Atonement

 Imagine that you’re throwing a big dinner party. Minutes before the guests begin to arrive, you accidentally spill a glass of grape juice on your beautiful white carpet. There’s no time to remove the stain. You’ll have to improvise. Your solution to the problem is to cover the stain with a throw rug until after the party, when you can remove the stain entirely.

The Bible uses a word for covering a stain. It’s the word ‘atonement'. Each one of us has a stained heart. Our sins have left their mark. We’d like to cover up our sins so that no one, especially God, sees them. In fact, people are constantly trying to hide their sins. But we can’t really keep God from seeing our hearts.

Thankfully, God has a remedy for our sins. In Old Testament times, God had instructed His people to bring animal sacrifices to the Temple. The high priest would take the blood of a sacrificial animal and apply it to the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant. The blood would cover Israel’s sins. Leviticus 16.15 says, “In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been.” The idea behind this practice was that God would no longer see the people's sins and would therefore maintain fellowship with them. The word ‘atone’ literally means ‘at one'. Through the atonement we are at one with God in fellowship and relationship.

However, like the throw rug covering the grape juice stain until after the party, the animal sacrifices were only a temporary measure. Jesus died on the cross to atone for our sins. But He didn’t simply cover them up. He washed them away. John the Baptist, in John 1.29, said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” Jesus doesn’t merely cover our sins. He washes them away. By His atoning death we can be at one with God.

There is some debate among Christians as to the extent of Christ's atoning work. Some suggest that the benefits of Jesus' death are limited, that Jesus died only for those who would eventually come to Him by faith. Others think that Jesus died for everyone, that His atonement is unlimited. First Timothy 4.10 tips the scale in favour of an unlimited atonement in my thinking. It says, “We have put our hope in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, and especially of those who believe.” This doesn’t mean that everyone will be saved, but that everyone can be saved.

But no matter what you believe about the extent of Christ’s atonement, we can all agree that without His death on the cross we couldn’t be saved. We need Jesus to remove the stain of sin in our hearts. Have you received Jesus as your Saviour? Ask Him to come into your life. He’s eager to completely wash your sins away.