What Did Christ’s Atoning Work Accomplish?

Multiple Dimensions of Christ’s Achievement

The death of Christ is a multidimensional accomplishment within a story that begins in the garden and ends in the kingdom. Jesus was the Messiah, the King of Israel, who came to set right all that our sin made wrong. He came proclaiming the kingdom, embodying it in himself.

And so when he went to the cross, it was to establish the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. His kingdom mission didn’t end at the cross. In fact, at the cross he was reigning as a king. He was showing that he’s a king who reigns with love. He rules with mercy and with grace.

So Jesus accomplishes bringing the kingdom of God through self-giving love on the cross. Now, within that story, we can start to recognize that the achievements of the cross are unending. Yes, he accomplished the forgiveness of our sins, but there’s so much more than that. It’s victory over the enemy. It’s the cleansing of our shame. It’s the glorification of the Father. He accomplished bringing us out of exile and bringing us home with the Lord. He accomplishes so much more than we could ever imagine.

And so often what happens is people reduce it to one thing here or one thing there. We forget that we’re adopted into the family of God. We’ve been given immortality in Christ. We’re participating in God’s nature.

We miss the fullness of what Christ has accomplished. And so what I hope people see with the cross is that it’s a multidimensional accomplishment, and we shouldn’t reduce the gospel to one fraction of what Christ accomplished, but embrace the fullness of it.

I like to think of the accomplishment of Christ on the cross like an orchestra. There are many different instruments that all play a particular part in a role, and yet they work together to make a beautiful song. And in this case, it’s proclaiming this chorus that Christ died for our sins.

Jeremy Treat is the author of The Atonement: An Introduction.

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