Christus Victor – The problem of the enemy

1 John 3:8

“The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”

Hebrews 2:14-15

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

The foundation of the Christus Victor Atonement theory is somewhat built upon the Ransom model and these two are somewhat intertwined. While the Ransom theory focused on the mechanism of freeing us from bondage to sin, death, and the devil, Christus Victor focuses on Christ’s victory over sin, death, and the devil. Ransom was about freeing us from slavery. Christus Victor is about Jesus as a King and warrior, defeating the devil to reclaim what is rightfully His. And what Christ has performed for His Father and for the justice of making things right, we are taken into this victory to receive the plunders of His raid against the forces of darkness as we become citizens of His kingdom. Rather than the cross being a picture of suffering as in some atonement models, it is so much more a picture of triumph. That is the essence of Christus Victor and it means, “Christ our Victory” or “Christ the Conqueror.” In this lesson, I will distinguish Christus Victor from Ransom by focusing on what kind of problems there were for mankind and the devil and then how Christ overcame those problems. I already mentioned this to some degree in the previous video but now I will expand on it even more. I will also emphasize the war between good and evil. My focus will not be on rehashing all the traditional beliefs on this theory but on presenting it in the most conceptual way that I see it. Basically, I take the theme of “Christ the Conqueror” and run with it. I would encourage my reader or listener to not think too conceptually about this atonement theory but rather think of it as good news that can lead people to Christ and show them the goodness that He offers us.

All of the world’s problems can be traced back to the devil in the garden tempting Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. God made Adam and Eve upright, innocent, without any sin. God made them in His likeness and in His image to rule over the earth, to fill the earth with people, and spread God’s knowledge over all the earth. The original design was that this would be God’s kingdom on earth—a civilization ruled by God as their King and humanity as His co-rulers and ambassadors. When He made us in the beginning, He crowed us with glory and majesty and put all things under our authority (Ps 8). But the devil, being envious of our authority, desired to have it for himself. And so, he devised a cunning plan to steal it from us. He convinced Adam and Eve to rebel against their King and Creator. Once we fell into sin, we relinquished our authority to the devil and he became “the ruler of this world” (Jn 12:31; 16:11; Eph 2:2). By each increasing act of sin, the devil gained more authority over the realms of man. Wicked cities became spiritual strongholds, holding people captive to the devil to do his will and blinding them from the light of the true kingdom. Men and women, having lost their true identity, forgot who they were, and what they were supposed to become. With their identity being lost, they would never rise up against the devil to take what rightfully belonged to them. Sin, shame, and fear filled the earth and through these things, the devil has ruled the earth and kept humanity as his prisoners.

Some might think that the devil does not rule the earth or own the kingdoms of man. But to the contrary, when Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, the devil offered to Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth (Mt 4:8). But Jesus never corrected him saying that they were not his to give because they were. They were his by right. The devil said to Jesus that if Jesus were to bow down and worship him, “I will give you all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours” (Lk 4:6-7). The Apostle Paul calls Satan “the god of this world.” He says, “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor 4:4). Ephesians 6:12 tells us that we are in a spiritual battle, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” The book of Daniel also mentions these spiritual forces in the heavenly places. Daniel had a terrifying vision that he couldn’t explain and so he fasted and prayed to God for help to understand it. He prayed for three weeks with no response. Why was there such a long delay? It was because there was a spiritual battle going on in the heavenly realms of the earth. The angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel and said, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia” (Dan 10:12-13). Then as Gabriel was leaving, he said, “I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia; so I am going forth, and behold, the prince of Greece is about to come” (v. 20).

