George H. Warnock — Christology
b6 — Who Are You?
Christus Victor — Panoply and Victory at the Cross
Warnock introduces the Greek term panoplia (complete armor) as a hermeneutical key to Christ’s victory. He distinguishes two panopliai in the New Testament: that of the enemy (Luke 11:22) and that of God’s people (Eph. 6:11, 13). The decisive battle was won at the Cross:
“When Jesus died on the Cross, He there and then ‘spoiled principalities and powers, and made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it’ (Col. 2:15). It was there on the Cross that Christ ‘through death’ destroyed him ‘that had the power of death, that is, the Devil’ (Heb. 2:14).” — ch. 3, ‘The Battle is the Lord’s’
The coming battle is the execution of the sentence already decreed:
“But the battle we speak of is the conclusive battle… the day and hour in which God will EXECUTE THE SENTENCE that was passed at the Cross, and crush the hosts of evil under our feet: ‘And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly’ (Rom. 16:20).” — ch. 3
On the meaning of “spoiled” (Col. 2:15):
“The word ‘spoiled’ means He ‘unclothed’ them—He took away their battle dress… He denuded them.” — ch. 3
Warnock distinguishes dunamis (ability) from exousia (authority), both taken from Satan at the Cross:
“Now Christ fully triumphed at the Cross. There Satan was robbed not only of his power (dunamis),—his ability to perform his works of evil; but also of his authority (exousia),—his right to dominate the Adamic race, and the kingdoms of this world. And so Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Behold, I give unto you power (exousia) to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power (dunamis) of the enemy’ (Lk. 10:19).” — ch. 3
Interpretation: Satan’s current operation rests entirely on deception and darkness — his actual panoply was ontologically stripped at the Cross. The victory is complete; its historical execution is pending.
The Wisdom of the Cross — Atonement as Reversal Principle
Warnock cites 1Cor. 1:21-24 as the foundational hermeneutical theme:
“For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” (1Cor. 1:21-24) — ch. 7, ‘The Wisdom of the Cross’
The core of his atonement theology is the principle of “the Negative that cancels the Negative”:
“He becomes THE NEGATIVE THAT CANCELS OUT THE NEGATIVE. He suffers the DEATH that cancels out the DEATH. He becomes the CURSE that cancels the CURSE. He becomes the SIN that cancels the SIN. ‘For God hath made Him to be SIN for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him’ (2Cor. 5:21).” — ch. 7
Warnock connects this to Hos. 13:14:
“Christ crucified becomes the PLAGUE… THE PLAGUE THAT PLAGUES THE PLAGUE OF DEATH: ‘O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction’ (Hos. 13:14).” — ch. 7
On the Cross as God’s judgment of the world (John 12:31):
“Jesus said, ‘Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out’ (Jn. 12:31). The Cross is God’s JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD. It appears to have been the other way around: that it was the world that judged Christ. But in the Wisdom of God it was God who judged the world.” — ch. 7
On Christ’s “weakness” at the Cross:
“Paul said our Lord was ‘crucified through weakness’ (2Cor. 13:4). This is what Paul meant by ‘the weakness of God’. It is ‘weakness’ from the viewpoint of men who consider meekness to be weakness. The apostle tells us that this kind of ‘weakness’ is ‘stronger than men’ (1Cor. 1:25).” — ch. 7
Interpretation: Warnock combines substitutionary elements (2Cor. 5:21 — Christ becomes sin for us) with Christus Victor (Hos. 13:14 — Christ plagues death itself). The “Negative that cancels the Negative” constitutes an indirect substitutionary theory heavily grounded in Paul’s Wisdom-of-the-Cross theology.
Lamb Theology — The Kingly Office of Christ
Warnock develops an extensive Lamb theology based on the frequency in Revelation: the Lion appears only once; the Lamb twenty-eight times:
“We may be inclined to believe that Christ came as a Lamb to redeem us, but that in His resurrection and enthronement He is now ruling on the throne of glory as a Lion. This is not exactly right; and it is yet to be revealed and made manifest in the earth, that He who conquered over sin and Satan and the world by His sacrifice of the Cross, is now ruling and reigning as THE LAMB on the throne. The Lion of Judah is only mentioned once in the Book of Revelation, and twenty-eight times as the Lamb!” — ch. 7
On the Lion/Lamb dialectic in Rev. 5:
“When no one was worthy to open the book and loose the seals, one of the elders said, ‘Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof’ (Rev. 5:5). But when John turned to see this mighty Lion… ‘Lo, in the midst of the throne… stood a Lamb as it had been slain’ (vs. 6).” — ch. 7
On the reason Christ reigns as the Lamb:
“HE REIGNS AS THE LAMB, BECAUSE IT IS HIS INTENTION TO BRING FORTH THE CHARACTER OF THE LAMB IN US, THAT WE TOO MIGHT REIGN WITH HIM, IN HIS THRONE (Rev. 3:21). EVEN NOW ON THE THRONE OF GLORY HE IDENTIFIES HIMSELF WITH A SUFFERING LAMB-PEOPLE IN THE EARTH.” — ch. 7
Warnock affirms that Christ’s wounds are now marks of honor:
“These wounds in His hands and feet and side are no longer the bruises inflicted upon Him by sinful men, but badges of Honor and Glory!” — ch. 7
The blessings of the Lamb run throughout Revelation:
“It is ‘the Lamb that was slain’ who receives ‘power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing’ (Rev. 5:12). It is the ‘wrath of the Lamb’…not the wrath of a Lion, that strikes fear into the kings and great men of the earth (Rev. 6:16, 17).” — ch. 7
Interpretation: Warnock’s Lamb theology proposes a fundamental break with any christology that separates the glory of the exalted Christ from the Cross. The kingly office is made inseparable from suffering and sacrificial death through the Lamb image.
Second Coming — Christ as Faithful and True
Warnock opens the work with Rev. 19:11-16 as programmatic frame:
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God… And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Rev. 19:11-16) — ch. 1, ‘The Armies of Heaven’
Warnock connects the title “Faithful and True” to the character of Christ’s followers:
“These are the people who not only profess to have FAITH and TRUTH; but faithfulness and truthfulness have been wrought into their very being, as they have learned obedience by the things they have suffered, and have followed the Lord in all His ways.” — ch. 1
Interpretation: The return of the “Faithful and True” (Rev. 19) connects seamlessly with Warnock’s Lamb theology: the coming Judge is also the Lamb. The kingly office at the Second Coming is never detached from the mark of the Cross.