The Remedies–How Did Jesus Do It?

If Jesus really did “do away with [put away] sin” (Heb 9:26), “hath destroyed [abolished] death” (2 Tim. 1:10), and destroyed “the works of the devil” ( 1 John 3:8) over nineteen centuries ago as the Bible states in the past tense and as I addressed in my previous blog titled “Sin Forever and Ever?”—how did He do it?

 

In other words, what is the nature of those victories?

 

“Great, thought-provoking questions to ponder, John,” wrote one responder.

 

“Thanks for stimulating thinking . . .” commented another.

 

Several others, however, asked me to provide the answers to the three questions I raised in that blog. One pastor in the church I attend wisely suggested: “you either add some kind of ‘So what then . . .’  Or do another blog post offering a response to your own questions with what this then means.” Otherwise, “the questions back and forth are just theological gymnastics without considering the life altering implications that come from them.”

 

So in a nutshell, here’s my response. See what you think.

 

Jesus didn’t accomplish all this (in the past) by eliminating these three problems or their realities. Rather, He accomplished it by providing three remedies.

 

First, He did away with sin by dying (“by the sacrifice of himself” – Heb. 9:26b) and pouring out of his blood in heaven. Theologians term this redemptive act: penal substitution, propitiation, and atonement.

 

Secondly, He destroyed death by resurrection—his, many others, the rest of the dead ones, and shutting down the hadean realm. (For more on this remedy, see: “Rapture” under “Our Teachings” on this site.)

 

Thirdly, He destroyed the works of the devil by ushering in the everlasting form of the kingdom of God on earth—and to its increase there shall be no end (Isa. 9:7;  Dan. 2:44; 7:14; Luke 1:33). (For more on this remedy, see: “Kingdom of God” under “Our Teachings” on this site.)

 

For example, one of  Jesus’ most prominent works was the casting out of demons, which He proclaimed as clear proof that “the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matt. 12:28; Luke 11:20; also Matt. 8:16-17; Mark 1:32-34).  Then, He sent the twelve and the seventy out to do the same things (Matt. 10:1, 7-8; Luke 9:1-2, 6; 10:1-17).  And there is much more—see Matt. 28:20; Luke 22:29; John 14:12.

 

But brothers and sisters in Christ, would you now agree or disagree that we need to get our faith straightened out and stop waiting around for Jesus to supposedly come back someday and remove these problems, entirely? According to the Bible, and as we have seen in my previous blog, this is not going to happen.

 

Our faith (at least in these three key areas) has been “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

 

And in my opinion, “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away” (Heb. 2:1) . . . into a “fantasy Christianity.”

 

But what do you think?