1) The central message of the Bible is atonement, which is God's provision of reconciliation between himself and humankind through Jesus Christ. 2) In the Old Testament, atonement was provided through animal sacrifices, but these could not fully atone for sins. Jesus's mission was to serve all people and give his life as a ransom for many, providing the ultimate atoning sacrifice. 3) As God, Jesus was an infinite being and could fulfill the substitutionary atonement by dying once to pay the infinite punishment for all sins, satisfying God's requirement. Through faith in Jesus, believers can receive eternal life rather than the wages of sin, which is death.

1. What is the meaning of Atonement –29th
December 2016
“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be
received by faith.”( Romans 3:25).
The Bible'scentral message isatonement,thatis,thatGod has providedawayfor humankindtocome
back intoharmoniousrelationwithhim,iseverywhere apparentinScripture.Fromthe firststoriesin
Genesistothe lastvisionsof Revelation,Godseeks toreconcilehispeople tohimself.Becausewe are
sinnersandwe needtoseeksalvationif we are tobe savedfrometernal destruction. We can learn
fromRomans 3:10-12, As it is written:“There isno one righteous,not even one; there is no one who
understands;there isno one who seeks God. 12
All have turned away, they have together become
worthless;there is no one whodoes good,not even one” . Therefore we needed atonement,thatis,
Gods provisionforusto be saved. Godhas providedaway forhumankindtocome back into
harmoniousrelationwithhim.
In the Old Testamentwe can learnthatatonementisprovided throughthe sacrificeof ananimal,the
“scapegoat”usedinthe atonementritualsfoundinLeviticus16. We can learnthat sacrifice
accomplishesatonement"forsins"inmanyplaces.Butthough these passages italwaysmeans
atonementforpeople "because of"theirsinsratherthanatonement"onbehalfof"sins. Primaryamong
the objectsof atonementinthe OldTestamentare the people of God,butthe meansof atonementcan
vary.Goats, sheep,andbirdsare listedamongthe acceptable animalstobe sacrificed,butthere were
alsograin,oil,and drinkofferings.
We can learnthat Jesus‘missionwasfortwothings:servingall andgiving Hislife asa ransomfor many.
Thisis whatwe knowas the Atoningsacrifice of JesusChrist. The meaningof the wordissimplyat-one-
ment,i.e.,the state of beingatone or beingreconciled,sothatatonementisreconciliation.Thusitis
usedto denote the effectwhichflowsfromthe deathof Christ. We are all familiarwithsubstitutes.
Teacherssubstitute forotherswhoare ill.Athletessubstitutewhenothersare injuredorfatiguedorjust
not playingwell.A substituteisone whotakesthe place of another.There isa terrible deathsentence
hangingoverthe headof everyhumanbeing.The phrase "substitutionaryatonement"meansthatJesus
Christdiedinthe place of sinnersas oursubstitute sothat our deathsentence couldbe nullified.Since
all menare insin(Romans3:9-18), we deserve deathbecause "thewagesofsinis death" (Romans
6:23). Thankfully, we canlearnthat"the free gift ofGod iseternal life inChrist Jesusour Lord." Any
personwhobelievesthatJesuswhoisGod,isable and willingtotake that person'sdeathsentence upon
Himself,will live withHimforeternity.
Whenwe read Romans6:23 it says:“For the wagesof sinis death,butthe giftof God iseternal life in
ChristJesusourLord”. This passage teachesustwothings.First,ittellsusthat withoutChrist's
substitutionaryatonement,there isnodoubtthatwe are doomed.Inthe Bible,deathrefersto
separation.Whenabodydies,the soul isseparatedfromthe body.Thisisthe physical deaththatwe all
experience.WhenapersondieswithoutJesus,hissoul isseparatedfromGod whichwe know as
spiritual death thatwill resultin aneternityinhell,fromwhichthere isnoescape.The secondlesson
containedinthisverse isthateternal life isavailable throughJesusChristtothose whobelieve. We can
learnthisfromRomans3:25 “God presentedChristasa sacrifice of atonement, throughthe sheddingof
hisblood—tobe receivedbyfaith.He didthistodemonstrate hisrighteousness,becauseinhis
forbearance he hadleftthe sinscommittedbeforehandunpunished”

2. Here is howthe substitute works.JesusChristisGod whichwe can learnin John1:1-3, “Inthe beginning
was the Word,and the Wordwas with God,andthe Wordwas God. 2
He was with Godin the
beginning.3
Throughhimall thingswere made; withouthim nothingwasmade that hasbeen made”
Throughthiswe can knowthat JesusChristis an infinite being.We are all finite,createdbeings.Since
the sinswe commitare againstan infinite God,the punishment we receive is infinite. If we are to
receive forgivenessfromoursins, eitheran“infinitebeing”mustdie once topay for sins(the cross),or
finite beingsmusttopay fortheirsinsinfinitely whichis hell aswe know it.Jesuslovinglyoffered
Himself upanddiedinour place whenHe wascrucifiedonthe cross. Thiswas an infiniteBeingmakinga
one-time paymentforsinsthatsatisfiedGod'srequirement.We canlearnthisfrom Hebrews
10:10,“And by that will,we have been made holythroughthe sacrificeof the bodyof Jesus Christonce
for all”.We can furtherlearnin verse 14 “Forby one sacrifice he hasmade perfect forever those who
are being made holy”.
For our redemptionfromsinJesusChristwasthe atoningsacrifice whichwe canlearnfrom 2
Corinthians5:21: "Godmade himwho had nosin to be sin[a]
for us,so that in himwe mightbecome
the righteousnessof God".Thisatonementisspokenof again,in 1Peter 3:18, "ForChristalso suffered
once for sins,the righteousfor the unrighteous,thathe might bringus to God,beingput to death in
the flesh but madealive inthe spirit." The OldTestamentalsocontainspropheciesthatspeakof this
substitutionaryatonement,andaboutthe comingMessiahwhowoulddie tobringuspeace.The
propheciescontainedinthe OldTestamentdetail eachaspectof Hisdeath,earthlylife,andresurrection.
We can findthe atonementoutlinedveryclearly inIsaiah53:5, "Buthe waspierced for our
transgressions;he wascrushed for our iniquities;uponhimwas the chastisementthat broughtus
peace, and withhis woundswe are healed."
Sadly, due totheirawarenessorat timessome whodecide otherwise, manypeoplehave stillnotcome
to believeinthisGodgivenprovision andasa resultwill paythe price of theirownsininhell forall
eternity. AsChristianswe must knowthatGod'sownSon,JesusChrist,came to earthto pay for the sins
of all whobelieveinHim.Ourbelief inJesusChristasthe atoningsacrifice forthe redemptionof oursin
isan importantchoice that we needtomake as Christians.We can learnfromthe advice giventous in
Hebrews 3:15,"Today, ifyou hear his voice,do not hardenyour hearts…" Therefore we needtomake
gooduse of the God givenblessingforusthorough His sacrifice of JesusChrist…We mustfaithfully
believethatthroughJesus the substitutionaryatonement wasmade availabletousand therefore we
mustrepentof sinand believeinHis sacrifice of love foroursake."Godmadehim whohad no sinto be
sinfor us, so that inhim we might become the righteousnessof God"(2Corinthians5:21).