The Joshua Victor Theory

  Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. God’s and the devil’s kingdom are at war in this world. We pray in the Lord’s Prayer: “ Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” God, send your kingdom here on earth! God’s Kingdom has intense opposition. The devil is deeply entrenched and fights his losing battle to the bitter end. The devil’s kingdom and God’s are as different as darkness and light, evil and good, death and life. But the devil is a powerful Liar and Deceiver, ever since the beginning. The devil lies so well, that in Isaiah, God rebuked His people for getting things totally backwards. He says: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20) . It’s deep trouble when we can’t tell right from wrong or good from evil. The devil is expert at keeping us confused! The devil is an ex...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Early Christians found various ways to speak about the redemption that Jesus Christ won for mankind. They followed the descriptions in Scripture. “What was the center of Jesus’ redeeming work?”, they asked. Of course the cross of Jesus had to be central. But what exactly was happening there? A transaction? A tragedy? A judgment? A battle? An example? The most common description is that Jesus was our perfect, innocent substitute, facing God’s judgment against sin. A similar picture is Jesus as the ransom for our human bondage to sin. A third description found more in hymns than in theology books, is called the Christus Victor Theory . Christ is the Victorious champion who destroys sin, death, and the devil. It’s a more triumphal picture—but really all three images together describe facets of the one reality that Jesus has redeemed us from the power of sin, death, and the devil. One...