Chapter 3: On the Father as the chief author of redemption, and His role in the work
Book I, Chapter 3 The Agent or Chief Author of the Work of Redemption, and the First Act Ascribed to the Father I. The Triune God as the Author of Redemption The author of our redemption—the one who initiated and carried out this great work—is the blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All the outward works of God are undivided, belonging equally to each person of the Godhead, though each acts according to His distinct manner of subsistence and role in the divine order.
It is true that there were various secondary, instrumental causes involved in Christ's suffering (or passion). Yet the work of redemption cannot rightly be attributed to them.
Regarding God the Father, the actions of Christ's enemies had results entirely contrary to their own intentions. In the end, they only did what God's hand and plan had already determined would happen (Acts 4:28).
Regarding Christ, they were powerless to take His life. He willingly laid it down of His own accord (John 10:17–18). Their violent actions did not compel Him; He gave Himself freely.
Therefore, these human agents are excluded when we speak of who truly accomplished the work of redemption.
Still, Scripture speaks of distinct actions carried out by each person of the Trinity in this united work. According to our human limitations, we must consider these actions separately and in order.
We begin with those acts that Scripture ascribes specifically to the Father.
II. Two Key Acts Ascribed to the Father There are two distinct actions in the work of redemption that are properly attributed to the Father:
1. The sending of His Son into the world to accomplish redemption.
2. The laying of our punishment upon Him in the place of sinners.
1. The Father Sends the Son God the Father, moved by love, sent His Son to save sinners:
"He sent His Son into the world so that the world might be saved through Him" (John 3:16–17).
"God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, to condemn sin in the flesh" (Rom. 8:3–4).
"God set Him forth as a propitiation through faith in His blood"
(Rom. 3:25).
"When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son… to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption as sons" (Gal. 4:4–5).
This action of sending is mentioned over twenty times in the Gospel of John. Jesus Himself often describes His own mission with the words: "Him whom the Father sent" (John 10:36). And He identifies the Father as: "He who sent Me" (John 5:37).
This act was foretold in God's promise:
"He will send them a Saviour, a great one, to deliver them" (Isa.
19:20).
And confirmed in Christ's own words:
"From the beginning I have not spoken in secret… and now the Lord God and His Spirit have sent Me" (Isa. 48:16).
Because of this divine action, the Father Himself is sometimes called our Saviour:
"According to the command of God our Saviour" (1 Tim. 1:1).
(Some manuscripts read "God and our Saviour," but this likely arose from a mistaken assumption that only Christ bears the title "Saviour.") This same phrase appears again in Titus 1:3:
"According to the commandment of God our Saviour," where the grammatical structure leaves no room for separating the title from the Father.
In Luke 1:47, Mary sings: "My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour."
In 1 Tim. 4:10, we read:
"We trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those who believe."
This reference does not concern redemption through Christ directly, but God's general providence in preserving all people.
The title of "Saviour" is frequently given to the Father in Scripture, in connection with the sending of Christ. Examples include:
Titus 2:10; 3:4
Deut. 32:15
1 Sam. 10:19
Ps. 24:5; 25:5
Isa. 12:2; 40:10; 45:15
Jer. 14:8
Mic. 7:7
Hab. 3:18
Most of these texts refer to God's redemptive act in sending His Son.
This sending of Christ by the Father involves three distinct aspects, unfolded in order in the following sections.
The Father's Role in Appointing Christ as Mediator (1) The Authoritative Appointment of the Son to the Office of Mediator The first aspect of the Father's work in redemption is His authoritative appointment of Christ to the office of Mediator.
Christ accepted this willingly, taking the office upon Himself voluntarily. Although He was "in the form of God," He humbled
Himself and submitted to this calling (Phil. 2:6–8). In this role, the Father exercised a kind of official superiority over the Son—not in essence, but by dispensation, according to the order of redemption.
This act of appointment may be seen in two parts:
[1] The Eternal Counsel and Purpose of God Before time began, God purposed to appoint His incarnate Son to the office of Mediator:
"You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance" (Ps. 2:7–8).
"Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool"
(Ps. 110:1).
"The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek" (Ps. 110:4).
He made Christ "heir of all things" (Heb. 1:2), and "Judge of the living and the dead" (Acts 10:42).
