On the Redemptive Power of Jesus Christ

More great stuff from the writings of Blessed Columba Marmion; this time on the saving power of Christ:

Sin is an insult given to God, an insult that has to be expiated. Man, being simply a creature, is by himself incapable of paying off properly the debt contracted against the Divine Majesty by an offence, the malice of which is infinite. A satisfaction, to be adequate, must be offered by someone of the same dignity as the one offended. The gravity of an insult is in proportion to the dignity of the one offended; the same insult given to a prince is more serious because of his rank than if it had been given to a peasant***… Now, between us and God there is an infinite gap… You know what God’s answer has been… He decreed that the ransom of humanity would only be brought about by the satisfaction equal to the rights of his infinite justice, and that this satisfaction would be given by the bloody sacrifice of a victim who would substitute himself freely, voluntarily, for sinful mankind. Who would this Saviour be?...

… God sent the promised Saviour, the Saviour who was to ransom creation, destroy sin and reconcile mankind with God. Who was it who would come? It was the Son of God made man… This solution is a wonderful one. ‘The humanity of Christ,’ says St. Gregory, ‘permitted him to die and to satisfy for men; his divinity gave him the power to restore us to the grace that sanctifies.’ Death had come from a human nature soiled by sin. From a human nature united to one who is God, would spring forth the source of grace and of life.

***‘Sin committed against God has an infinite quality because of the infinity of the Divine Majesty, for an offence is greater to the extent that the one transgressed against is greater’. St. Thomas Aquinas – ST III, q.1