William And Joanna

This week’s Hammer verse is 1 Peter 3:18: “For Christ also suffering once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”

The message of this verse is simple. First, unlike the sacrifices which had to be offered multiple times in the Old Testament, i.e. over and over again for sin, Jesus Christ died only once to pay the penalty for the sins of sinners (see Hebrews 9:28-10:14). His was the perfect and complete work. Second, though he was perfectly righteous (having never sinned) and thus did not deserve to die for sin, he died in the place of sinners (the unrighteous) to pay the penalty for their sins. He accomplished complete satisfaction for sinners’ sin debt. Third, when the death of Christ is applied to sinners, one of its key purposes is fulfilled—namely, that he might bring us to God. This reminds us that God is the great ultimate gift we receive in the gospel. He is why the gospel is such glorious good news! Finally, Peter clarifies that it was the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that satisfied man’s sin debt. He was put to death in his flesh (his body), yet, he was made alive by means of the Holy Spirit, thus showing he conquered sin and death and also secured our resurrection.

In my 2008 book, Atonement Matters (Evangelical Press), pages 129-131, I told the following story to help explain what is meant when we say Jesus Christ’s death was a satisfaction for our sin debt. Hopefully this provides an enjoyable way to bring even more clarity to the subject.

Sweat poured down the dry, once-soft skin of Joanna as she stacked the tobacco leaves in the curing barn. The Virginia sun was beating down upon her like sticks on a drum. She paused to look over at her husband, William, who was also working frantically to get the valuable cash crop put up before their master’s fury was unleashed upon them. The thought made the ex-citizen of Leicester, England cringe, but also think wistfully of the freedom that she and her husband would have at the end of the month. They would have their own plot of land to farm, their own home, and the opportunity of the new life of which they had dreamed for so long.

The dream began nine long years ago in their home town. They had been married for less than a year and work was scarce. A friend told them about the opportunity of going to the new world, America. All they would have to do is work off their passage once there, put in a little more time in addition, and a plot of land would be theirs. They could build a home, raise crops, start a family, and never again return to the hand-to-mouth existence they now had.

Seven long hard years had now passed since they first stepped off of the ship and on to the harsh Virginia soil. Five years was to be the amount they must work to pay for their passage and another four years to pay for their land. Nine years altogether would satisfy their master.
Four years into their indentured servitude they met up with two young teen brothers, Robert and John. The two orphans were indentured to the same master and also working that they might gain land, a home, and future. William and Joanna had quickly taken the boys under their care. Joanna wanted children more than anything in the world, but her lack of health had so far left her barren.

The boys soon learned to love the older couple as their parents and wanted so much to get Joanna out of the tobacco fields and on to her own land as soon as possible. They went to the master and told him that they would like to substitute their labor for two years of William and Joanna’s. This would mean that the married couple would be free two years earlier and the boys would work two years longer. But it didn’t matter to the young men. They were strong and they loved William and Joanna.

This is why Joanna was now daydreaming by the tobacco barn about their freedom in less than thirty days. Though their master had been harsh at times, he always kept his word when it came to indentures. When other plantations had unfairly kept servants longer, he had let his own go on the very day to which he had agreed.

One month later William and Joanna walked out of the master’s house with a piece of paper that not only served as their freedom, but also as a deed to land. Though they had not put in the full nine years themselves, the paper nevertheless read: “Satisfied,” because the nine year requirement had been met—all because love had prompted two young men to be their substitutes. The master knew the debt had been paid in full and it would not be right to have them pay again for what had already been satisfied!

This analogy helps us to grasp what Jesus Christ accomplished in His death upon the cross for sinners…. Jesus Christ took the place of sinners and paid the penalty for their sins, i.e. he became their satisfaction. What this means is that the debt owed was met and therefore nothing else needed to be paid. Those for whom Christ died will be free.