While there are undoubtedly other theories as to why the Father sent his Son to die, the two main ones that I know of are the Christus Victus Theory of Atonement or Love Prevails versus
Penal Substitutionary Theory of Atonement or Perfect Justice. I call them the Good God versus Bad God theories. I had never heard of either one when I named them that, but had for years been thinking about the love and goodness of God. If God is love, then all he does flows from his heart of love. The evil in this world flows from it's author Satan, who loves nothing more than deceiving people into believing his evil works are God's doing.
You may be rightfully asking, "Why does it matter?" As briefly as possible, I'll attempt to show you why it is so important. It wasn't until a thousand years after after our Savior's death that the Perfect Justice Theory was first heard of. Love Prevails was the only known theory until that time.
The Love Prevails Theory contends that God loved mankind so much he sent his Son to rescue us from the evil forces of sin, death and the devil which had captured and enslaved mankind. Not only our Messiah's dying, but every word he spoke and every action he took showed us how good the Father is. This is what I read in the New Testament gospels and epistles about why the Father sent his Son.
The Perfect Justice Theory contends that because of man's sin God, who is perfectly just, was so angry that he had to pour his wrath out on somebody, and that sacrifice had to be sinlessly perfect. Even though I had never heard what it was called, Perfect Justice is the only theory of atonement I'd heard about, except as I now see it in the Scriptures.
Do the horrors our Savior went through on Calvary sound more like God's wrath or Satan's fiery? I contend the later. If he couldn't get Messiah to sin while on earth, he'd kill him and make it as brutal as possible. What Satan did not reckon on is he couldn't keep a sinless person in the grave.
If God was so mad at mankind because they had sinned and kept on doing so, why did our Savior forgive people before he ever went to the cross? For example, the women caught in the very act of adultery?
Also on the mount of transfiguration why did God the Father, who is love say, "This is my beloved Son in whom I well pleased, hear him," and a few days later put him through the awfullest of tortures? The cross sounds like Satan's fiery and not God's wrath to me. Only the blood of Messiah would "force" him to relinquish the control over mankind he had deceitfully taken in the garden.
WHAT THE FATHER IS LIKE?
What is the Father like?
Our Savior not only told us,
Our Savior not only told us,
His every action showed us,
How good the Father is,
He said,
He who has seen me,
Has seen my Father,
So what did Messiah teach?
What works did he do?
He taught about the kingdom,
Where love reigns,
He walked in love,
Forgiving sinners,
Setting captives free,
Healing sick people,
Raising the dead,
Fellowshipping with outcasts,
His life was so appealing,
Crowds followed him,
The power hungry feared him,
Crucified him,
Sinlessly perfect,
He died for our sins,
Rose again,
Defeating Satan,
Also, sin and death,
Sent his Spirit,
To live in us,
Empower us,
Give us victory over sin,
That's what the Father is like!
