Christus Victor

In his book Christus Victor Gustaf Aulen provides a panorama of what the Lord Jesus has done for us: His victory is our victory!

This is an excerpt from that book:

"'. . . the Son of Man is come . . . to give His life a ransom for many' (Mark x. 45)--that is to say, in order to restore man to freedom. The idea recurs often in the New Testament: 'In whom we have redemption through His blood' (Eph. i. 7); "Who gave Himself a ransom for all' (I Tim. ii. 6); "He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption' (Heb. ix. 12); 'ye were redeemed, not with . . . silver or gold . . . but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish' (I Pet. i. 18); 'that loosed us from our sins by His blood' (Rev. i. 5) . . . Other variations of the idea of Christ's conflict and triumph appear in II Tim. i. 10: 'Who abolished death, and brought life and incorruption to light'; compare . . . Tit. ii. 14: 'Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity,' and purify unto Himself a people for His own possession,' and Acts xx. 28: 'to feed the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.' This last text is interesting, because the redemption is directly attributed to God Himself.

"In the Book of Revelation Christ is depicted as the Lamb and as the Lion; both these images reflect the idea of conflict and triumph. 'The Lion that is of the tribe of Judah . . . hath overcome' (v. 5); 'Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain to receive power'; the thought is well illustrated by the traditional symbol of the Lamb and Flag. Similarly, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, in a passage which is perhaps more quoted by the [church] Fathers than any other New Testament text (ii. 14): 'Since then the children are sharers of flesh and blood, He also Himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death He might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.'

"The dualistic outlook is particularly prominent in the Johannine writings, with their constant antitheses, such as light and darkness, life and death. The 'world' stands over against God as a dark, hostile power: 'the whole world lieth in the evil one' (I John v. 19). Into this world Christ comes, to thrust back the evil power, to dethrone the devil: 'Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out' (John xii. 31). The way that leads Him to death leads also to glory; 'the hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified' (John xii. 23). The promised Paraclete shall convict the world, bring home to its conscience the truth about Christ's righteousness--His heavenly glory--and about judgment, 'because the prince of this world hath been judged' (John xvi. 8 ff.); this difficult passage at any rate contains the thought of Christ's triumph through death. The purpose of Christ's coming is thus summed up in I John iii. 8: 'To this end was the Son of God manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.'"