The New Testament presents the death of Christ as a multifaceted diamond. One facet of the gem is expiation: Christ’s sacrifice removed the liability to punishment and condemnation under which sinful people suffered (Heb. 9:6–15). A second facet is propitiation: Christ’s death appeased the wrath of God against his sinful creatures (Rom. 3:25–26; 1 John2: 2). The gem’s third facet is redemption: The death of Christ is the payment he offered to God to buy captives out of the slave market of sin (Mark 10:45; 1 Peter 1:18–19). The fourth facet of the diamond is reconciliation: Christ’s death has taken sinners from being enemies of God to being his friends and children (2 Cor. 5:17–21). The fifth facet is Christ the Victor: Through his death, Christ achieved ultimate victory over Satan and the demons (Heb. 2:14–15; Col. 2:15). A sixth facet is example: Christ’s death is both a demonstration of Gods love and a model of obedience and suffering for believers to follow (Rom. 5:8; 1 Peter 2:20–21). A final facet of Christ’s work is exchange: The righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed, or credited, to the account of those who believe in him, and their sin is imputed to him (2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 5:19).
~Greg Allison~ Historical Theology (Grand Rapids, MI; Zondervan; 2011) Ch. 18: The Atonement.
(HT: The Cross Quoter)
Already Not Yet 
Beautiful. Thank you for these verses! I was blessed and humbled to “see” this at my church’s Passion Play last night while photographing the event. He truly IS RISEN! http://wp.me/p3eqiF-9y
The Jewel of Good Friday
In gloom where the law would condemn
Turn the multifaceted gem.
Through a disciple’s treachery
And Roman soldiers’ cruelty
The Sacrifice will expiate,
Wipe what is written on the slate.
Beyond their appreciation,
And trial’s intimidation,
A soldier’s realisation,
There shines propitiation,
God’s wrath appeased and placated
For sinful people He created.
A further facet is redemption
Gleaming red in revelation:
Payment made for liberation
For freedom, and exoneration.
Purchased by a price that was paid.
Through Christ’s death, a ransom was made.
As we turn the sacred diamond
We see the criminal brigand
Seeking in death a mind at ease,
Reconciliation and peace.
“You will be with me in heaven”
A friend of God, and forgiven.
Glorious colours of atonement:
Christ’s victory and enthronement,
Conquers Satan, sin, and evil,
Dethrones the usurper, Devil,
Makes sense of our suffering
By His pain and death triumphing.
Facets sparkle with a spectrum
Of lavish love, justice solemn,
Steps for disciples to follow,
Tints of meaning for a tableau:
Exemplar, representative
A sacrifice substitutive.
All the colours of the rainbow,
And all the insights we can know,
Fail to express or comprehend
The work of the Cross in the end:
Righteousness and Justification:
We praise God for our salvation!