In these days of prayer and reflection, I’ve been challenged to summarise in a very concise way what the Atonement is all about. In other words, what it is that Jesus Christ has really done that makes Him so important. It struck me that there are three distinct but complementary dimensions that can be summed up: the propitiatory, the palliative and the paradigmatic aspects. Yes, I know they are big words, but they fit well. And the alliteration can be helpful.
Propitiatory comes from the translation of a Greek word used in Romans 3.25, but also summarises that aspect of the cross that is about punishment and penal retribution as well as propitiatory sacrifice. It’s an important – crucial – aspect of what Jesus Christ has done for us. God punishes sin but Jesus took our punishment. It’s the triumph of mercy over judgment for those who will receive Christ. It is something to be proclaimed now by us, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Palliative refers to the healing aspect of what Jesus was doing, bringing healing and restoration to people. It is interwoven with the first aspect but is distinguishable in itself. God heals. It’s a critical mark of his ministry in Galilee, as it is now. He delivers us from the devil. He brings us His peace and tasters of healing, when we are willing to receive it. All this flows out of Christ’s atoning work. It is something to be manifested and ministered now in Christ’s name by us, in the power of the Spirit.
Paradigmatic is the life lived by Christ as a man and vindicated by God. He gives us a pattern of human life, acting as the paradigm for humanity – the second, unsinning Adam. He gets crucified because of it, but God does not allow that to be the end of the story. God raises Him up from the death and equips Him with the new body that we all now long for, when Jesus ushers in the new heaven and the new earth. A life to be demonstrated through outworking what it means to live for the Kingdom of God today.
The full atoning power of Christ has to be proclaimed, manifested and demonstrated. All of these aspects of telling, ministering and behaving are involved. This is the power of the three dimensional understanding of the atonement Jesus Christ brings. It is all of propitiatory, palliative and paradigmatic. It removes the risk of simply being about ideas alone, power alone or deeds alone. Anything less runs the risk of reducing the truth to but a fairy tale, fantasy or social fashionability.
