3. Who has suffered the penalty for our sins and paid the price of our redemption from sin? Isaiah 53:5-6.
NOTE: ‘Through Christ, restoration as well as reconciliation is provided for man. The gulf that was made by sin has been spanned by the cross of Calvary. A full, complete ransom has been paid by Jesus, by virtue of which the sinner is pardoned and the justice of the law is maintained. All who believe that Christ is the atoning sacrifice may come and receive pardon for their sins; for through the merit of Christ, communication has been opened between God and man. God can accept me as His child, and I can claim Him and rejoice in Him as my loving Father. We must centre our hopes of heaven upon Christ alone, because He is our Substitute and Surety. We have transgressed the law of God, and by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified. The best efforts that man in his own strength can make are valueless to meet the holy and just law that he has transgressed; but through faith in Christ he may claim the righteousness of the Son of God as all-sufficient. Christ satisfied the demands of the law in His human nature. He bore the curse of the law for the sinner, made an atonement for him, “that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Genuine faith appropriates the righteousness of Christ, and the sinner is made an overcomer with Christ; for he is made a partaker of the divine nature, and thus divinity and humanity are combined.’ Faith & Works, page 93.
4. How does Paul describe the transaction that Jesus made by His death on Calvary? 2 Corinthians 8:9. Consider Philippians 4:19.
NOTE: ‘Remember that the poorest and most obscure Christian who has ever lived, shall be a joint-heir with Christ in the dominion of the world; not to reign a few brief years, and then descend from the throne to the silence of the grave, but to reign forever and ever; nay more, if faithful to the end, we shall all be kings and priests, and receive crowns of glory, palms of victory, and spotless robes: in one word, we shall receive an “eternal weight of glory.” Are lands and estates more to be desired than all else besides? Our heavenly Father offers as the reward of the few sacrifices we are called to make here, “an inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, and which shall never pass away.” “He that overcometh shall inherit all things.” Is health the greatest earthly good? The inhabitants of that land never say, “I am sick;” there shall be no pain nor death in that happy, happy land. There sickness, sorrow, pain and death are felt and feared no more. Is good society our chief desire? There are the virtuous and good, the wise and benevolent of all ages and generations, Jesus Christ our elder brother, and an innumerable company of angels our friends and associates. Are life, youth and beauty, the choicest gifts of heaven or earth? The inhabitants of that blessed country shall live forever, they shall bloom forever in the full vigour of immortal and never-fading youth.’ James M. Stephenson: The Atonement, page 167.