THE ATONEMENT

Atonement, n. 1. Agreement; concord; reconciliation, after enmity or controversy [Webster]. Since we have all sinned; Rom 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” we are therefore become the enemies of God. As enemies of God we are in need of reconciliation. Our reconciliation has been provided by Jesus Christ: 2 Cor. 5:18 - 19 “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” The part that is hard for mankind to admit is that we are enemies of God. No one wants to admit that they have any enemies and we certainly don’t want to admit that we are the enemies of God! Friends, we would all be in a very sad state of affairs if it were not for the love of God.

The apostle Paul gives us a very good explanation of “atonement Rom. 5:8 - 11 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. ¹⁰For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. ¹¹And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” Verse eight verifies what I said that it was God’s “love toward us” that brought our “atonement” into action. Furthermore, this was done while we “were yet sinners”. Yes, while we “were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. Verse nine informs us that we are “now justified by his blood”. As sinners who have been reconciled to God we should always be thankful to God for His great love; not only should we be thankful there is great reason for us to be happy or joyous, verse eleven.

Long before our “atonement” occurred the prophet Isaiah prophesied that our “atonement” would be accomplished by Jesus: Isa 53:4 - 6 “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. ⁵But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. ⁶All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” What a burden this was for Jesus; he was stricken, smitten of God, afflicted and wounded for our transgressions! When we consider the awful weight that Jesus was carrying at this time there is little wonder why he cried out “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” [Matthew 27:46].

Jesus paid the terrible price for our “atonement” voluntarily: John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” The key word here is “giveth”. Christ gave his life, no one took it from him: John 10:17 - 18 “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. ¹⁸No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” From time to time we sing “What a friend we have in Jesus” but I can not help but wonder “Do we realize the price that Jesus paid so that we might be reconciled to God when we sing those words?”

Our atonement exhibits the grace and mercy of God: Rom 8:32 “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all,” Would you do this for sinners? We would all be hopelessly lost if it were not for the mercy and grace of God: Eph. 2:4 - 5 “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, ⁵Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”

God through Jesus Christ has supplied the means of our atonement; there is only one question that remains; “Have you taken advantage of this wonderful gift of God?”