Atonement

What does atonement mean?
(with links to the subheadings)

A short study by Colin Dyer
(Elder at Fetcham Community Church, Surrey - reproduced with permission)
It is suggested that you print this out to digest it more easily

Q. Have you read all the New Testament?

Q. Have you read all the Old Testament?

What is the Atonement?

Sometimes people use this word in a narrower sense, to refer only to Jesus' dying and his payment for our sins on the cross. We will tend to focus more on the cross than on any other aspect of his life, but nevertheless we should recognise that our salvation comes from a Saviour who died as one who had always lived to please the Father. If this aspect were missing, his death would never have effected what it has

Wayne Grudem in his "Systematic Theology", defines it this way:
'The Atonement is the work Christ did in his life and death to earn our salvation'.

Who is this Jesus?	The Cause of the Atonement
Preparation for the Atonement	Atonement in the sacrificial system foreshadows Christ
Atonement in the OT

WHO IS THIS JESUS?

Luke 24: 25-27
"He said to them, 'How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?' And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself."
The disciples did not understand why Jesus had died. They could not fathom the events that Jesus had been willingly caught up in. Jesus' response is a reprimand:-
Basically, don't you believe the Bible? Haven't you understood that the Christ must suffer? Then Jesus went through the Hebrew Scriptures from A to Z, from Moses to the Prophets "explained to them what was said . . . concerning himself." Jesus' answer to the disciples failure to understand who he was, and what he had done, was to resort to a detailed explanation of the Old Testament.

John 5: 39-40, Jesus is answering unbelieving Jews about himself. He is giving hard evidence from various witnesses to confirm who he is and what he is saying and doing. In verse 39 he states to his hearers, "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." He adds in verse 46, "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me." So, Jesus laid before these Old Testament born and bred Jews their very own Scriptures and said in effect, 'If you trusted what they said, especially Moses who you admire, then you would know and accept me.' The Old Testament was key to understanding Jesus.

And again, Luke 24: 44-45, now in the room with the rest of his disciples. "He said to them, 'This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.' Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures."

John 1: 29, John the Baptist sees Jesus coming towards him. He describes him this way, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" Which, must have made sense to his hearers. Lamb struck several chords from the Old Testament, such as: · The Lamb that was sacrificed instead of Abraham's son Isaac. · The Lamb that was killed and its blood put on the door posts to preserve the Jews from God's anger, prior to the Exodus. · The Lambs that were sacrificed in the tabernacle and later the temple as an atonement for sin. And, they were well away of sin and sins. So, here is a description of Jesus that sums him up, but whose meaning is full of Old Testament, Hebrew Scripture imagery. And, if you were to take a flick through The New Testament, then you would soon begin to notice, if you look for it, that the pictures, quotations, preaching come out of the Old Testament. The preaching in the Acts is often keyed into Old Testament texts. To understand Jesus, and the salvation he brought, the right approach, the Jesus approach, and the Bible approach, is to know him as the fulfilment of the Old Testament. The crowning glory to all that was promised, expected, longed for and seen in shadow in the Hebrew Scriptures.

SO, HOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND JESUS?
IS YOUR JESUS A JESUS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT?

If we are to understand who Jesus is as we ought to, and understand what he was doing as we should, then we need to know the Old Testament that found its fulfilment in his coming. The reason that we are looking at shadows in the Old Testament today is because in order to understand The Atonement that 'is the work Christ did in his life and death to earn our salvation', we need to understand why this came about.

