Substitutionary Atonement - by Jaden

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53:4-5

Contextualizing theological truths for a three year old can get a little tricky and as any parent can attest, their questions are limitless. Some of my favorites from our eldest son: what is sin, are we sinners even if we don’t do anything wrong, why did Adam and Eve do it, why didn’t God stop them, so - Jesus NEVER lied?

One memorable conversation dealt with the following,
Why did Jesus die?
He loved us so much he died for us.
But dad, why did he have to die?

At the time, Jaden was three. And as with many budding minds he realized that the initial answer, though probably true, avoided the question rather than answering it. So again…

Why did he have to die?
Well, the Bible talks about Abraham being a friend of God.
We can be friends of God, but we're all in trouble because of sin.
Do you remember what sin is?
When we lie, hit our Justus, and have stinky attitudes.
Ok. So what does daddy do if you do something really bad?
I get punished. You spank me.
Well, because we sin God’s job is to spank us.
Sin makes Him sad and we need to be punished.
So Jesus came to take our punishment;
on the cross he took all of our spankings for us.
Jesus took our punishment, so we can be friends with God.

The answer apparently sufficed for after tucking him in Jaden remained quiet for the night. And while we’ve since built upon the aforementioned discussion, none of our exchanges have been quite as colorful as the one we shared yesterday evening.

The Context:

It must be a first born thing because when Judah, our second son, sees the twins in trouble – his eyes sparkle. But Jaden’s different. If the twins do something that warrants discipline, Jaden takes this extremely personal. In firing off 10 reasons why Janna and I have grossly misread the situation, he becomes their immediate advocate. Comparatively, Judah just smiles.

The Conversation:

Last night after dinner, Josiah and I were about to go have a “talk”;
Carrier code for age appropriate discipline.
On cue, Jaden spoke
but his argumentation had a uniquely theological twist.
But daddy, I thought Jesus took all of our spankings?
Brilliant, for if Jesus took all our spankings on the cross
then Josiah must be expunged of all culpability.
I was caught off guard and he knew it.
While dealing with Josiah on the spot,
I just smiled at Jaden and politely nodded.

Everyone was in bed as I sat down to write. Jesus did take all of our punishment. The full extent of God’s righteous wrath was to be poured out upon me but Jesus became the propitiation (I John 2:2). Not only did He absorbed every ounce of God’s anger, but Christ invested me with the full extent of His own righteousness (2 Cor 5:21). Accordingly Paul states the following, “there is no therefore no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” (Rom 8:1). In a strong sense, I guess Jaden was right.

Neither Athanasius, Augustine, nor Calvin

could have said it any better.

These are very familiar passages, but my son gave me reason to stop and consider the radical nature of God’s grace. Jesus died for His brothers and sisters. In doing so, he died for me. May our convictions be settled – Christ has provided the once for all substitution by which mankind enters into communion with our Father.

Let this truth anchor our hearts and breath hope into our souls.
May our children continue to grasp the principles of life
and may we be found faithful stewards of His glorious grace.

Grace and Peace