Why Do We Need Atonement?
Notes
Transcript
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Series of messages leading up to Resurrection Sunday.
The text of scripture I just read
I want to talk about the prophecies in the Old Testament pointing to the atonement of Jesus Christ.
The word Atonement is taken from the words
“atonement”
At-One-Ment or to be At-One-With
So Atonement goes back to our being made to be “at one” with our creator and therefore since that relationship with Him has been fractured we need to be re-joined with him.
Talk about fractured relationships here. (marriage conflicts, etc)
You know that because you love each other that you have to be reconciled. One has to make the first move to open the door to reconciliation.
In the same manner we needed to be reconciled with God. That is why atonement is necessary.
Atonement therefore is the work of Jesus to reconcile us to God.
And for us to be reconciled to God we needed to be delivered from His wrath on sin. We needed salvation.
Wayne Grudem:
The atonement is the work Christ did in his life and death to earn our salvation.
Jesus became the sacrifice..
25 God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. 26 This is not only clear, but it’s now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness.
to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured.
The key word here is Propitiation.
Propitiation
Propitiation simply is this. While we were the object of Christ’s atonement because were separated from God. Propitiation is God’s part, it His change of attitude toward us so that He moves from being opposed to us to being for us.
There is another word that I need to share with you that led to this changing of attitude on the part of our God. That word is the word
Expiation
Expiation is the removal of guilt for all our sins because the punishment fell on a substitute.
This may sound too experiential, or extrabiblical, but the moment I was saved, I felt that weight lifted off my shoulders.. and I am sure most of you experienced this feeling when you came to faith in Jesus.. but there is a real removal of our guilt through expiation,,, when the punishment for our sins fell on Jesus when He died on the cross.
So atonement consists of both expiation and propitiation. Again, atonement is the work of Jesus in His life and death to reconcile us to the Father.
Some 700 years before Jesus came to the world for the first time.. there was a detailed prophecy on His work of atonement. We’ll exegete through today’s passage.
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
A. The Sacrifice for Atonement
The Lord Jesus became an ordinary man. He stripped Himself of His beauty and majesty.
This is the greater sacrifice, that Jesus stripped Himself of His glory.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
B. The Cost of Atonement
Jesus was despised
He was not esteemed
He bore our griefs
carried our sorrows
He was judged — like a sinner that was smitten and afflicted by God Himself
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
C. The Cause of Atonement
Jesus endured these things for us to bring us something.
He was pierced for our transgressions
Transgression is breaking God’s commandments .. rebellion.. sinning by choice
He was crushed for our iniquities
Iniquity is the crookedness of our sinful nature..
We are sinful by choice and by nature.
He was chastised to bring us peace
the punishment
His wounds bring us healing
the many stripes given Him.. the whipping that belonged to us.
Where were we? What did Jesus see in us that warranted so great a sacrifice?
This is His heart for all of us, God saw us like sheep...
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Be Comforted 3. Expiation: The Smitten Servant (Isa. 53:4–6)
Like sheep, we are born with a nature that prompts us to go astray; and, like sheep, we foolishly decide to go our own way. By nature, we are born children of wrath (Eph. 2:3); and by choice, we become children of disobedience
D. The Need for Atonement
as sheep we were aimless.. we have settled for our own way..
we know there is a need to be made righteous before God — self-atonement
It is amazing that it is our loving and holy God Who took the initiative to provide for Atonement.
This is important, because it is counterintuitive, that is not how the world teaches us to operate:
In conflicts in relationships, be it in our marriage, parent vs child discord, issues with co-workers.
The world tells us:
Negotiate from a position of strength.
Make sure you have leverage.
That is why your superiors at work typically will not reach down to you to reconcile, you don’t wait for the CEO of your company to resolve your gripes, you need to make your voice heard..
Same with human relationships, do you know that many marriage issues will be fixed if only the husband or the wife will take that initiative to make the first move. Because no matter what the root cause of the issue is, no matter what triggered the argument, there should be a greater driving force behind reconciliation.
Things do change if you see things from God’s perspective. The master of the universe, the King of Kings made the first move and made it a necessity to save us!
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
E. The Driving Force Behind Atonement
God’s love. John 3:16. verse 3
But, while God is a loving God He is also perfectly holy and perfectly just, he cannot let sin slide. Sins have to be punished and God’s wrath poured on the sins of the world.
Therefore the second driving force for Christ’s atonement is..
God’s Justice. read verse 8
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
There is still yet a third driving force behind Christ’s atonement:
The Joy set before Jesus
9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
The suffering, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
F. The Response to Atonement
don’t neglect a great salvation...
get rid of self atonement..