2. THE CAUSE OF THE ATONEMENT

2.1 Our sin
Genesis 1-3 is clear that God set Adam and Eve in a perfect surrounding, with no inclination to rebel, and with the opportunity to chose life and grow to maturity and serve and enjoy God's rich friendship for ever. There were always two trees to choose from-one of which offered life. Yet, in spite of God's word, they chose to follow a lie and mistrust God, and chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thus rebelling against God. God had clearly stated, that "when you eat of it you will surely die" (2: 17). When they ate of it, there were consequences. God judged them-and we have lived in the pain of that ever since. Death meant their separation from God, their separation from the garden and the intimacy they had enjoyed with God. Death meant that their own relationship with each other experienced immediate and continued problems. They never lived as closely together again-there was separation here too. And, eventually, they were separated from their bodies, and died as we most commonly understand death. God's promise came true. They experienced his judgement in the present, and eventually in the future. What they begun, we have all inherited. The same rebellious mistrust of God, the same desire to find satisfaction and life anywhere else than the true and living God we have running through our veins as well. We were all born sinners, and we all are sinners. We are earning death with our sins like wages earned from a day's labour (Romans 6: 23), and we are storing up judgement by our stubborn and unchanging hearts (Romans 2: 5-6, "God will give to each person according to what he has done"). We face being condemned at the judgement day (John 3: 18). · We are in debt to God because we have not given him the honour that is due to him in obedient service. · We are guilty before God because of the rebellious acts of disobedience we have done. We are in need of salvation. BUT THIS IS NOT WHY GOD HAS WORKED TO SAVE.

2.2 God is Just
God deals with Sin. Yet, in the Old Testament-sin goes unpunished! Take Adam and Eve, they were told they would die if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of God and evil. They didn't! Adam lived to be 930, over 800 years more. Eve lived long enough to take her share in populating the empty earth. And whatever the exact time frames were, they lived a long time before physical death came during which they were relatively free! More seriously, there are those in the Old Testament who obviously knew God's forgiveness, yet their sins were unpaid for. Psalm 32: 1-2, "Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit." How can a just God, one who punishes people according to their sins, let some people off and into the happiness of an empty sin account? Paul gives the answer in Romans 3: 25-26, "God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus." God left the sins of the Old Testament believers unpunished. But, when Christ came, He paid for them. In other words, God has to have payment for sin. Christ came to pay for those who trust in Him. And those who were saved in the Old Testament had those sins dealt with by Jesus. Jesus had to come to satisfy the justice of God.

2.3 God's Love
Our sin, and God's justice however do not give a reason for God to act in the sending of his son. · God was quite at liberty to leave men in their sin. He had no need to save anyone. · If God was to save anyone, then their sins had to be paid for. But again, he did not have to send his son to pay for sins. It was not necessary for God to deliver us from his own justice. So why did God decide to save us from our sin, and send his son to make the payment to effect the rescue? It was his love. John 3: 16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." In fact, before man fell, God had decided to send his Son, and his Son had decided to come to die. As 1 Peter 1: 19-20, "redeemed from the empty way of life . . . with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake." It was love for men that brought this about, even before we sinned. In Deuteronomy 7: 7-8, when God talks about the love he has for his people. He describes it this way, "The Lord did not set His affection on you because . . . but it was because He loved you." More literally, 'not because of your being numerous . . . did God set His affection on you . . . but because the Lord loved you.' He says I loved you because I loved you. It is out of the very nature of God to love, irrespective of the condition who receive his love. · And God's work to save flowed out of his very character to love. · And the sending of his son came about that his justice might be met. God's love and justice caused him to act to atone, to rescue us in Christ, from our sin. He did not have to save, but he chose to out of his great love, and thus, because of his love and justice, sin had to be paid for. Hence, he sent Jesus to die.

3. PREPARATION FOR THE ATONEMENT OF CHRIST

3.1 Adam and Eve spared
They have received a promise of a coming one from the woman (Genesis 3: 15), and God spares them immediate death. Instead he provides for them skins (with the death of an animal?) and thus they leave the garden due to the death of another.

3.2 Isaac spared
In Genesis 22, Abraham is advancing towards the mountains in the region of Moriah to sacrifice his son Isaac. He has been clearly told by God that his son must die. En route to the destination, Isaac asks where the lamb is since they had everything else for a sacrifice. Abraham demonstrates his confident trust in God by saying that God himself will provide a lamb. However, Isaac is bound and on the wood, and the knife is in Abraham's hand ready to slay his son when God spoke to him "not to lay a hand on the boy". Hebrews 11: 19 is clear that Abraham had confidence that he God could raise the dead. He had reasoned this out. In a sense he did. For God did provide a ram which was slain in his son's place. The name of that place went down on the maps from then as "The Lord will provide". His son was due to die. But he was spared through the death of a lamb.

