The central theme of liturgical theology in the early church clearly points to Christus Victor. The whole human race has been subjected to death and is under the penalty of disobedience. But God has by the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ trampled down death, destroyed the gates of hell, and overcome the powers of evil. In Christ, the nature of humanity has been renewed and the way to heaven has been opened.
-Robert Webber, Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999), 58.