His eternal purposes in order for Christ to secures eternal life for God's elect.
God's eternal purpose in His plan of salvation was accomplished by His Son's death for taking away the sin-guilt of the whole world, everyone, each man, which is to be received by believing in His Son. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."
The serpent that was lifted up by Moses provided life by God's grace for those bitten, and only those who obeyed and looked upon the serpent lived all the others died. This is the same way with Jesus Christ. God gave His Son to be lifted up that those bitten with sin would live simply by believing in Him. Those who disbelieve have rejected the only means that God forgives and gives a new life of His Spirit. Salvation is for any and all who will believe in Jesus Christ.
You folks only have half of the truth, the main part of christ's mission you reject, thereby reject the truth of Christ Gospel.
We do not reject the truth of the Gospel of God. We reject the erroneous misunderstanding that God sent His Son into this world so that He could expend pent up wrath upon Him in order to forgive us.
The New Testament is the fulfillment and commentary of the Old Testament. If your understanding of Isaiah is correct, then why don't we read that God expended wrath on His Son to save us? You will not find one passage in the NT where punish, punished, punishment, or wrath was used to describe anything from God upon His Son. It simply is not there, as it is not in the OT either. And if it is not in the New, which fulfills the Old, what does that indicate to you about your understanding of the Old?
You need to realize some of us stopped believing reformed doctrine and that PSA is central to the Gospel because God was involved and enlightened us. I can share my witness if you'd like.
So I ask each one of you the following questions: 1) "Was it "expedient" for God's people that Christ died as an offering to God for our sins?"
Yes, it is better that the Lord die for all of us, everyone than all of us dying for our sins. Although the high priest Caiaphas did not mean it in the same way we take it, for he wanted to kill the Lord because he feared the Romans would take away even more of their national religious freedoms to prevent an uprising.
2) "Who made Christ a curse for us according to Galatians 3:13?"
Our Lord Jesus Christ willingly offered His life to become a curse on our behalf to ransom those under the Law, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”. He purchased the freedom of those under the Law, so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might also come to us Gentiles; that we would all receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. He carried our sins in His body, and the curse that came with it under the Law was to ransom those under the Law.
Adam Clarke states it well: "That is, he has forfeited his life to the law; for it is written, Cursed is every one who continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them; and on his body, in the execution of the sentence of the law, the curse was considered as alighting (come to rest)"
3) Who made Christ sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God according to 2nd Corinthians 5:21?
Jesus our Lord was not made sin. He was made a sin offering. Even you have stated as such at the very end of your post, "God making his Son an offering for our sins".
The verse is a center of controversy and contested in Christianity of what it means and translates as. IE: Bill Mounce, a Calvinist variant who teaches biblical Greek agrees the verse should be properly translated as sin offering. The Orthodox Jewish Bible translates it as, "The one who in his person had no da’as of chattat (sin), this one Hashem made a chattat (sin) offering. There are more translations that translate it as sin offering instead of sin.
Sin is an act of disobedience. How does one become an act of disobedience?
For He made Him who knew no disobedience to be disobedience for us. This doesn't work. It does not match anything God illustrates in the OT.
The NLT states it well: For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ...This is what you see consistently in the OT and the NT with sin offerings. And you even stated, "God making his Son an offering for our sins".
4) Was our sins imputed to Christ and his righteousness imputed to us? If yes, on what grounds?
There is nowhere in the bible where God is said to have credited our sins to Jesus or His righteousness to us.
Just as God credited Abraham's faith as his righteousness, God credits our faith in His Son as our righteousness. "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ". We've been justified through faith, believing that our Lord's death justifies us with God. "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!"
What we see displayed in the OT is that the death of the sin offering redeems/sets free the sinner for having died for the sinner's sins. "when anyone becomes aware that they are guilty in any of these matters, they must confess in what way they have sinned" and "must bring to the LORD a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for them for their sin."
The provision of the sin offering is not to impute/credit the sacrifice with the sins of the people. It is quite the opposite really with the blood-death of the sacrifice applied to the sins of the people. The victim of the sin offering is to die explicitly for, on the account of, because of the sins of the people so their sins could be forgiven since a death for them has been made. “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins”.
How much greater is the death of our sinless Lord for our sins? "Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant." Heb 9:15
The only imputation is God crediting our faith just as He did with our father of the faith, Abraham. "So also Abraham "believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham."
"No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Rom 4:20-25)
5) Was Christ a private person or acting as federal head of his people? Please explain in a few words.
Jesus Christ is God in the flesh acting on behalf of both God and mankind to offer His life for the sins of every person. He is the head of His body, those who believe in Him.
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross." (Col 1:15-20)
6) Lastly, but by no means the least, did it please Jehovah God to bruise his Son? per Isaiah 53
Isaiah 53:10
“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.”
Absolutely it pleased our Father! When we read the context of verses 53:10-12 we understand that when Jesus offered His soul for sin the pleasure-will of God will proper in His hand. He shall see His offspring-believers that are born again resulting from His death. He shall live and reign forever and so shall His seed. He shall justify many for He carried away their sins in His offering of His life. He shall inherit all things and share it with His offspring. He makes intercession for us.
"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death" (Act 2:22-23)
The pleasure derived from our mercifully loving Father of delivering up His Son was to fulfill the purpose laid out in the verses that you think mean God delighted to pour out wrath upon Him. And it is simply not true. There is zero evidence of such. If so, please point it out in the NT writings that explain the OT.
I could ask so many more question but these are enough for now. Isaiah the prophet is not on your side, not even close, this should concern all of you.
The only thing that concerns me is you think you have it all figured out. As for Isaiah, he is on the side of God, such as us.
God gave his only begotten Son, knowing that there was no other ways to bring salvation to fallen humanity except through God making his Son an offering for our sins. Jesus Christ truly was the LAMB OF GOD to be sacrificed for the sins of his people.
John 1:29
“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
Yes, praise the Lord! We all agree that God sent His Son into this world as one of us, to die for our sins and rise and to give us eternal life.
We disagree that God had to pour anger filled wrath upon His Son to feel good about saving us.
God Bless