3.3 The Passover
After eleven plagues had struck Egypt, one remained before Israel left for the promised land-the death of the firstborn. This judgement would mark their rescue. But, before they could be saved, they had to take a one year old lamb (Exodus 12). It was to live with them for five days (the 10th day to the 14th). Then, having lived with them, the lamb was to be slaughtered. Its blood was to be smeared on the door-posts and lintel of the door frames, then it was to be roasted and eaten in whole-none of it was to be left overnight. Throughout all of this, not any of its bones were to be broken (12: 46, "It must be eaten inside one house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones."). Judgement came from God, but when he came, the houses where the blood covered the doorways were spared the plague. Exodus 12: 13, 23, "The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt . . . When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the door-frame and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down." The death of an animal saves. The blood-specifically of a lamb without defect-means that the judgement of God passes over those people whose households are marked by it. A lamb whose bones were not broken saved those 'covered' by his blood. Now we are beginning to see a growing revelation from God as to how he save. And, with the Exodus, we enter a period were sacrifices were to become a very regular feature of the life of the Jews. As God related to his people in a type of agreement or covenant, a major aspect of that relationship was sacrifice. In fact, relationship with His people was only possible with sacrifice-hence the commands about them. We'll look at Leviticus, bearing in mind that all of this looks forward to "The Lamb of God", and to the "Sacrifice of Atonement" that Jesus was to be. These are shadows of the reality that is to come..

4. ATONEMENT IN THE SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM FORESHADOWS CHRIST

4.1 Covering of sins through blood
It is first used in the Bible in Genesis 6: 14, "So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out." Literally cover it inside and out.
The most common use of this word is connected with the sacrifices begun in Moses' time and continued through Israel's history. The word conveys the meaning of covering over sins, often with the blood of the sacrificed.
Leviticus 4: 13-21, gives instruction about the offering for sin. A large section of chapters 4 and 5 are about unintentional sins. Sins committed in ignorance, without realising at the time that what they were doing was wrong. However, once the people realised their sin, they were to bring a sacrifice to atone/cover their sins. The details of this sacrifice are given in verses 13-21 with the summary in verse 20, "and do with this bull just as he did with the bull for the sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven."
Notice that not only were their sins 'covered', but also forgiven. Also notice the various aspects of this sacrifice. ·

The people have sinned, although they do not know it.
Once aware of it, they are to recognise their need of a sacrifice.
They find refuge in the sacrifice God has provided for sin-in this instance a bull.
They show faith in God's Word, by accepting His provision for dealing with their sin and by acting on it.
Through the sacrifice given by God they receive atonement-their sins are covered.
Through the atonement, the covering of their sins, they are forgiven.

So, we see here that the people needed there sins covered in order to relate to God. Even the sins they were unaware of!! This atonement brought about forgiveness and cleared their guilt.

4.2 Covering their Sins on The Day-The Day of Atonement
In Leviticus 16, we have a description of an Annual Event in the diary of the Jews. The Day of Atonement-known by the Jews as 'Yom Kippur'. This was the day when Israel's sins were covered. It involved the sacrifice of one bull, and one goat (a ram was also sacrificed as a burnt offering). It was the one day in which the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle. The Holy of Holies being an area within the Tabernacle divided off from the rest by a large, thick curtain. It was here that the priest met with God and where God was in symbol. But, it was only on this day that the High Priest, in this case Aaron, could ever go beyond the curtain.

On this day the High Priest offered the sacrifices to make Atonement for himself, his own household and the whole community of God's people (16: 17, "No one is to be in the Tent of Meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he comes out, having made atonement for himself, his household and the whole community of Israel.").

During this ceremony, blood was put on the lid of the ark (the "atonement cover" (NIV) or "mercy seat" (KJV) ). "He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull's blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it" (16: 15).

There are several things we should notice here:

The necessity of atonement for relationship between God and man. Their life as God's people required A Day of Atonement. A day of cleansing-when their sins were covered.

The necessity of blood in order to atone for the sins of the people.

The necessity of the shedding of blood for 'all'.

