“ Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30). The magnificent application of the atoning work of Christ we shall summarize by the use of the one word satisfaction. Any study o f the doctrine of the Atonement is incomplete when the satisfac tion view is omitted. The fundamental moral attri bute o f God is holiness, therefore, it is reasonable that God should be given some satisfaction in hav ing removed sin. But can the death o f Christ be properly regarded as a satisfaction for sin? While we do not find the word “ satisfaction" in the Au thorized English version of the New Testament, the connotation is present. When one, through violation o f a contract, has incurred a penalty, that one is freed from his con tract either by paying the penalty or by offering a substitute, provided the person exacting the pen alty is satisfied with the substitute. Now man did never satisfy the demands of the Law of God, hence he must bear the penalty pronounced upon him, namely, “the soul that sinneth it shall die” (Ezek. 18:4 c f Gen. 2 :51; Rom. 6 :23). Anyone who would fully satisfy the demands of God’s perfect and holy Law must obey both that Law in every de tail and that which the Law demands, in order to substitute for the guilty offender. Providentially for us, God meets the demands of His own holy and just Law. It is not that our sins are of little moment to Him that He forgives us. He forgives us because the Blood o f Jesus Christ shed on the Cross was both a substitution and a satisfaction, a wiping out in suffering, bloody agony the penalty due us. Sin has been punished
there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants o f Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness” (Zech. 12:11; 13:1). That fountain will be the same one that was opened on the Cross at Calvary more than nineteen hundred years ago. When they see Him, “one shall say unto Him, What are these wounds in thine hands ? Then He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house o f my friends” (Zech. 13:6). Then shall they confess unto Him, saying, “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement o f our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5). Israel’s acceptance of Christ at His second appearing is seen in type on the Day of Atonement when the High Priest entered twice within the veil. It was not until he came forth from the Holy Place a second time that the Israelites had the assurance that God was fully satisfied and the atonement fully accomplished (Lev. 16:3, 15). David Baron sees in this a figure of the work of Christ in relation to the Church and to Israel. If hearts are growing impatient, and wondering, as did the people in the day of Zacharias the priest, “that he tarried so long in the temple” (Luke 1:21), let them remember the promises of the Son of God. Everywhere in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, one finds the prediction of Christ’s return in glory and Israel’s salvation. Someone may find difficulty in applying the atoning work of Christ nineteen centuries ago at Calvary to Israel in a day yet future. True, the fountain for sin was opened when Christ died on the Cross, but actually and experientially, the Day of Atonement for the believing sinner is the day his eyes are opened to his sin and to Christ’s re deeming work. What the believing Jew or Gentile receives individually today through faith in Christ’s atoning work, Israel will receive nationally in that day. The Day o f Atonement is marked by complete rest for the children o f Israel. “ And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day o f atone ment, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God. And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do no manner o f work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings” (Lev. 23:28, 30-32). Much space is given here in the instructions to this detail. The ceremony on that day represented the complete removal of sins and the restoration of the people to fellowship with Jehovah. Under the shelter of the shed and sprinkled Blood of the Son of God only does one find rest. There can be no rest for the troubled soul outside of Jesus Christ, for “ the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest” (Isa. 52:20). Jesus said,
The blood sacrifice was "fo r the people . . . the children of Israel . . . for a ll the congrega tion of Is r a e l." (Lev. 16:15-17)
and justice satisfied, hence no further punishment can justly be demanded from the believing sinner who has received the Atonement. God is fully sat isfied with the finished work o f His Son at Calvary, but a greater satisfaction shall be His when Is rael’s great day o f Atonement comes to pass, and that nation which God called to Himself shall rec ognize and receive His Son. Indeed Israel’s future Feast o f Atonement will be God’s Feast of Satis faction. “ He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied” (Isa. 53:11). GO]
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FEBRUARY, 1969
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