A dear brother posted this question on Facebook yesterday. My comments below...
Q:If God is ultimately soveriegn, what effect(positive and negative) and/or benefit does the Cross of Christ have on unbelievers, who will never come to believe?
God's sovereignty and man's responsibility are two lines that will never cross. The unbelievers condemnation and eternal punishment has everything to do with God's sovereignty and sinful man's sinfulness. With that said, I dont see any positive benefits of the cross for the unbeliever, simply because "the wrath of God remains on them" (John 3:36) They are condemned before the cross; if they view the cross and reject it, they are still condemned, and they are actually worse off than before because they have seen their only hope in the infinitely glorious Christ and have still rejected Him. I think the cross of Christ and the good news concerning it, namely the gospel has a two-fold effect in its power, a power to save and a power to condemn. 2 Corinthians 2:14 says "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?" There are two fragrances; both glorify God. Ill explain the fragrance of death to death. I think this means that although God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, His justice and righteousness are on glorious display in that He judges and condemns sinners. He is glorified in exercising forbearance and patience in fitting/preparing a vessel for destruction (Rom 2:4-5; 9:22)."Death to death" to me means the same as Jesus words in John 3:18 "condemned already"....you were condemned...youre still condemned; dead...still dead.... The gospel's two-fold power is seen in giving life to those who believe and being a stumbling block to those who are perishing. (Luke 2:34; John 9:39; 1 Peter 2:7-8; Matt 13:10-16; 2 Cor 2:14)
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