There is a further thing to note. There were in fact a second goat (16: 5). The priest went into the tabernacle with two goats and draw lots between them (16: 8). The one on whom the lot fell was killed. The other was kept alive. This other goat, also fulfilled part of the day's proceeding. We read what happened to it in verse 21: The High Priest was ". . . to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites-all their sins-and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task."

So one goat died, one goat lived. One died to atone for sins-cover sins/clear the guilt and debt of sin-the other carried the sins into a solitary place, released as it was into "a solitary place" (16: 22).

Atoning for the sins therefore included a goat's/lamb's death and a living goat removing the sins of God's people having been identified with their wickedness.

It is also worth noting that both the carcasses of the dead bull and goat, were disposed of outside the camp.

4.3 Covering their sins never stopped! ·

Like a small duvet on a cold night, having to be constantly moved to cover you flesh and yet never succeeding. So, the constant, repetitive nature of these sacrifices was proof that they never dealt with sin. If bull number 232 had been enough, that would have been the end of it. If the 50th Day of Atonement had cleared their guilt, their would have been no more Days!

Take the Olympics, the constant need of the sports men and women to continually train reveals that fitness is something that can never be possessed. It constantly deteriorates unless repeated efforts are made to maintain it. It is a day in day out thing. So, there was a message within the sacrificial system that they were not effective! They were constantly reminded of their sins by them (Hebrews 10: 3). There was also a message that God loved them and had determined to cover over their sin but it was not realised in the sacrifices themselves. So, people had to trust God through them. We are told in Hebrews 10: 4 that ". . . it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." The writer's argument includes the fact that the law is only a shadow (verse 1).

A shadow is ineffective, just like our shadows cannot perform work for us. Nevertheless, the shadow leads to the reality. Thus, the shadow of the sacrifices in the Old Testament cannot work salvation but they lead us on to the reality in Christ. So, Hebrews 9 argues in verse 12 for the greatness of what Christ did in this way, "He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption." But, although the salvation Jesus worked was the reality, in the sacrificial system they had already been patterned, shaped, drawn in outline perhaps to prepare us for His Coming.

4.4 Old Testament writers saw that The Sacrifices were not enough

The Old Testament certainly declares the necessity of sins being atoned for, covered, forgiven, dealt with by sacrifice.

Old Testament believers were obedient in carrying out these sacrifices and in remembering to observe the Day of Atonement.

However, simply offering sacrifices never saved on their own. The heart attitude towards God, His commands and sacrifices was critical.

Micah 6: 7-8, "Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Psalms 50: 7-15, "Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God. I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfil your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honour me."

Bringing a blind or crippled animal for sacrifice (as in Malachi 1: 6-14) revealed an attitude that despised God. Similarly, offering a good animal without any reverence for God in daily life revealed no trust or reliance in him for life at all.

Hence a statement like David's in Psalm 51: 17, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." And such a man, would trust God through sacrifice out of such a spirit.

The sacrifices had to be combined with faith. Sacrifices were to bring people to admit their sins and to come to God for him to cover that sin and deal with them in mercy.

[Cf. 1 Kings 8: 46-48 where Solomon prays for the people, that when they sin and are given over to their enemies, but then have a change of heart, admitting their sin, then he asks that when they pray towards the temple (the place of sacrifice) that God would hear them.

5. ATONEMENT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT PREPARES US FOR THE CHRIST AND IT ENABLES US TO SEE THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST

5.1 The need for substitution

Isaac was not slain because a lamb was provided instead of him. That lamb was substituted for him-Genesis 22: 13, "Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son."

The idea of 'dying in the place of someone else' is inherent in the death of Jesus. Jesus died in our place.

Isaiah 53: 4-6, "Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

2 Corinthians 5: 21, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

1 Peter 3: 18, "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit."

Galatians 3: 13, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."

Substitution is a key to understanding the work of God in Christ and helps us understand the many-faceted meaning of The Atonement.

An Application: 1 Corinthians 6: 19b-20, ". . . You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body."

5.2 Christ the Passover Lamb

1 Corinthians 5: 7, "Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast-as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed."

The parallels between Jesus and the Passover are many: ·

Christ lived among us as the lamb lived among the Jewish household before it was slain.

