There before them stood the slaughtered lamb. The blood of this sacrificed animal was shed as a ransom. No, this was not a sacrifice on someone’s compound in rural Africa, and neither was it a sacrifice to the spirits, the ancestors, or an African deity—although these kinds of sacrifices are common across the continent. This sacrifice is cosmic.
God frees us from the evil and sin that kept us in bondage and reconciles us to himself.
The celestial scene takes place in the highest of heavens before the throne of God, the four living creatures, twenty-four elders, and the angelic host of heaven in Revelation 5. In light of this sacrifice, how does Jesus Christ give himself up as a ransom for Africans? How does he defeat the power of Sin in an African context?
“A Ransom for Many”
You may well remember the slaughtered lamb of the Passover meal before the Israelites left Egypt. And then over a millennia later, there is John the Baptist’s glorious proclamation as Jesus approaches him on the shores of the Jordan River. “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Have you ever noticed, it’s sin in the singular, not individual sins in the plural? In other words, the power of Sin. Of course, Jesus addresses individual sins too (Matthew 26:28; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 3:5). The Lamb of God sacrifices himself so that he may overcome the power of sin and atone for our sin (see Isaiah 53:12).
An important part of this sacrificial act is Jesus giving up his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). Jesus paid the ransom price fully at the cross. Here, an exchange was made. The concept of ransom was the common economic language used in the ancient Greco-Roman world. A ransom was the price paid to free slaves, and this idea was used by Jesus in Mark. A person may become a slave by selling themselves during dire personal economic situations, or they were captured and made slaves.
The New Testament uses ‘ransom’ as a metaphor for Jesus’s sacrificial death on the cross as payment for our sin.
New Testament scholar, D. A. Carson, explains that a ransom price may be made by a wealthy benefactor to a pagan temple. The priests would pay a portion to the slave owner, and the rest would be pocketed for the temple treasury. A transfer took place whereby the ownership of the slave changed from the slave owner to the deity of that temple. Fortunately, for the slave, the deity did not require much from him, so he was essentially free, but he would always belong to a pagan god and continued to have the status of a slave.
Similarly, the New Testament uses “ransom” as a metaphor for Jesus’s sacrificial death on the cross as payment for our sin and its penalty. He offers himself as our substitution that we might be redeemed. In so doing Jesus overcomes and defeats the power of sin. He moves the ownership from Satan and sin to God—not a pagan god, but the God who incarnated himself, becoming human and sacrificing himself for us so that we may be redeemed and be adopted into his family. He frees us from the evil and sin that kept us in bondage and reconciles us to himself (Romans 3:21-26; Galatians 5:1; Colossians 1:19-22; 2:13–20). This is why Paul has no problem calling himself a “slave of Christ” (sometimes “bondservant”; see Romans 1:1; Galatians 1:10; Philippians 1:1; Titus 1:1).
The Lion and the Lamb
We come again to the cosmic sacrifice of the slaughtered Lamb in Revelation 5. But what I didn’t mention is that there is a paradox. This slaughtered Lamb is also the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, and he has conquered (Revelation 5:5)! Here we have it, the beauty of penal substitutionary atonement and Christus Victor working together harmoniously in scripture. As I have argued in my book, penal substitution is the means of the atonement and Christus Victor is the purpose.
The beauty of penal substitutionary atonement and Christus Victor working together harmoniously.
John writes, “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). The author of Hebrews also proclaims, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Hebrews 2:14-15).
Victor Not Victim
And so, we see that the slaughtered Lamb is not a victim, as we see in African traditional sacrifices. No, far from it! This Lamb, the crucified Christ, is now alive and is the all-powerful victor, evidenced by his seven horns, which was ancient symbolism for perfect strength, and seven eyes that symbolised perfect knowledge (Revelation 5:6).
The slaughtered Lamb is not a victim, as we see in African traditional sacrifices.
The Lamb goes and takes the scroll in John’s vision, and there is a kind of cosmic liturgy that plays out. The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders all fall face down before the Lamb (Revelation 5:7–8), and they sing: “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9–10)—including Africa!
Christ’s Cosmic Work
In traditional African spirituality, sin is understood as cosmological. By this, I mean that there are external forces that are not in harmony with nature and everyday life. So, while human sin and wrongdoing are certainly acknowledged, evil forces are also at play. As J. Omosade Awolalu explains, “Africans do not have a rigid distinction between an offence committed against a person or society and one committed against a God or other divinities and spirits.”
This slaughtered Lamb stands there before the throne of God and all the heavenly hosts.
According to Samuel Kunhiyop, there is the belief that such an offense will always bring about evil consequences until atonement is offered. And so, sacrifices are common in Africa to reconcile the wrongdoer with those who have been wronged or sinned against. These might be fellow human beings, spirits, ancestors, or even God, often called the Supreme Being. The idea of such a sacrificial atonement is to either prevent or alleviate evil consequences.
But contrary to African sacrifices, we have a striking distinction in the celestial sacrifice of Revelation 5, the final and perfect sacrifice of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). This slaughtered Lamb stands there before the throne of God and all the heavenly hosts. The ransom in the atoning work of Christ (Revelation 5:9) is so powerful that it is not paid to the temple priests, or even to African ancestors, spirits, or deities, but instead, it reconciles us to God, making us a kingdom and priests to God, who will reign on the earth (Revelation 5:10). The implications of which are significant.
God Sets Us Free
No longer are those Africans who put their faith in their Saviour, Jesus Christ, held accountable to ancestral spirits, or any other African spirit or deity, because every sacrifice that may have (apparently) been due to them has now been paid in full by God himself, in the person of Jesus Christ before the throne of God the Father. Not only that, but the power of sin has been defeated, rendering every form of African spirit powerless in the life of the believer—their bondage has been broken.
Christ has overcome the forces of evil which have been in disharmony with society and nature.
This doesn’t mean unfortunate events won’t occur. However, it does reframe them, significantly. While malevolent spirits (or demons) might still be at work in the world, nothing is owed to them. Furthermore, our lives are firmly located within God’s divine sovereignty and infinite goodness. There is more more need to make sacrifice to a fellow human being, community, or the ancestors, because of the sacrificial action of Christ, and his forgiveness of the believer’s sin.
This, however, does not negate the need for sincere repentance, heartfelt apologies, and the need for brotherly reconciliation. Whatever sacrifice would have been traditionally needed to make human reconciliation, has already been made by the believer’s redeemer.
Africa, look to Jesus Christ, the sacrificed Lamb, the victorious Lion of Judah for your salvation and reconciliation! Christ the victor has defeated the power of sin (Romans 3:21-28; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; 1 John 2:1-2; 3:4-10). He has overcome the forces of evil which have been in disharmony with society and nature. Jesus has saved us from our sins and has defeated its power once and for all.
