What is Atonement?

SHORT DEFINITION:
Atonement is the transference of sin where a propitiation is provided as a sacrifice on behalf of the sinner so the sinner may be forgiven of sin.

LONG DEFINITION:
In sin, crime has been committed. In justice, crime must be punished to restore goodness. This means for justice to be accomplished, a criminal must pay in equal to their crime. Atonement serves as means of making amends in order that the payment of sin might be made on behalf of the sinner.

God is good. This is core to His being and nature. All that is truly good came from God. He is the creator of the universe and all that lives. As such, the universe exists and life is possible because of God's sacred goodness. The only thing that did not originate with God is sin and evil.

Sin is anything that defies or disobeys God. Sin is a parasite. It exists as a result of God's creatures having turned away from Him. Rather than pursue God and His goodness, sinners seek their own way. As such, they are set against God.

When a person sins, they commit a crime very specifically against God. The world has existence and life has being because God has created it according to His ways. When a person sins, they hurt God and all that He has created. The sinner is going against what is good. They are doing evil.

The only way to restore goodness once evil has been committed is to balance the act of evil with a payment of good. In this way, amends has been made and peace established. This is especially true for relationships. For example, let us a say a friend borrows my car and wrecks it. This angers me. How could my friend crash my car? As a result, our relationship is damaged and hindered. In order to bring peace, my friend makes amends by buying me a new car. I had suffered a loss, but this was met with my friends generosity. As such, a balance has been made.

God is a holy, majestic, and eternal being. He is the reason for existence and for life. His worth is beyong all measure. Without God, nothing could exist. Life itself depends upon His very being. If God did not feed us life, much like we need food and water, then we would die. This means God is holy, holy, holy. When a person sins, they sin against God. God gives forth life and the sinner destroys this life. It is a most serious offense. In order to bring justice and restore goodness, sin must be balanced with something of equal balance. But what in all the universe could be equal with God? What could possibly bring balance?

Atonement is a way of bringing justice and balance. When we sin, we damage our relationship with God. We set ourselves against Him. We defy the source of all life. Atonement provides a way that our sin might be transferred away from us.

It is only reasonable that if we sin against God, the provider of life, and in effect, destroy life, that life itself should be used a form of atonement. The Bible says in Leviticus 17:11 (NIV) " For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life." Since in sin, we destroy life, the only acceptable form of atonement is life. The only way to atone for sin is by blood.

In sin, we destroy life. When we sin, we shed blood. In order that we might know this and see it, God ordained the Israelites to make atonement by the shedding of animal blood. Sin had to be atoned for by the shedding of animal blood upon an altar. The sacrifices had to be made very specifically as God commanded. In performing this ritual, the sin of the sinner was transferred off the sinner and onto the animal. The animal was sacrificed, justice was done, and the sinner was justified.

However, is an animal worth as much as God? Could the sacrifice of an animal fulfill the debt humanity owed for sin? Quite obviously, the answer is "no." God is holy, holy, holy. There is nothing in all creation worth as much as God.

And so, for atonement to be made, God would have to provide something of equal value and measure. He would have to sacrifice the life of something that was equal to His own. This is the only way to restore goodness, peace, and justice.

God did this for us by sending His own Son down to earth to die on the cross in our stead. Christ died for us. He was sinless, perfect, and eternal. He came from Heaven, in other words, from eternity. He was not a created being. If had been created, then He would not have been equal to God. Because He was the Son of God, He was equal with God. He is the only one who could pay for our sins. On the cross, He willingly gave His life that sin might be atoned for.

Hebrews 9:12-14
12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

(Read Hebrews 9 for more.)