This blog is related to my above blog “Math, Art, and Why We Share the Gospel” and gives a brief explanation of atonement, what it is, and why it is necessary:
To first learn about what atonement is it is helpful to start in Genesis when Adam and Eve eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. From this point on, every human on earth has known both good and evil and all have chosen evil on some level, whether it be a great amount of evil or just a small amount of evil. All people have lied, or had a thought of hatred, or resorted to laziness, or skirted responsibility that is theirs. The problem then is that every one has sinned. The Bible puts it this way, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. So why is that an issue? It’s an issue for many reasons (just look at all the problems in the world) but I want to focus on two reasons specifically below.
First, its a problem for us because God is perfectly just. Now obviously I love the fact that God is perfectly just. I’m very happy that God is just as opposed to unjust. The problem lies in the fact that I am a sinner and he is just, therefore my sin deserves just punishment in hell. He will punish a murderer for being a murderer and someone who tells a white lie for telling a white lie. Not all punishment is the same, but rather each is just and perfectly “fits the crime”. You may have read or heard about Matthew chapter 7 where Jesus talks about not judging others. Chapter 7 starts off by saying “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” The passage goes on to talk about not being a hypocrite. The point is that God tells us not to judge because none of us are in a place to judge – we are all sinners – how can we give a righteous judgement on someone else when we do the same things? God however is not a sinner, he has never sinned and is therefore qualified to judge. In the 21st century we like to think of God as being similar to us. We think, God knows that I do some wrong things but everybody does some wrong things so he will understand. The issue is that he wont “understand” because he doesn’t do anything wrong. He is perfect in every way and therefore is able to judge sin righteously.
Second, which is related the first: Sin and sinful beings cannot stand in the presence of God and therefore have no place in heaven, which is where God dwells. The Bible states that nobody with sin can see Gods face and live. This is not saying that God would kill somebody for seeing his face. Its simply saying a fact of life. God is so great and so glorious that if we saw his face in our sinful state we would drop down dead. It similar to saying that nobody can stand under a 2000 foot waterfall and live. Its just a fact, the waterfall is simply too great.
So we have now have a few problems facing us. We as humans are sinful. God is just and punishes sin rightously. We cannot stand in the presense of God as sinful beings and therefore have no place in heaven (because heaven is perfectly free of all sin). What is the solution? Somehow the sin needs to be atoned for.
This is where the glorious good news of Jesus comes in. We know from Hebrews 9:22 that “There is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood.” We also know that “the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Jesus himself took on the death we deserved and shed his blood for us. Hebrews chapter 2 says in talking of Jesus, “so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” and “…he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people”. Similarly Romans chapter 3 states “But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement.” It is Jesus that provides atonement and washes us clean of sin so that we are able to stand in the presense of God and have a place in heaven. He is the only acceptable atonement because all others have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Jesus however never sinned and did not fall short. He was born of a virgin and was therefore did not inherit sin from his father on earth but rather inherited righteousness from his true Father in heaven. He is therefore a worthy sacrifice and the only worthy atonement for our sin. Being the only worthy atonement of our sin he is also the only way to God and eternal life with God in heaven.
