The Messy Way

One of the problems we have in understanding theological words lies in the fact that they seem to belong solely to our religious heritage.  Atonement is an example of a word used in church, at least in some churches, but not in the everyday language of the secular culture.  Atonement is messy.  It takes us into an arena filled with questions not answerable.  Atonement is about blood, death, and sacrifice.  We have no desire to talk about such things.  We would rather talk about such things as love, mercy, and heaven.    

In Romans 3:25 the Apostle Paul wrote about redemption through Christ Jesus, "whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by His blood."  In numerous places in the Old Testament we find references to the blood of sacrificed animals being offered as an atonement for the sins of the people.  And when John the Baptist saw Jesus out by the Jordan River he used sacrificial anticipating language as he said, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."  (John 1:29)  As he spoke he was pointing toward that moment when Jesus would offer Himself as a final act of atonement for the sins of the world.  John 3:16 maybe a favorite verse of many, but it is about a dying Christ whose death made life possible for all of us.    

Atonement does not just speak of a sacrifice, but one that has spiritual ramifications for those in whose behalf it is offered.  Christ did not die on the cross because we have it all together, but because we are broken.  We chose to disregard the will of the Creator, and thus, set in motion the process of our destruction.  When Jesus died on the cross as an act of atonement for us, He took upon Himself the weight and the consequences of our sin.  Personal spiritual disaster is avoided and the abundant life is made possible through the unique gift of Jesus on the cross.  He made it possible for us to be at one again with the Father which is something impossible to accomplish through human effort or religious promises.