The Bible leads us to an understanding of two all-important insights:
How much God loves us.
How much we need His help.
We understand the Bible’s plan of redemption, but often only at a basic level.
Jesus died to save us, but that statement is only the introduction to the overwhelming wonder of God’s plan of redemption for sinners. Apparently, we will study the plan of redemption throughout eternity, seeking more depth of understanding. We still have so much to learn about these awesome themes. God has given us the most important insights, but there are new heights of understanding to be climbed. Let’s explore them together.
Enemy Territory
We are all sinners because we are in a war zone. Satan instigated the war with his intent to destroy everyone’s confidence in God. Since he is a supernatural being, he has power to influence us beyond our power to resist, unless we seek God’s overruling presence. This is Satan’s method of operation – ruling by use of power. He will overpower us if we let him.
There is a dramatic difference between Satan’s methods and God’s methods of dealing with us. God never rules by power. His only method is to rule by love. God is a gentleman; He will never overpower our free will. He stands at the door and knocks.
He will not come in unless we choose to let Him in. Without the power of choice, there can be no love, and our Creator gave us that power of choice because He only wants us to serve Him if it is freely given out of love.1 He did not even oppose Satan’s power of choice, even though it took Him to the cross.
He came to earth like us - the eternal God in a human body! To us, that is an incomprehensible mystery, but it is true. He endured and defeated Satan’s attacks and finally allowed Satan and his devil-inspired hosts to murder Him by nailing Him on a wooden cross. Since He is the divine God, that was not the end, but His human body, mind, and senses endured an experience of overwhelming evil. He experienced it all, and since he not only felt the pain, but also understood its significance, the awfulness of it all was no doubt beyond anything we can imagine. In the eternity before His crucifixion He knew what was coming but He still went through it for us. And as He went to the cross, He apparently did not feel assurance that He would survive the experience. Contemplate that for a while.
When Satan began his war with God, he did not plan for a partial victory. After leading us into sin, he was also determined to derail any plan to save repentant sinners. Satan was naïve to think he could outsmart the Creator of the Universe, but his driving force was pride, not wisdom.
Before Satan rebelled, the intelligent beings in the universe lived in a happy, wonderful home. There was no reason to doubt God’s love and ability to rule the universe in the best way possible. There apparently were no influences that would cause anyone to wonder if God was telling the truth; whether He was trustworthy. Of course He was.
There were no influences that were likely to even bring that question to anyone’s mind. Since we live with lies and distrust all around us it is very difficult for me to comprehend a world like that. But we are told that such an environment was as real as the air around us. Jesus and everyone else could be trusted to always tell only the truth.
Lies
In that environment Satan’s only hope to win anyone into his rebellion was to tell lies – to raise doubts about God’s character.² How were the beings in God’s universe going to know how to understand lies? They had never heard anything like that before. Certainly, no one would say something that was not true, especially not the holiest, most intelligent, highest-ranking angel in the universe. Lies would have been to sinless beings an incomprehensible mystery. They did not live in an environment where it was necessary to wonder whether what someone said was true or not.
Since the entire universe is Jesus’ domain, as He entered that final conflict with Satan, it was not just our personal salvation that was at stake. The safety and fate of the universe was on the line. When Jesus exclaimed “it is finished” it was far more than the crucifixion experience that was finished. Satan’s plan was to defeat God and take over as ruler of this earth, but the words “it is finished” exclaimed that Satan was defeated. His plans had failed and he would come to his end.³ Jesus won, and Satan lost.