He was "foreordained before the foundation of the world" (1 Pet. 1:20), "declared to be the Son of God with power" (Rom.
1:4), and "predestined to be the firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29).
Although this eternal purpose is not part of the temporal events of Christ's ministry, it is the fountain and source of all that follows.
As it is written:
"Known to God are all His works from the beginning of the world" (Acts 15:18).
Though this purpose is eternal, it is common in Scripture to speak of God's plan together with its execution. So, for clarity's sake, we include it here.
[2] The Actual Inauguration of Christ into His Office This refers to the formal setting apart of Christ for His mediatorial work—God's public confirmation of His mission.
"The Father committed all judgment to the Son" (John 5:22).
"God made Him both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36).
He "appointed Him over His whole house" (Heb. 3:1–6).
This is the "anointing of the Most Holy" (Dan. 9:24), God "anointing Him with the oil of gladness above His fellows" (Ps.
45:7).
This anointing language recalls how the Old Testament types of Christ—the ark, the altar, and other holy objects—were consecrated by anointing (Exod. 30:25–28). Christ's consecration was the fulfilment of all these shadows.
Christ's Inauguration in Three Distinct Acts If we separate the stages of this setting apart, we can identify three major acts:
1. The proclamation at His birth:
God "prepared a body" for His Son (Heb. 10:5), bringing "the Firstborn into the world," saying: "Let all the angels of God worship Him" (Heb. 1:6).
Angels announced His birth to the shepherds:
"Unto you is born this day… a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10–11).
A multitude of the heavenly host responded:
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men" (v. 14).
2. The anointing by the Spirit at His baptism:
The Spirit descended visibly in the form of a dove (Matt.
3:16), marking Him as the one empowered to carry out the work.
A voice from heaven declared:
"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased"
(Matt. 3:17).
3. The glorification of Christ in His resurrection and ascension:
He was "crowned with glory and honour" (Heb. 1:3).
God set Him as King on Zion (Ps. 2:6).
"All authority in heaven and earth" was given to Him (Matt. 28:18).
"All things were put under His feet" (Heb. 2:7–8).
He was "highly exalted" and given a name above every name (Phil. 2:9–11).
God confirmed this publicly through a variety of witnesses:
Angels (Luke 24:4; Acts 1:10), The dead raised to life (Matt. 27:52), The apostles (Acts 2:32), And over five hundred brethren who saw Him at once (1
Cor. 15:6).
Thus Christ was gloriously installed into His office as Mediator, step by step, in this divine sequence.
"It is too small a thing," says the Lord, "that you should raise up the tribes of Jacob and restore the preserved of Israel. I will also make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth" (Isa. 49:6).
Between These Acts: Two Great Promises Between Christ's eternal appointment and His actual public inauguration, we find two key promises:
1. The promise of a coming Saviour, rooted in God's eternal purpose:
"The seed of the woman shall crush the serpent's head"
(Gen. 3:15).
"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah… until Shiloh comes" (Gen. 49:10).
This promise was reinforced by countless types, sacrifices, and prophecies:
"The prophets… testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow" (1 Pet. 1:10–12).
These things were revealed to them "not for themselves, but for us."
2. The promise to apply redemption to believers in due time:
God promised Abraham: "In your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen. 12:3).
And Abraham "believed the Lord, and it was counted to him as righteousness" (Gen. 15:6).
These promises relate more directly to the application of Christ's work—equally relevant before and after His earthly ministry.
(2) The Father's Furnishing of the Son for His Office The second great act of the Father in sending His Son was this: He fully equipped and furnished Him with every spiritual gift and grace needed to fulfil His role as Mediator—suitable to the office He was given, the work He was to undertake, and His charge over the household of God.
There were, in fact, two kinds of fullness in Christ:
First, the Divine Fullness of His Deity As the eternal Son of the Father, Christ possessed in Himself the absolute perfection of the divine nature. This fullness was not granted or bestowed—it belonged to Him essentially and eternally as God.
His glory was "the glory of the only-begotten of the Father"
(John 1:14).
He was "in the form of God," and did not consider it robbery to be equal with God (Phil. 2:6).
He is the "fellow of the LORD of hosts" (Zech. 13:7).
