An Infinite Sacrifice for an Infinite Crime

I tend to think that a person who has never question some aspects of their beliefs doesn’t have a very good understanding of their beliefs. This applies to faith, politics, business philosophies, etc… By that I am not saying that a person should doubt everything they believe, thus becoming a skeptic. I am saying that we should ask questions and be honest about things that we don’t understand very easily.

For example, last week Jonathan B. posted on the incommunicable attributes of God. I for one have often thought of the concept of eternity and it hurts to think about. I mean, I can’t imagine not existing because I’ve never done that before, but something about always existing is impossible for my brain to comprehend.

If we don’t ask ourselves and others these questions how will we ever “be ready to give a defense for the hope that is within us” (see 1 Peter 3:15)?

One of the questions that I had to think through and study long and hard was how the chronologically short-lived suffering of Jesus could atone for my sin which is deserving of eternity in hell. There isn’t a category in my brain for peculiar justice that immediately makes me understand God’s ways in redemption.

Could it be true, as Shai Linne says, that “forever will I tell in 3 hours Christ suffered more than any sinner ever would in hell”?

Because I asked the question, put in the time, I feel confident that “there is only one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim. 2:5)

My answer to this question is that finite punishment cannot satisfy the demands of an infinite sentence. Allow me to explain:

I. Why is Hell Eternal?

1. The honorability of the offended party increases the magnitude of the crime, the magnitude of the crime increases the level of punishment.

Is there a difference between the punishment for lying to an infant and lying to the President? Absolutely there is. Because we sin against the Holy God of the universe we deserve to be punished for an infinite crime, namely, cosmic treason.

2. There is no biblical evidence of the sinful nature being reversed when a person goes to hell.

We tend to assume that people repent in hell but it seems that their hearts are still hardened toward God (example, Luke 16:19-31 the rich man still sees himself as greater than Lazarus). Therefore, there is no reason to believe that cosmic treason ceases to be committed in Hell. A person cannot fulfill their sentence if they don’t stop committing punishable crime.

3. There is no biblical reason to assume that we can bear the full wrath of God.

This is where I believe many who believe in annihilationism get it wrong. They assume that a finite number of years (even in the millions) will eventually lead to a person bearing the full weight of the wrath of God for their sin. Even forgetting the first two points I just made, do we really believe we have that capacity? We can’t even look at God in the face without going blind, how will we bear His wrath sufficient to save ourselves?

II. How is the Suffering, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Sufficient to Save us from Eternal Punishment?

1. The value of the sacrifice (Christ) is equal to the value of the offended party (God).

It’s not easy to get my mind around this. In the same way that my crime against God is worthy of greater punishment than a crime against a person, Christ’s sufferings are worth more than my sufferings. Christ’s value makes him the sufficient savior for my sins, and not for mine only…(see 1 John 2:2)

2. Because Christ’s death purchased righteous standing before God, and eventual glorification for the saints, our crime against God has a stopping point.

Though we sin as Christians (more than we realize), and that sin can only be atoned for by Christ, we will eventually be given a new nature in which we will not sin. Therefore Christ’s infinite sacrifice atones for a finite number of sins.

3. There is every biblical reason to believe that Christ did bear the full wrath of God.

From the garden where he felt the weight of the cup of God’s wrath (see Luke 22:42), to his cry “it is finished” (John 19:30) Jesus suffered through what we are fully incapable of bearing, the wrath of God.

For these reasons and more we can be certain that Christ is the fully sufficient savior for the sins of mankind.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen