and murder, because of my sinning. Can we also say to the degree I Love Christ will be the degree to which I suffer and could that suffering be as great as His suffering?
4. The realization of what I cause Christ to willingly do for me on the cross is debilitating and makes me want to die, but there is also unbelievable Love shown from both God the Father and Christ that is uplifting and makes me want to live for them. So should we have mixed feelings about remembering what happened on the cross?
5. We also see how the cross does not work for the nonbeliever, since they would not experience any punishment in this life from Christ going to the cross. Their fair/just punishment will thus come later with hell. Does this explains how Christ going to the cross can be both for everyone and yet not everyone?
6. The bottom line is: God sees to the fair punishment of the guilty, we receive all the benefits of being punished, we realize what a unbelievable huge debt sin has created and thus when God does forgive us; we will have an unbelievable huge Love (Godly type Love) automatically, since Christ has taught us:
he that is forgiven much will Love much
. Is this Love what we are after?
7. If you do not experience the punishment for your transgressions, is hard to get the complete feeling you have truly been forgiven (like a child that has not been punished for a transgression)?
I have written a parable to help explain:
There is battle going on and you as an old man leave you post. The crime is punishable by 40 lashes or equivalent, but that will kill you. Your young innocent son offers to take your place and explains to the judge (general) that; 40 lashes on him will cause you tremendous pain and anguish. The judge (general) refuses because that would not be just to punish an innocent for the guilty (Whipping Boy). The innocent son then says: I will go over to the enemys camp for my fathers sake and they will beat me and imprison me until the end of the war. The Judge (general) says he cannot stop the young man from doing such a thing and knows this will really hurt the father when you find out, so the judge will not have to punish you father (justice has been done). You plead for the sons return, but it is to later and besides; there is really no other way for you to be punished and live.