Steve,
The "classic view" holds that Christ had to suffer and die by submitting in obedience to God to the powers of sin and death. What this accomplished was a recommendation between God and the humanity in Christ.
'I have six honest serving-men;
They taught me all I knew.
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.' [Rudyard Kipling]
So
why did Christ have to suffer? And did He really submit to the power of sin?
What on earth does the second part of this mean this mean? Do you mean 'reconciliation'? And if so
how was this accomplished?
Under Penal Substitution Theory there is no reason for Christ's death (His blood being shed) as this is not "in our place" (we die, our blood is shed). The supposed separation is not even necessary as this happened to all men (natural man is separated from God). There is no reason for Christ to have suffered and died under your theory.
You are entirely wrong. Only the Doctrine of Penal Substitution explains the 'why,' the 'what' and the 'how.' I placed it on my extended post long ago, but since you have steadfastly refused to go anywhere near it, I cut and paste a few points from it and add a few conclusions.
In the Scriptures we have the concept of the 'mediator', one who might fill up the gap between the outraged holiness of God and rebellious man (Isaiah 59:2). Job complained,
“For [God] is not a man, as I am, that I should answer Him, and that we should go to court together. Nor is there any mediator between us who may lay his hand on us both.” But mediation requires a satisfaction to be made to the offended party. We see this is the book of Philemon. Here we have an offended party, Philemon, whose servant has run away from him, perhaps stealing some goods as he went; an offending party, Onesimus, and Paul who is attempting to mediate between them. Onesimus needs to return to his master, but fears the sanctions that may be imposed upon him if he does so. Paul takes these sanctions upon himself:
‘But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay…..’ (Philemon 18-19). Whatever is wanting to propitiate Philemon’s anger against his servant and to effect reconciliation, Paul the mediator willingly agrees to provide. In the same way, the Lord Jesus has become a Mediator between men and God (1 Timothy 2:5).
In 2 Corinthians 5:19, we learn that God does not impute trespasses against His people; in Christ; He has reconciled the world [believing Jew and Gentile alike] to Himself. How has He done this? Through the Mediator Jesus Christ.
‘For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us….’ (v.21). The Lord Jesus has taken our sins upon Himself and made satisfaction to God for them. Therefore the message of reconciliation can be preached to all.
A similar concept is that of a 'surety' or 'guarantor.' This is someone who guarantees the debts of a friend and must pay them in full if the friend defaults. Perhaps some reading this have become guarantors for their children's mortgages. If the child should default, then you will become liable for the debt and the bank will come after you for the full amount, plus any interest or penalties just as if it was you who took the debt on. Never mind if you have lived hitherto a life of blameless financial rectitude; the bank will have the shirt off you back for a debt that is not yours exactly because you are the surety.
There are several warnings in the Book of Proverbs against becoming a surety (Proverbs 6:1-5; 11:15; 17:18), since one is making the debts of one’s friend or relative effectively one’s own, yet we read in Hebrews 7:22,
‘By so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant,’ and therefore
'The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.' He has willingly contracted to be our guarantor, and we owe God a debt of righteousness and obedience that we are by no means able to pay, plus the sanctions due for the broken covenant of works. Therefore Christ has paid our debt by living the life of righteousness and obedience that neither Adam nor we could live (Romans 5:19), and taken upon Himself the sanctions that were due ( Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24). Once we grasp the concepts of mediator and surety, these verses become perfectly clear. Christ is pierced for our transgressions
instead of us being pierced, He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, so that we need not suffer the penalty that was due; He was made a curse, so that the curse on us might be lifted (Romans 8:1 etc.), and so forth. The what and the why and the who and the how become perfectly clear.