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The Atonement
Human Need. Because of Adam's sin <Rom. 5:18; 1 Cor. 15:22> and our own personal sins <Col. 1:21>, no person is worthy of relationship with a Holy God <Eccl. 7:20; Rom. 3:23>. Since we are helpless to correct this situation <Prov. 20:9> and can do nothing to hide our sin from God <Heb. 4:13>, we all stand condemned by sin <Rom. 3:19>. It is human nature (our sinfulness) and God's nature (His holy wrath against sin) which makes us "enemies" <Rom. 5:10>.
God's Gift: Atonement. God's gracious response to the helplessness of His chosen people, the nation of Israel, was to give them a means of RECONCILIATION through Old Testament covenant Law. This came in the sacrificial system where the death, or " blood" of the animal was accepted by God as a substitute for the death <Ezek. 18:20> which the sinner deserved: "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls" <Lev. 17:11>.
The Law required that the sacrificial victims must be free from defect, and buying them always involved some cost to the sinner. But an animal's death did not automatically make people right with God in some simple, mechanical way. The hostility between God and man because of sin is a personal matter. God for His part personally gave the means of atonement in the sacrificial system; men and women for their part personally are expected to recognize the seriousness of their sin <Lev. 16:29-30; Mic. 6:6-8>. They must also identify themselves personally with the victim that dies: "Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him" <Lev. 1:4>.
In the Old Testament, God Himself brought about atonement by graciously providing the appointed sacrifices. The priests represented Him in the atonement ritual, and the sinner received the benefits of being reconciled to God in forgiveness and harmony.
Although Old Testament believers were truly forgiven and received genuine atonement through animal sacrifice, the New Testament clearly states that during the Old Testament period God's justice was not served: "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins" <Heb. 10:4>. Atonement was possible "because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed" <Rom. 3:25>. However, God's justice was served in the death of Jesus Christ as a substitute who "not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption" <Heb. 9:12>. "And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant" <Heb. 9:15>.
Our Response. The Lord Jesus came according to God's will <Acts 2:23; 1 Pet. 1:20> "to give His life a ransom for many" <Mark 10:45>, or "for all" <1 Tim. 2:6>. Though God "laid on Him the iniquity of us all" <Is. 53:6>; (also <2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13>), yet Christ "has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God" <Eph. 5:2>, so that those who believe in Him <Rom. 3:22> might receive atonement and "be saved from [God's] wrath" <Rom. 5:9> through "the precious blood of Christ" <1 Pet. 1:19>.
No believer who truly understands the awesome holiness of God's wrath and the terrible hopelessness that comes from personal sin can fail to be overwhelmed by the deep love of Jesus for each of us, and the wonder of God's gracious gift of eternal atonement through Christ. Through Jesus, God will present us "faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy" <Jude 24>.
(from Nelson's Illustrated
Bible Dictionary)
(Copyright (C) 1986,
Thomas Nelson Publishers)
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