A Subtle Shift, A Mighty Impact
The doctrine of atonement—that Jesus died as a substitutionary sacrifice to appease God’s wrath and satisfy divine justice—has become the cornerstone of much of modern Christianity. Yet, if we honestly revisit the teachings of Jesus himself, we are faced with a striking contradiction. Jesus came to reveal God as a loving Father, all-wise and merciful—not as a deity who demands appeasement through bloodshed.
Jesus upgrades the understanding of God from the primitive ideas of offended deities that must be appeased with ritual sacrifice to that of a Parent whose mercy and love far exceed the need for justice-as-revenge. As Isaiah declared long before Jesus, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Still, the doctrine of atonement reverts us to an earlier understanding: that God needs blood to forgive.
How do we reconcile Jesus’ teachings of a loving, forgiving Father with the image of a God who demands the death of His Son as a prerequisite for forgiveness?
The cross, in truth, reveals the power of divine trust and surrender—not divine anger appeased. Jesus did not come to model sacrifice to appease God, but surrender to God’s will even in the face of death. He embodied the words: “No greater love is there than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Does God’s Justice Trump God’s Love?
One of the most persistent theological misunderstandings in Christian history is the idea that God’s justice somehow overrides or trumps His love. This notion implies a divine conflict—where God’s holiness must be satisfied through retributive measures before love can be extended. But the life and teachings of Jesus dismantle that argument at its very core.
Jesus never framed justice as punishment or love as conditional. In parable after parable—the prodigal son, the lost sheep, the Good Samaritan, the workers in the vineyard—he paints a picture of a God whose love is extravagant, illogical by human standards, and freely given. These stories do not reveal a God who balances love against justice, but a God whose very sense of justice is an expression of His love.
To say that “justice must be satisfied” before God can love is to miss the radical nature of grace Jesus came to reveal. True divine justice is not about retribution; it is about restoration. It does not demand payment—it seeks healing. It does not require punishment—it offers reconciliation.
As Jesus taught and lived, love is not the exception to justice—it is the fulfillment of it. And if we insist on portraying God as more committed to punishment than to mercy, we’ve placed ourselves under an Old Covenant lens that Jesus came to remove.
The justice of God is not a balancing act between holiness and love. It is the outpouring of love itself—God’s desire to make things right through mercy, not vengeance. As Jesus so powerfully demonstrated, nothing about the Father’s heart requires blood to be loving. The God revealed by Jesus is not trapped in a system that pits His attributes against one another. His love is His justice—and it is His joy to extend it freely.
The Cross, Not to Appease But to Trust
To understand the cross, we must reframe it through the very life and example of Jesus. He never sought power or dominance. In the wilderness, when tempted to prove his divinity or gain influence, he refused. He resisted the urge to win the world through spectacle, magic, or force. His mission was not to rule but to reveal.
Jesus preached: “Resist not an evil person.” This was not cowardice, but the courage to trust in the Father’s will beyond fear. Gethsemane shows us the raw humanity of Jesus—wrestling with the coming suffering—but choosing trust over self-preservation.
Paul writes that Jesus was “obedient unto death.” The cross was not a payment to a wrathful God, but a radical demonstration of fidelity to the way of love. Jesus could have resisted, called angels, or invoked divine power—but he did not. His mission was to show that perfect love casts out fear, even the fear of death.
The Empty Tomb and the Way of Love
The empty tomb was not meant to be a show of divine dominance or proof of messianic power. It was the quiet, powerful confirmation that love and surrender—even unto death—are not in vain.
To the early disciples, shaken by the cross, the resurrection was an unexpected gift: an affirmation that death is not the final word. It was not meant to become the centerpiece of a power-proving religion, but a final encouragement to live as Jesus lived—trusting in God’s way even when the world mocks, resists, or threatens.
It’s understandable that the early Church, grieving and confused, clung to the resurrection as a triumph. But over time, that emphasis morphed into a gospel centered on victory over sin and death rather than the gospel Jesus actually preached: the kingdom of love, humility, forgiveness, and surrender.
The writer of Hebrews reminds us: “Let us go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death.”
Now is the time to grow up in our faith—to see the cross and empty tomb not as spectacles of appeasement or conquest, but as divine revelations of the highest human calling: to trust in the love and the inner authority of the Holy Spirit for one’s life even when the world threatens with disapproval or death.
Beyond Guilt, Sacrifice, and Spectacle
It’s important to recognize the beautiful and powerful effectiveness of the atonement doctrine in history. For many peoples and cultures shaped by guilt-consciousness and sacrifice-based religion, it offered an evolutionary bridge—a divine gesture that met humanity where it was.
The idea that “there can be no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood” is not a law of God but a reflection of human psychology. Across cultures, sacrifice was the language of devotion and fear. God, in mercy, spoke through that language.
The atonement doctrine helped relieve the burdened psyche of collective humanity from its obsession with appeasement. It served as a potent antidote to the evolutionary phase of guilt, showing that the ultimate sacrifice had been made, and thus freeing generations from endless offerings.
But now, as Paul preached in Acts, “In the past, God overlooked such ignorance, but now He calls all men to repent.” Repent—from what? From our immature conceptions of God as one who needs, demands, or accepts sacrifice.
Jesus revealed a God who “is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything.” Not even the blood of His Son was a requirement for divine forgiveness. The real transformation lies not in appeasing God, but in imitating Jesus’ trust and love.
The atonement doctrine also conditions us to look externally—for signs, wonders, and powerful messianic figures. It downplays the humble way—the peacemakers, the meek, the pure-hearted seekers of truth. It subtly teaches us to look for spectacle instead of living the Sermon on the Mount.
And so we are left vulnerable to charismatic leaders, obsessed with sin-consciousness, and caught in cycles of guilt and repentance, rather than encouraged to grow into the mature sons and daughters of God Jesus envisioned.
The Call of Today
Now is the time for those who love Jesus to see the cross and empty tomb for what they truly are: a demonstration of unwavering trust in God, and a witness that death cannot conquer a life given in love.
Let us return to the gospel Jesus preached: the way of living in sole obedience to the Holy Spirit motived by love for God and service of Christ little brothers and sisters on earth. Not guilt, not fear, not appeasement—but love, humility, mercy, and surrender.
About the Author
Addam from Adam is a spiritual guide, teacher, author and founder of the Atlanta Enlightened Collective. With a Master’s in Theology and years of experience in spiritual mentoring, Addam helps others awaken to the gospel of love, surrender, and divine trust. His work seeks to liberate faith from fear and return believers to the heart of Jesus’ message: The Good news of knowing God’s unique will for your unique life, and the gift of following the father’s unique will for your unique life.
Author: CVO
The CVO