Now come back to our question about the plan for our salvation. Jesus died to save us, but just how did His death accomplish that? We are asking questions that are too big for us, but perhaps there are aspects of this plan that we can begin to understand now. It is worthwhile trying to comprehend it. Was His death like a payment to save us? Was His suffering sufficient to compensate for our sins, to pay the price? If that, or something like that, is the answer, I am OK with that, but from what we are told about the Great Controversy, I suspect there is more that we can contemplate. Many helpful insights can be found in the writings of Ellen G. White and in a book by SDA theologians.4
Since the crucifixion, only a minority have grasped the truth about who God is. Jesus and the Father knew all about this problem as they finalized their plan to win back the full loyalty of the universe. They knew the painful truth that many subjects would be lost, but this was the price that would inevitably result from the disloyal race’s acceptance of Satan’s monstrous lies that ruined their lives. God also understood that underneath the visible evidence that humans were deceived, there were some with true hearts that could be trusted and rescued. These included the sheep that Jesus said He had in other folds; much loved sheep that brought joy to Jesus.5
There were two goals that God needed to accomplish at the cross. One goal was to win back the full confidence of the universe so that it did not dissipate into uncertainty and chaos. The other goal was to save as many humans as possible and take them out of this damaged world. In spite of the awfulness in the lives of Satan and his deceived followers, there were genuine remaining questions about the character of God. Artfully devised lies from the once brilliant, loyal leader of the angels were very difficult to unmask.
The first task, to win back the confidence of the universe was absolutely essential. To a God of love, the second goal of saving as many humans a possible was equally urgent. The heavenly Father and Son devised a plan to accomplish both in one event.
The first goal was accomplished partly because during the crucifixion weekend Satan could not see clearly, and his treatment of Jesus was so unimaginably evil that the contrast between his character and Jesus’ loving, forgiving character became crystal clear. The events of the crucifixion weekend destroyed any remaining sympathy for Satan. The future safety of the universe was assured.6 This was a primary result of the crucifixion.
The second goal was a little more complicated. We humans are all sinners. Is taking us into the sinless universe a safe plan? How could that be justified, since we have not become sinless, but are sinners until the end? We understand that Jesus died for us (7). That amazing sacrifice for a lot of sinners was kind and gracious, but exactly why does it give Jesus the right to save us sinners? Theologians have well-developed theories about the plan of salvation (4), and apparently, we will discuss this throughout eternity. I suggest that one important factor is the result of what we discussed in the previous paragraph.
It is Finished
When Jesus said “it is finished” the immediate result was His defeat of Satan. His horrible experience on Calvary solved the Great Controversy conflict, resulting in restoration of the full confidence of the universe in Jesus. This restored confidence also gave Jesus the freedom to do what is right and fair for those sinners who Jesus knows can be trusted to live in heaven. It could be that this is one important explanation for what it means that Jesus died to give us life. He defeated Satan and restored the confidence and trust of the universe, which resulted in the trust that He would do what is right for us sinful humans. Jesus had to die on the cross to win back the trust of the universe. That is the ultimate result of His death, and this trust was needed for Him to be able to save us. This is an important reason why He had to die to save us.
As the centuries roll on, we will gradually learn more about this transaction that gave us eternal life, and about the wonders of Jesus’ willing sacrifice on the cross. No doubt it is much more complex and intricate than I have described, but this is one factor to consider, and this is one that my simple mind can understand. Maybe there are others like me. That is a place to start our search for understanding; a search that will continue for eternity.
An objection to this idea could be raised. The entire story of the judgment, especially the thousand-year judgment in heaven, shows that God wants His decision regarding each human fate to be open for all humans to study and verify. In the scenario I described, Jesus appears to make all those decisions. However, that is not a valid objection.
No matter how the decision process is done, at the Second Coming, the decisions of who goes to heaven have already occurred, based on the pre-advent judgment. At that point God does not apologize for who he chose to let into heaven. We can trust His judgment and how He will encourage and guide those who are saved.
The judgment during the thousand years in heaven is where we have the opportunity to be satisfied that no one has been kept out of heaven, who should be there. We can examine all the evidence and be sure we understand whether the decisions were fair. In His decisions, God leans far over toward mercy, fairness, and open communication.
****
Leonard Brand is Emeritus Professor of biology and paleontology at Loma Linda University. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from Cornell University and was chair of the Department of Earth and Biological Sciences for 33 years.
References
1 Brand, L. 2025. How high was the price. Adventist Review, March, p. 32-34.
2 Patriarchs and Prophets p. 38-42
3 Patriarchs and Prophets p. 77
4 Moskala, J and Peckham, J. C. 2018. God’s Character and the Last Generation. Pacific Press.
5 Mathew 8:11-12; Romans 2:15
6 Great Controversy p. 89, 747, 751
7 Patriarchs and Prophets p. 76-77