John, in John 6: 4 mentions that the "Passover was near". Then, after the giving of the bread, Jesus goes on to talk about the people's need to "eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood". With the events of Passover in the forefront of people's minds, Jesus uses language about eating just as the lamb itself was eaten. However, the connection with blood moves people on to see that they were also to 'receive' His death. They were to 'feed on Jesus'-who was to die, in order to enjoy life. Jesus had come as the Lamb to die, and they needed his death to live.

Jesus died at the Passover. No coincidence that God's great saving act should be on the anniversary of his great age in saving the Jews out of slavery. But, John again (John 19: 32-36) picks up that the failure to break Jesus' bones, something so common with crucifixion was fulfilment. It was the culmination of God's plans. Jesus, like the Lamb died to bring them out of the greater slavery of sin and in that, like the Lamb, his bones were not broken.

And again in John, when John the Baptist declared Jesus as the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" he was at least referring back to the great event of rescue performed by the Passover Lamb. Yet the scope, and rescue of Jesus is so immensely bigger.

An Application: As the Egyptians died without a lamb, so the Jews were saved through the lamb. In 1 John we are told that Jesus is the "atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2: 2). He is the one who definitely turns aside God's anger and makes peace for believers, but, he is the one to turn aside God's anger and make peace for everyone. The implication is that there is no other.

We should have no doubt that throughout the Old Testament leading up to Jesus. The sacrifice of the lamb is a necessity for salvation. Ours, and others!

5.3 Christ the sacrifice for our sins

Words such as "gave himself" (Galatians 1: 4) and "offered himself" (Hebrews 9: 14) are words of sacrifice. Romans 8: 3 and 1 Peter 3: 18 both use the term about Jesus' death as 'for sin(s)'-translated as "sin offering" in Romans because this is the idea the Greek words convey. Hebrews is specific that Jesus "was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people" (Hebrews 9: 28).

Notice in Hebrews 9: 14 that he "offered himself unblemished". He was the perfect sacrifice-he was suitable to die to cover our sins. Thus his faultless life, and his obedient action are without doubt necessary in order that he could die as the perfect Lamb of God.

An Application: Romans 12: 1-2 to offer our bodies as "living sacrifices" through the renewing of our innermost being-our minds-so that they are pleased with what God is pleased with and hence give ourselves whole heartedly.

5.4 Christ's sacrifice is not enough to save you without faith

It must be combined with repentance and faith. As the Old Testament sacrifices had to be.

5.5 Belonging to God's people means looking to the Day of Christ's Death

Christians have Day of Atonement. The day to end all others. The death of the Son for our sins. But, as seen in Leviticus 16, the atonement includes payment for our sins, but also their removal far from us. A sacrifice that covers our sins, turns away God's anger, and makes us friends with him. (Romans 3: 25, "God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished")

But because of what we see in the Old Testament, it is also clear that the Jesus Christ is the only one who can remove our sins. The reason they can be removed "as far as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103: 12), such that God "will remember their sins no more" (Hebrews 8: 12) is due to the work of God in Christ. That is why we live in the great days when we look back to our sins having been dealt with. And our sins removed so far away because He has paid for them in his death, and removed them through his life. An Application: Are you happy! Having the joy of finding such a treasure in Jesus Christ.

5.6 Jesus entered a better sanctuary to deal with our sins once and for all

Unlike the Old Testament sacrifices that never cleared sins. Jesus offered Himself once. He suffered hell on the cross, and died with the price paid, "It is finished" captures a note of triumph. Not only was he finished in the sense of dying, He had completed the task given Him.

An Application: We should have a clear conscience that are sins are dealt with because Jesus is no longer being sacrificed. He has done it all with a one time sufficient payment for our sins. Our present friendship with God is not dependent on our daily obedience, but on the past obedience and sacrifice of Christ. As the Old Testament believers could look to God for mercy, covered by the sacrifices, in the hope of One who was to come. So we can look back, knowing that someone has come and covered our sins by his own sacrifice. Given out of the loving heart of his Father who delights to make us his very own treasured possession.

Psalm 32: 1-2, "Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit."