Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word:
“It was unworthy of the goodness of God that the creature made by Him should be brought to nothing through the deceit wrought upon man by the devil; and it was supremely unfitting that the work of God in mankind should disappear, either through their own negligence or through the deceit of evil spirits. As, then, the creatures whom He had created…were on the road to ruin, what then was God, being good, to do? Was He to let corruption and death have their way with them?”
Athanasius believed that the Son of God (who was the eternal Word through whom God created the world), came in human form to lead us back into the harmony from which we had fallen away.
Irenaeus, another early church father, believed that the high point in salvation history is the advent of Jesus. He believed that Jesus would have been sent even if man had never sinned; but the reality that they did sin determines his role as Savior. He viewed Christ as the Last Adam, who undoes what Adam did. He also views the Christ as "recapitulating" or "summing up" human life.
Irenaeus, Demonstration of Apostolic Preaching
"6. This then is the order of the rule of our faith, and the foundation of the building, and the stability of our conversation: God, the Father, not made, not material, invisible; one God, the creator of all things: this is the first point of our faith. The second point is: The Word of God, Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord, who was manifested to the prophets according to the form of their prophesying and according to the method of the dispensation of the Father: through whom all things were made; who also at the end of the times, to complete and gather up all things, was made man among men, visible and tangible, in order to abolish death and show forth life and produce a community of union between God and man. And the third point is: The Holy Spirit, through whom the prophets prophesied, and the fathers learned the things of God, and the righteous were led forth into the way of righteousness; and who in the end of the times was poured out in a new way upon mankind in all the earth, renewing man unto God.
"31. So then He united man with God, and established a community of union between God and man; since we could not in any other way participate in incorruption, save by His coming among us. For so long as incorruption was invisible and unrevealed, it helped us not at all: therefore it became visible that in all respects we might participate in the reception of incorruption. And, because in the original formation of Adam all of us were tied and bound up with death through his disobedience, it was right that through the obedience of Him who was made man for us we should be released from death: and because death reigned over the flesh, it was right that through the flesh it should lose its force and let man go free from its oppression. So the Word was made flesh, that, through that very flesh which sin had ruled and dominated, it should lose its force and be no longer in us. And therefore our Lord took that same original formation as (His) entry into flesh, so that He might draw near and contend on behalf of the fathers, and conquer by Adam that which by Adam had stricken us down.
"37. Thus then He gloriously achieved our redemption, and fulfilled the promise of the fathers, and abolished the old disobedience. The Son of God became Son of David and Son of Abraham; perfecting and summing up this in Himself that He might make us to possess life. The Word of God was made flesh by the dispensation of the Virgin, to abolish death and make man live. For we were imprisoned by sin, being born in sinfulness and living under death.
"38. But God the Father was very merciful: He sent His creative Word, who in coming to deliver us came to the very place and spot in which we had lost life, and brake the bonds of our fetters. And His light appeared and made the darkness of the prison disappear, and hallowed our birth and destroyed death, loosing those same fetters in which we were enchained. And He manifested the resurrection, Himself becoming the first-begotten of the dead, and in Himself raising up man that was fallen, lifting him up far above the heaven to the right hand of the glory of the Father: even as God promised by the prophet, saying: And I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen; that is, the flesh that was from David. And this our Lord Jesus Christ truly fulfilled, when He gloriously achieved our redemption that He might truly raise us up, setting us free unto the Father."
Another quote comes from Justin Martyr. He was quoted by Irenaeus in Against Heresies:
"And Justin well said in his book against Marcion, that he would not have believed the Lord Himself, if He had announced any other God than the Fashioner and Maker [of the world], and our Nourisher. But since, from the one God, who both made this world and formed us, and contains as well as administers all things, there came to us the only-begotten Son, summing up His own workmanship in Himself, my faith in Him is steadfast, and my love towards the Father is immoveable, God bestowing both upon us."
If you look back into the view of the early church, you will discover great confidence in the love of God. In 1931, Gustaf Aulén wrote was has been considered a groundbreaking book entitled Christus Victor. "Christ the Victor" was a view of the atonement, held by the early church, as a divine conflict and victory over powers that held us in bondage: sin, death, and the devil. He argues that this classic theory is not so much a rational systematic theory as it is a drama, a passion story of God's triumph.
"As the term Christus Victor indicates, the idea of “ransom” should not be seen in terms of a business transaction, but more of a rescue or liberation of humanity from the slavery of sin. Unlike the Satisfaction or Penal-substitution views of the atonement rooted in the idea of Christ paying the penalty of sin to satisfy the demands of justice, the Christus Victor view is rooted in the incarnation and how Christ entered into human misery and wickedness and thus redeemed it. Irenaeus called this 'Recapitulation' (re-creation). As it is often expressed: 'Jesus became what we are so that we could become what he is.'" [taken from theopedia.com/Christus_Victor]
What is my point in sharing all of this history with you?
My point is to encourage you to have full confidence in the love of God. While the church has gone through many changes, many divisions, and even many changes in our views - you can be sure that God's love for all of humanity was adequately expressed through Jesus Christ. Rather than becoming mired in dogma, theological nuances, or debate, let us be consumed with the passion of God. Let us rejoice with the Apostle John as he states, "BEHOLD what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called children of God." My dear friends, if we cannot be confident in the love of God then how can we expect others to be?
Be blessed!!!
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