Ever since Adam and Eve plunged humanity into sin and death, there has been a war going on over spiritual territory in the earth. It has been a war of good versus evil. It is because we are free-will creatures that this battle continues to persist, for if we did not give into evil, then the forces of evil would lose their power. The evil of both believers and unbelievers feeds the spiritual power of the earthly realms into advancing darkness which produces spiritual blindness and spiritual bondage. On the other hand, righteousness, love, kindness, and truth is light and it breaks the powers of darkness (read Isaiah 58). Jesus was the embodiment of these things as He said, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life” (Jn 8:12). By Jesus’ life and death, He showed us the way back to God, back to true life, light, and love, so that we would rule with Him to break every power of darkness over the earth. Turning from sin is essential if want to be released from being the devil’s prisoner and step up to our true calling. Jesus also said, “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters” (Lk 11:23). Everyone should ask themselves this question: “Am I serving Jesus? Or am I serving myself and the devil? Which side am I on?”

There is further evidence that our actions affect the dominion of the spiritual realm. Things done in the spiritual realm flow over into the physical realm and the physical flows into the spiritual. We see this in Jeremiah 3:3 where God says that because of the people’s wickedness “the showers have been withheld, and there has been no spring rain.” Wickedness literally pollutes the land (v. 1-2; Lev 18:24-28). Wickedness brings a curse and this curse is the absence of God’s life and blessings. If we don’t want God and the things that He wants, then He will not force His life upon us but will withdraw Himself and all the good things that He has to offer. Apart from God: peace turns to fear and anxiety; life turns to death; preservation to decay; joy to sorrow; and order to disorder and disarray. It is through these things that the powers of darkness are given authority to rule over us because we have relinquished that authority to them. But God says that if we will humble ourselves, pray, and turn from our wicked ways, then He will heal our land (2 Chron 7:12-16). Adam brought the first curse into the world but the second Adam, Jesus, brought about the reversal of this curse. In His death and resurrection, He brought a major blow to the devil by conquering sin and death. And when Christ comes to dwell inside us through faith, we partake of His life and victory (Ro 6; 8:2; 1 Cor 15:54-57).

Though in the garden the devil bruised His heal, at the cross, Jesus crushed the serpent’s head (Gen 3:15). This bruising of the heal was the devil as the snake biting the heal of Christ. This was through the initiation of the first transgression which severed humanity from faith in God and from the peace and presence found in God. Now, when people are born, they arrive in this state of spiritual death which, if not corrected, will lead to their destruction. The devil, with Adam, plunged humanity into darkness. All those who follow after the devil (his seed) in wickedness and unbelief are children of the devil but those who follow Christ (her seed: as a descendant from Eve) in faith and righteousness are children of God. This is the enmity that resulted from the fall of man. It is the war between good and evil. It is a war between humanity and the devil. Christ suffered a loss in the garden and throughout history through losing humanity as His inheritance over to the power of the devil. But when Jesus died, He defeated death and proclaimed victory over the spirits in prison (1 Pet 3:19). The cross was a major blow to the devil but when Jesus returns to the earth again, He will put a final end to the devil and crush the serpent’s head for good. In the time between, Jesus asks us to join Him to fight against the devil and plunder his kingdom to receive back His rightful inheritance. The Father has said to His Son, “Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession” (Ps 2:8). Song: Christy Nockels – As For Me

The way Jesus receives us back is through His life, death, and resurrection, and He shares with us the blessings of His victories and the blessedness of His kingdom. As Romans 8:17 says that if we are children then we are heirs also, “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” And Ephesians 2:6 says that we have been raised up with Him, and seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

