The Atonement
The atonement of Jesus (or doctrine of the cross), is a
subject that unifies both the Old and New Testament. Since the fall of Adam,
humans have struggled to be righteous before God. Until Jesus came to earth,
this was an impossibility for anyone to be righteous before God
because of each person’s sinful nature. In the Old Testament there
was the Day of Atonement, (Lev. 16), the Passover sacrifice, and the
Levitical System of offerings.
However, one could make a sacrifice but this was only good
enough until the next sin.
The major change between the two testaments is the life and
action of Jesus Christ.
The atonement of Jesus is the event that happened when Jesus
gave his life as a sacrifice on the cross so that all who believe in
him will not perish but have eternal life (Jn. 3:16).
Before there can be an answer there must first be a
question. Why does
humanity need to be saved?
With a perfect God, the only way one can come in touch with
Him is if he/she is perfect.
In the Old Testament, for one to enter the Holy of Holies,
they would have to have all of their sins cleansed and if this were
not done, they would die.
God taught sinners the need for a substitutionary sacrifice
(Lev. 17:11). Because
all people are in a state of depravity, we are unable to provide a
basis for God to forgive us while he remains just. In addition, we cannot
liberate ourselves because we are corrupt. We cannot be the inichiate
in the reconciliation of God and people because of our nature. Last, no one can earn their
way to God because every person was born sinful and has also
committed one sin (Rom. 10:1-3, Ez.
18:4).
For humanity to come into a constant relationship with God
there had to be a perfect sacrifice and an atoning blood. This came in the life and
crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the Cross. By love, God sent his own to
become each individual’s sacrifice (Jn. 6:39) and to become the
payment for their sin (Lk. 19:10) fulfilling the eternal covenant to
justly save sinners.
From the beginning of his ministry, Jesus knew that he would
have to sacrifice his life and die on the cross (Mk. 8:31-32). Jesus also chose the time of
his death. Early in his
life, he escaped predictiment because he knew it was not time yet
but during the Passion Week, he readily gave himself to the
authorities. Because
Jesus was the one to readily give himself us, Jews and Gentiles are
not immediately responsible for his death; however, proximately,
because both and the rest of humanity as sinners, evoked his
death.
When Jesus died on the cross, He
died both physically and spiritually. The body had no spirit in it
and Jesus had become estranged from the Father when he cried, “My
God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). Jesus experienced the hell
and separation from God so the rest of humanity who believes and
trusts in Him does not have to experience it. Jesus could die for everyone
on the cross because he was sinless. If Jesus was not perfect, he
would have to die for his own sins and not been able to die for
everyone else’s sins but would have to die for his own sins. When Jesus died not only did
he act as everyone’s representative, he also died as our
substitute.
The result of Jesus’ atonement is the
relationship to people is the removal of enmity between man/woman
and God. Satan’s power over mankind has been changed and the curse
of the Law has been removed.
In our daily lives, this gives each person who has given
their life and believed in Jesus Christ, freedom from death and
freedom from sin.
Without the atonement, a relationship with God is futile and
everyone is destined to die.
As a result, the atonement of Jesus Christ should be at the
forefront of each person’s Gospel message that they share. If one in his/her ministry
does everything but never gets the message of the atonement across,
the person they are sharing with still misses the mark and are
separated with God.