Isaiah saw this glory in his vision of the Lord on His throne (Isa.
6:3–5), which John affirms referred to Christ: "Isaiah said these things because he saw His glory and spoke of Him" (John 12:41).
Yet, for the sake of His mission, Christ emptied Himself, humbling Himself to take on the form of a servant and suffer death (Phil. 2:7–
8). He veiled His divine glory for a time, taking on a human appearance "without beauty or majesty to attract us" (Isa. 53:2).
This divine fullness, however, is not the subject here. It was not given to Him, but inherently belonged to Him as the eternal Son of the Father.
Second, the Communicated Fullness Given by the Father The second kind of fullness in Christ was one graciously bestowed by the Father. This was a dispensational gift—given to equip Him in His role as Mediator, the "man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5).
Though He is the Lord of Hosts, He took on humanity and stood in our place as "Emmanuel, God with us" (Matt. 1:23), the "Child born, the Son given… the Prince of Peace" (Isa. 9:6), with government upon His shoulders.
This was a fullness of grace—not the essential, infinite fullness of divine being, but the infused, habitual grace poured into His human nature, united personally to His divine person.
Though not infinite in the same way as His deity, this fullness was: complete in every kind of grace, and perfect in every degree of grace.
There was no grace lacking in Christ, and every grace He had was present in its fullest possible measure—bestowed on Him by the Father specifically for the work of redemption. While not strictly infinite, this fullness was boundless, bottomless, and never failing—like light flowing from the sun, or water from a living fountain.
He is the golden lampstand, from which the golden pipes pour out oil (Zech. 4:12) to all His people. He is:
"The beginning, the firstborn from the dead… in all things having the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell" (Col. 1:18–19).
In Him are hidden:
"all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:3), and "the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9).
And from this fullness, "we have all received, grace upon grace"
(John 1:16)—a continual outpouring.
Christ's Conscious Equipping for His Mission When Christ stepped into His public ministry, He understood this anointing as essential to His mission:
"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives…" (Isa. 61:1–2).
This was His anointing with the "oil of gladness" above all others (Ps. 45:7)—a consecration so abundant that it is said to flow "from His head down to His beard, even to the skirts of His garments" (Ps.
133:2), so that all who are clothed in His righteousness might partake of it.
Upon Him rested:
"the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord"
(Isa. 11:2).
Unlike us, who receive grace in measure and in degrees, Christ received the Spirit without measure (John 3:34). Although He grew in wisdom and stature during His human life (Luke 2:52), the endowment of grace was complete—sufficient for every task and trial of His calling.
To this grace was added:
"All authority in heaven and on earth" (Matt. 28:18), "Power over all flesh, to give eternal life to those the Father had given Him" (John 17:2).
While we could list many specific gifts and powers included in this, it is enough for now to say that this comprehensive furnishing is the second great act of God the Father in sending His Son to accomplish our redemption.
(3) The Covenant Between the Father and the Son The third act of the Father in sending His Son was this: He entered into covenant with Him concerning both the work to be undertaken and the outcome to be accomplished. This covenant between the Father and the Son contains two parts.
First: The Father's Promise of Help and Support The Father pledged to uphold and assist His Son throughout the entire work of redemption. Upon the Son's willing acceptance of this mission, the Father committed Himself to provide everything necessary for its full accomplishment:
Strength in suffering,
Endurance in trials, Courage against temptations, And comfort in the midst of sorrow.
Without this divine assistance, the weight of the work would have been unbearable. For the Son was called to undertake nothing less than becoming the Saviour of His people, and to be afflicted in all their afflictions (Isa. 63:8–9). Even though He was the "fellow of the LORD of hosts", He would be struck down by the sword of divine justice as the Shepherd for the sheep (Zech. 13:7). He would tread the winepress of God's wrath alone until His garments were stained red (Isa. 63:2–3).
The demands of this work were extreme:
To be stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God, To be wounded for our transgressions, Bruised for our iniquities, To make His soul an offering for sin, To bear the iniquity of many, And to be forsaken, crying: "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Ps. 22:1; Isa. 53).
