Have you ever opened a box that had been vacuum packed, and then wondered how the ingredients ever got squeezed into the container in the first place? That was my sense as I read Jeremy Treat’s densely packed book, The Atonement. In just 160 pages, Treat provides a broad survey and a deep dive into the meaning of Christ crucified, aiming to cultivate worship and catalyze discipleship (p. 7). Our Elders just completed a study of the atonement using this helpful book as a discussion guide.
A key contribution Treat makes is to show the many-splendored facets of God’s work in Christ at the cross. In the 20th century there was a trend to try and identify a controlling “theory” of atonement—that one thing God was up to—such as Christus Victor (Christ conquered evil), or penal substitution (he bore our punishment for sin), or the example theory (the cross moves us to imitate Jesus’ self-giving love).
All such “theories” convey urgent truths, but it was misguided to elevate one and marginalize others. Treat scours the Bible and helps readers see a wide array of “dimensions” of atonement: glorification, reconciliation, propitiation, victory, redemption, justification, sanctification, removal of shame, and many more!
Further, these many dimensions do not just co-exist, but they cohere in their connection to Christ dying in our place for our sins (p. 115). They come together like members of an orchestra who unite in order to produce a beautiful symphony.
One take-away for me was to see afresh the extent of spiritual damage done by sin. Apart from Jesus, our plight is devastating. Only a stunning act of God, to love and rescue and cleanse and redeem and justify and reconcile (etc.!) treasonous idolaters like us could do the job. Very humbling. Yet also hopeful: if God is willing to go to such lengths to save enemies (Romans 5:8), we should rest assured that he will finish the job (Romans 8:32).
