Doctrine 5 - The Atonement of Christ

Doctrine 5 - The Atonement of Christ

The Death of Jesus

"The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the one and only eternal propitiated offering and perfect sacrificial death for the forgiveness of sins, which provides the one and only way of salvation for all humanity to receive the immeasurable gift of eternal life."

What is “Atonement?”
1. Atonement – The act of dealing with sin whereby sin’s penalty is paid and the sinner is brought into a right relation with God.

Three major terms to know about Atonement for our study:
A. Propitiation – The act to appease and turn away the divine wrath and judgment of sin on an unrighteous sinner to be made a righteous saint in Christ.

B. Substitution – The Act to serve as a replacement for an unrighteous sinner who is deserving of punishment for their sin.

C. Justification – The act to acknowledge an unrighteous sinner as righteous because of their faith in the sacrificial death Christ.


The Great Exchange - My Sin For His Righteousness
2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

“The Great Exchange, in which God caused our sin to be traded for Christ’s righteousness, is crystallized and summed up in 2 Cor. 5:21. The message of the cross – the historical gospel of the God-Man, Jesus Christ, who personally visited earth, which was created through him, with the mission of redeeming his own people with his own infinitely precious, bloody, substitutionary death – has been and must remain the solitary basis and the singular foundation of the Christian faith and worldview. Its immutability and unchanging message of the gospel is woven into the fabric of authentic Christianity.” – Sinclair Ferguson

Where did Atonement come from?
1. Leviticus 17:11 – “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’

2. Hebrews 9:22 – “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

Who does the Atonement cover?
1. Believers are the only recipients of Christ’s atonement.
(John 3:16, 10:25-30)
2. Jesus died for the sin of the world, but his atonement is only effective for those who will believe in the Gospel.
(1 Timothy 2:4-6)

Let’s Investigate three areas of the Atonement:
I. Old Testament Originality (Jewish Nation)
II. New Testament Reality (Jew & Gentile Nation)
III. 21st Century Living (Our Nation)


I. Old Testament Originality
A. Adam’s covering
Genesis 3:21,  “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.”

B. Noah’s commitment
Genesis 7:2, 8:20, "You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.”

C. Abraham’s Covenant
Genesis 22:13, 15-18, “Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, "By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."


D. Moses commandment
Leviticus 1:2, 7:37-38, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any one of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of the livestock––of the herd and of the flock. This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecrations, and the sacrifice of the peace offering, which the LORD commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, on the day when He commanded the children of Israel to offer their offerings to the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai.”

OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY
1. Isaiah 53:1-12 (The Suffering Servant)
2. Zechariah 13:1-9 (The Suffering Shepherd)


II. New Testament Reality
A. Jesus predicts his substitutionary death three times.
Mark 8:31-32, 9:31-32, 10:32, 34, 45.

B. Jesus reinterprets the Passover feast as the Lord’s Supper as a new covenant.
Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22

C. Jesus is called the Lamb of God who takes away our sins.
John 1:29 (27 times in Revelation!)

D. Jesus was born with a purpose to take away the sins of his people.
Matthew 1:21

D. The Apostles knew Jesus died for them for their redemption by their preaching and faith.
Acts 2-4, 1 John 1:7-9, 2:1-2; Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:12-14

E. The Early Church celebrated the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of the death of Christ for this sins.
Acts 2:46, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34


III. 21st Century Living
A. Be Cross-Centered – Fixate everything you do in your life on the centrality of cross-bearing discipleship through Christ-likeness. (Follow the ways of the Lord!)
B. Be Gospel-Focused – Use every opportunity to glorify the Lord and share the wonderful message of the cross through your words and deeds in truth.
(Serve the Lord!)

Because of the cross, we can now live with these blessings:
Randy Alcorn said, “God has never given up on his original creation, because in the Bible, there is a biblical vocabulary that makes this point clear. Each of these biblical words begins with the ‘re-prefix,’ suggesting a return to an original condition that was ruined or lost.”

In Christ we have six things:
1. Redemption: buying back what was formerly owned.
2. Reconciliation: regaining a friend.
3. Renewal: making new again, restoring to an original state.
4. Resurrection: becoming physically alive again, after death.
5. Regeneration: being born again, having a new beginning.
6. Restoration: bringing back the lost.



Wrapping Up.
1. Recognize the atonement of Jesus. He has forgiven you of all our sins.

2. Focus on the cross of Jesus as the most revolutionary thing ever known to mankind, so embrace the “God-Man” our Savior who hung on it for you to be saved.

3. Treasure the triumphal and joyful knowledge of the substitutionary Death of Jesus for your redemption (free from the bondage of sin, death, and Satan).

4. Delight in the comfort of justification [through faith] in Jesus, in which he gives you peace and overwhelming thankfulness that he has saved you from the wrath and wages of sin, while in return he has given you the hope, security, and gift of eternal life in heaven.