It is no wonder, then, that God promised such abundant support. He would:
Make His Son's mouth like a sharp sword,
Hide Him in the shadow of His hand, Prepare Him as a polished arrow, and Call Him "my servant, in whom I will be glorified" (Isa. 49:2–
3).
Even if kings and rulers rose against Him (Ps. 2:2), the Lord would laugh and set Him as King on Zion (Ps. 2:4, 6). Though rejected by the builders, He would become the cornerstone, marvellous in the eyes of all (Ps. 118:22–23; Matt. 21:42; Acts 4:11).
The Father would lay Him as:
"a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation" (Isa. 28:16), and those who opposed Him would be broken to pieces (Matt.
21:44).
Christ's Confidence in the Covenant This divine engagement gave Christ great assurance in His earthly ministry. Confident of His Father's faithfulness, He embraced His suffering without shrinking back:
"I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from shame and spitting" (Isa. 50:6).
But what gave Him strength? Listen to His words:
"The Lord GOD helps me; therefore I am not disgraced. I have set my face like flint, and I know I shall not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near… the Lord GOD helps me; who will condemn me?" (Isa. 50:7–9).
With this assurance, He went silently to the cross—"as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before its shearers" (Isa. 53:7). When reviled,
He did not retaliate; when suffering, He did not threaten, but entrusted Himself to the One who judges righteously (1 Pet. 2:23).
This covenantal promise of divine help was the solid ground of Christ's boldness and perseverance. It strengthened Him to endure the cross, and stirred Him to exercise the fullness of grace He had received.
The second part of the covenant between the Father and the Son was the promise of success—a guaranteed, fruitful outcome from Christ's suffering and work. This is the most directly relevant part of the discussion, though it depends on the previous considerations.
Whatever the Father promised would result from the Son's work, we can be sure that this was the very goal Christ Himself pursued. It was the end He set His heart on and the reward He expected upon completing His mission. That goal—and that goal alone—is what He claims upon fulfilling His Father's will.
The Promises Made to the Son We find this divine promise clearly expressed in Isaiah 49:
"You shall be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth… Kings shall see and arise, princes shall bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful" (vv. 6–7).
God promises:
Preservation of the Son's mission, Effectual calling of Jews and Gentiles alike,
A covenant community, a people to inherit the desolate places, Release for captives, Spiritual nourishment and safety, and An unstoppable gathering of a redeemed people from every direction (vv. 8–12).
These vivid promises commit the Father to gather a redeemed church through Christ—a people saved, sanctified, and spiritually refreshed by the living water that flows from God in Christ for their eternal good.
This is precisely what the Son aimed at:
To gather the children of God, To bring them to the Father, And to lead them to eternal salvation.
This covenant promise, rightly understood, destroys the notion of a general or universal redemption, as I will later argue in full.
Isaiah 53: The Father's Specific Guarantees In Isaiah 53, the Lord is even more explicit about what He guarantees to the Son:
"When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His offspring; He shall prolong His days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in His hand."
"He shall see the result of the anguish of His soul and be satisfied."
"By His knowledge He shall justify many."
"He shall divide the spoil with the strong" (vv. 10–12) These promises include:
A spiritual seed gathered through His atonement, The success of His mission, The justification of many, And a glorious reward.
How this fits with the claim that Christ could have died and none be saved is hard to fathom—though some have dared to say so. In fact, everyone who supports universal redemption is forced to quietly concede this contradiction when they define the actual results of Christ's death.
The New Testament Confirms This The "pleasure of the Lord" which prospers in Christ's hand is described in Hebrews 2:10 as:
"bringing many sons to glory."
Similarly, in 1 John 4:9, we read:
"God sent His only-begotten Son into the world, so that we might live through Him."
Christ's Own Prayer: The Fruit of Fulfilled Promises Perhaps the clearest evidence of what the Father promised—and what the Son intended—is found in Jesus' high priestly prayer in John 17.
Jesus says:
"I have glorified You on earth; I have finished the work You gave Me to do" (v. 4).
And what does He request in return?
The restoration of His eternal glory (v. 5), The full outpouring of the Father's love and grace upon those the Father had given Him, Their sanctification (vv. 17–19), Their unity and communion with God and one another (vv.
20–21), And their final glorification in His presence (v. 24):
"Father, I will that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, to behold My glory."