If I had to put a mechanism of the cross under Christus Victor, how would I say it?
The love and perfect righteousness of Jesus is what broke the powers of darkness that prevented people from seeing the light and turning from their wicked ways. His perfect love and obedience were so magnified on that cross that He bankrupted darkness so that all who abide in Christ, can receive of that life and light. If good and evil were weapons, Jesus obliterated His enemies with good on that cross. All the evil and violence of humanity could not overcome Jesus’ love for us. Evil had to lay down their weapons and admit defeat. The sinless sacrifice of God who endured to love and forgive in the opposition of humanity’s extreme violence and hate, disarmed the rulers and authorities and dispelled their power of darkness through His piercing light (Col 2:15). Jesus is the light and His gospel that He has given to us is much greater light than the messages we had before Christ. This light has staying power. This light is as the sun compared to the stars of light given to us in the Old Testament. This light is a radiant beam which is efficacious to pierce through the darkness. It is through this light that we are saved. It is this light from Jesus and from believers displayed through love, peace, compassion, and truth that softens the hearts of the wicked and the sinners to bring truth to their spiritual and rational minds and to bring wholeness to their broken and corrupted hearts. Wickedness is a stronghold that prevents breakthrough, healing, restoration, and prosperity. The spiritual forces of darkness in the heavenlies need to be broken through repentance and faith. Jesus showed us the way to conquer the kingdom of darkness, through His love. When we love people, it softens their hearts—it dispels the darkness—making them more ready to receive the light of the love of Jesus into their hearts. In this way, sin and the evil heart are dealt with through overcoming love. In this way, Jesus, our commander, and we, His warriors, are to slay God’s enemies with love. As Jesus Himself instructed us “do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good” (Ro 12:21; Mt 5:39). And as He exemplified to us, “in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Ro 5:8). Death now becomes swallowed up in victory through Christ’s indwelling presence and the evil forces in the heavenlies lose their power when we abide in His love, light, and life and spread His light across the world. There was a day when the devil offered to Jesus dominion over the whole earth if He were to forfeit His fight and the purpose to which He came into this world, but Jesus fought for us until the end never once giving into sin. He went through with the great sufferings of crucifixion and when He rose from the dead, He declared “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Mt 28:18). He obtained a better way, the best way to be the earth’s rightful and worthy King. Unlike the devil who stole authority by deceit, Jesus earned every right to hold all authority to be the earth’s rightful Judge and Governor. One day at the end of the age, Christ will abolish all rule and authority and all power from the evil one, along with death itself. He shall reign until He puts all enemies under His feet. And once He subjects all things to Himself, He will hand over the kingdom back to His Father so that God may be all in all (1 Cor 15:20-28).

Right now, many people refuse to come to the light because of their fear that the light will expose their wickedness. They resist it and avoid Christians, loving, and joyful people because something within them feels disgusted. They are disgusted with themselves but won’t admit it because the light is exposing the darkness in their hearts. And so they project their insecurities onto those who carry light to make themselves feel like the joyful ones have a problem rather than themselves who are the problem. What they need to do is to stop resisting and stop living in denial. Face yourself. Face the light. And let the light in. Turn from your sin and receive the love and healing of Jesus. Let God rescue you from the domain of darkness to transfer you to the kingdom of His beloved Son (Col 1:13). Jesus came to bring peace, for He is the Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6).

Isaiah 9:6-7

And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

Daniel 7:13-14

I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
“And to Him was given dominion,
Glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations and men of every language
Might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed.

It is helpful to have Christian doctrines that exalt God doing what He does for Himself and that we partake in the blessings of this byproduct action. The reason I say this is because if the foundation for our faith is God Himself rather than the fickleness of humanity, we can rest in much greater faith in what God does for us rather than if we were the central focus of why God acts. Another beautiful thing about Christus Victor is that it doesn’t pit God against God like Penal Substitutionary Atonement does. Rather, it’s God against the devil. In Christus Victor, God didn’t kill Jesus, Satan did. Sin isn’t the primary enemy of how we became separated from God—it was first and foremost the devil’s work who has been a murderer and liar from the beginning. The focus isn’t on God’s wrath and hatred for sinners but rather on the devil’s hatred for the sons and daughters of Adam made in the image of God. Colossians 1:13-14 says, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Notice the order here. God rescues us to then save us and forgive us rather than forgiving us to save us. God’s victory is what brings us atonement. When the Bible says that Jesus purchased us with His blood, it could be said under the Christus Victor view that Jesus paid the price of redemption for us to set us free from the power of the devil. The blood of the Lamb of God was the price so that the devil would release humanity from his domain. Jesus paid the price to set us free.

But how much of this is all but forgotten in most Protestant circles? Their view of the death of Christ is so monolithically short-sighted. When they talk about the death of Jesus, they don’t talk about these others aspects. What kind of psychological damage do you think that might do to God’s sheep?