Tag Archives: atonement

Atonement Day

06 Tuesday Feb 2018

Posted by in Bulletin Article, Salvation, sin

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On the DAY of ATONEMENT, in Leviticus 16, one reads of the seriousness of sin in the life of the nation (and individual) – from the Lord’s perspective. Sin in the life of a person, under the teachings of the Old Testament, was so serious it actually adversely affected one’s relationship with the Lord. If not taken seriously by the one who was guilty of sin, that one’s relationship with the Lord would be severed on Judgment Day. Can you envision that?! I can, and thus the words of Paul in 2 Cor. 5:11 become very real to a person like me. “We know what it means to fear the Lord, and so we try to persuade others” (Good News Bible).

It will do us well (spiritually) to reflect on that in our own lives today. I am afraid there are many who fail to understand the seriousness of sin in one’s personal life. It is deadly and damning. RT

God’s Gift to Man (Vicarious)

18 Friday Mar 2016

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  1. Life is a gift from God. This gift from God means that “life” is owned by God, even when the receiver has it in possession.
  2. God’s gift to man has with it volition. In other words, with the “gift of life” the receiver has an additional gift, the right and ability to choose for self. If man chooses poorly, God’s gift can be rescinded.
  3. God’s gift of life to man is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11). (A) God’s response to man who chooses poorly, however, has not been to rescind His gift, but to give him another gift. That other gift is a substitute life to pay the penalty of sin (or man’s poor choice). (B) This gift was the gift of life from the beast of the field (otherwise known as animal sacrifices). In truth, the blood of an amoral creature (beast from the field) could not really atone for a moral creature (such as man). (C) God used the substitutionary (vicarious) life as a means to spare man the penalty due him and to teach him that it is because of God’s mercy he is still alive. The life-blood of a beast of the field was inadequate for its task of atonement (cf. Hebrews 10:4).
  4. God, the Father used the substitutionary gift (life-blood) with a view toward a greater substitution, or gift. (A) This gift is in His Son. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, ESV) (B) Though God “gave” His Son, it was the Son’s willingness to come to this earth to save His creation (cf. Luke 19:10). “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8, ESV). (C) This gift of God was promised by Him to the Israelite nation and to all who call upon the Lord’s name.
  5. Unlike the former substitutionary gift from a beast of the field, this gift willingly gave His life to cover (or remit, forgive) man’s sin, all sins. The difference between the two is in this: (A) Beast of the field. (1) An amoral creature cannot atone for a moral creature. (2) An amoral creature has no choice in this regard but is compelled to give up its life for the sin of another. (3) An amoral creature cannot be guilty of sin. (B) The Son of God. (1) Jesus is a moral being who can atone for a moral creature. (2) Jesus had a choice in this matter, as indicated above in Philippians 2:5-8. (3) Jesus, a moral being who could be guilty of sin, was not guilty of sin, not even one (cf. Hebrews 4:15).
  6. God’s gift to man who was (is) guilty of sin (and producing a separation of man from God) is in the bridge (Jesus, the Son of God) wherein man can now come back to God, thus being reconciled. RT