Alicia Ostermeyer: Theology Response

The New Testament gives us many ways to understand the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Choose one model of the atonement that you have not used before. Summarize how you could share the gospel on campus using that model.

Governmental atonement theory explains that Jesus was the substitution for the punishment that sinful mankind deserved and that God showed the seriousness of sin and its consequences on the cross with His sinless son. While this theory is strong in emphasizing the power of Jesus dying a death we deserve, I think it is weak in it's argument that God showed His dislike of sin on the cross. God had been pouring our His wrath long before the cross and therefore the cross doesn't need to serve as a mechanism of God's displeasure with sin. While this atonement theory lacks the joy found in the meaning of the resurrection, it can bring a healthy remembrance of the divine justice that can be found in Jesus bearing our sins which brings us freedom.

If I were to use this theory in explaining the gospel to a student I would focus of the weight of our sins. I would share about why God dislikes sin and how sinless Jesus on the cross is an example of that. I would have the student imagine the wrath of their sins being satisfied on the cross with Jesus. He took on a death we deserve. I have had dreams where invisible hands are nailing me to a cross that causes me to wake in pain, and while I am not sure why those dreams come, it does bring a humble reminder of the painful death God in flesh went through for my freedom from sin. Hopefully by then end of sharing the gospel with this student through the lenses of Government atonement they would understand that God's forgiveness and justice go hand-and-hand.

Why was it necessary for Jesus to be born of a virgin?

I've had a hard time believing that is was necessary for Jesus to be born of a virgin because I'm not sure that my faith should be in a virgin birth. I think that the cross and resurrection are enough to put my faith in and everything else is secondary. However, Bird has convinced me otherwise. To say Jesus wasn't born of a virgin leads to strange theology and it contradicts too much of scripture. It makes perfect sense that Jesus was born of a virgin, right from conception God was showing how Jesus is divine and human. Strauss makes the argument on page 370 of how could Jesus be fully human if he was born with no physical connection to Mary and Joseph, and on the contrary how could he have been fully God from only human DNA. Without a conception from God and given birth from a woman, the argument of Jesus being Emmanuel weakens. God has always been intentional in showing us what He is doing. Jesus' birth shows a new reality of God's kingdom coming through a baby born of a virgin.

[quote="Alicia.O."]The New Testament gives us many ways to understand the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Choose one model of the atonement that you have not used before. Summarize how you could share the gospel on campus using that model.

Governmental atonement theory explains that Jesus was the substitution for the punishment that sinful mankind deserved and that God showed the seriousness of sin and its consequences on the cross with His sinless son. While this theory is strong in emphasizing the power of Jesus dying a death we deserve, I think it is weak in it's argument that God showed His dislike of sin on the cross. God had been pouring our His wrath long before the cross and therefore the cross doesn't need to serve as a mechanism of God's displeasure with sin. While this atonement theory lacks the joy found in the meaning of the resurrection, it can bring a healthy remembrance of the divine justice that can be found in Jesus bearing our sins which brings us freedom.

If I were to use this theory in explaining the gospel to a student I would focus of the weight of our sins. I would share about why God dislikes sin and how sinless Jesus on the cross is an example of that. I would have the student imagine the wrath of their sins being satisfied on the cross with Jesus. He took on a death we deserve. I have had dreams where invisible hands are nailing me to a cross that causes me to wake in pain, and while I am not sure why those dreams come, it does bring a humble reminder of the painful death God in flesh went through for my freedom from sin. Hopefully by then end of sharing the gospel with this student through the lenses of Government atonement they would understand that God's forgiveness and justice go hand-and-hand.

My Response:
Alicia, I think that the way in which you want to use this method to share the gospel to others is truly inspiring. I couldn't agree more. I was just discussing with someone the other day the importance of understanding the gravity of our sins, and how doing that strengthens our understanding of God's radical love for us. Sometimes this can get confused with dwelling on our sin and living in an state of condemnation-- which isn't what we're talking about here. But when we take at least a brief moment to meditate on just how awful our sin is and just how dreadful the penalty for it is, and how God sent his only son who was so innocent, and precious, and pure to die in our place, we begin to get a glimpse of His crazy love for us.