The Avenger

[Christ Jesus] whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.  This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.  It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.  — Romans 3:25-26

There are people who hear that God is good, that He is kind and loving and merciful, and they draw from that an erroneous conclusion.  On the surface it seems reasonable, and it is certainly pleasant.  The problem is that it ignores human reality.  The human race is depraved.  We can try to gloss over it.  We can point to the wonderful works of wonderful, kind, and generous people.  We can clean ourselves up and dress ourselves up and do good deeds.  Meanwhile we struggle to be honest.  We hurt the people closest to us in a myriad of ways — sometimes intentionally, sometimes inadvertently.  We think dark thoughts.  We crave what we cannot have.  We harbor envy and jealousy.  Or we simply fail to appreciate what we have been given.       

In light of fallen human nature, a genuinely good God cannot simply pat us on the back and say that He understands.  God is not like that.  He is terrifyingly honest.  He does not ignore or gloss over the truth.  He has given us all that we have, and He quite rightfully expects us to keep that in mind so that we are able to maintain a proper perspective on life and possessions.  Again, we can argue, as I often have, that we are relatively good people.  Graded on a curve with Pol Pot, Hitler, and Stalin — heck, with Congress, I don't do too badly.  And I can point to lots of people who are better than I am and not necessarily even Christians.  But one of the things Paul does in the first three chapters of Romans is take apart brick by brick the argument that humans have any ability to justify themselves against the absolute standard of a holy God. 

The perfection of God calls for justice, and justice demands perfection, and we ain't got it.  God, in response, offers satisfaction for His own justice.  This is the aspect of Christianity that bothers a lot of people — the sacrifice of the perfect, sinless Innocent for the unrighteous.  Why could God not simply forgive us?  Why could He not just continue forbearing, "passing over former sins"? 

The cosmos runs on laws, physical laws, yes, but also moral laws — like the law of the harvest:  Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.  Justice is more relentless than gravity.  You can overcome gravity for a time by expending enough energy, beating out the acceleration of gravity with a counter acceleration.  You can do the same thing with justice by expending moral energy in deception, self or otherwise.  But the cosmos demands things balance out.  The price for escaping justice must be paid.  Against God's plumb line, every human soul would deserve punishment. 

 When the tribes of Israel were about to enter Canaan, certain cities were set aside as “cities of refuge”.  If one man killed another, even by accident, the shed blood of the victim demanded the killer’s blood be poured into the scales of justice.  Someone, usually a member of the family of the deceased, was chosen to carry out the feud against the offender.  A feud is an expression, however distorted, of the balance demanded.  By fleeing to one of the cities of refuge, the killer could escape the inexorable pursuit of the avenger.  Once in the refuge, the person was put on trial.  If the evidence indicated an accidental killing, the refugee was not given up for execution.  He was allowed to stay in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest, at which time he was free to return to his home without fear of vengeance.  

 The condition for termination of the refugee’s exile is often overlooked.  The death of the high priest – Christ is, of course, our great High Priest of the new covenant.  In order for justice to be satisfied, even to settle the responsibility for an act without malice or intent, there had to be a death – an atoning death.  Because the Aaronic priesthood stood in and served God on behalf of their brethren, the Lord could accept the death of the high priest as atoning for the blood that was spilled in the land.   

 But even this was a temporary solution.  How does a loving God who is also a just God resolve the situation for His children made in His image and likeness?  Taking on our flesh, God descends and identifies with us in Christ that He might atone for all our sins.  He offers Himself to appease the demands of justice -- that is, to justify us and restore the equilibrium of righteousness.  

 Finally, I feel compelled to say, God takes the defilement of His world by the shed blood of the innocent very seriously.  The laws of the cosmos are perhaps stranger than I feel comfortable contemplating.  The sacrifice of Christ will cover my failure and preserve me but only as I am in Him.