April 11, Category: Life Together. In J. He asked one question in his study: What is your view of God? We put God in a box. We made Him fit our view. Our God ended up being much smaller than the God revealed in Scripture. My aim in this article is to show that all too often we make the same mistake with the work of Christ.
His death is about me and my family and friends and our personal relationship with Christ. It may branch out to the world and people in the world, but it is always about the world of human beings. Little, if anything, is ever said about the created order the cosmos or creation , the realm of evil angelic powers, or the realm of impersonal forces of death and evil.
There is a view of the work of Christ that aims to address these issues. It is called Christus Victor. Here Christ is seen as both the Savior and as the victorious heavenly champion. His work on the cross, which extends to all of life, is the downfall of the powers of evil. The havoc they have wrought in the created order cannot and will not prevail, for His victory over them is the promise of the ultimate restoration of His creation.
For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross.
And having disarmed the powers and authorities; made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Verse 14 addresses the legal aspect. Verse 15 reveals the dramatic aspect. He is the conquering hero. Christ publicly disgraced the powers of evil. Like a triumphant general he drives the defeated foes before him in a parade of victory. It is significant that in Luke Jesus describes his own ministry in terms of victory over the forces of evil.
