Part 2: Atonement And The Rejection
Of Christ
In the name
of God Master of the universe, Ruler of the earth.
May the peace of God and
our Savior Jesus Christ be upon you. We are grateful to be able to see the Light
of Almighty God. We trust that we will be able to shine so that others will
also see. The Atonement for sin as noted in Old Law rituals has a great bearing
on the promised Messiah. The record shows that the Messiah was promised to
remove the need to atone for sins by way of sacrifices and offerings of tithes
etc. However why do many contemporary people still want to deny Christ and
reject Him and his saving power rendered to us when he hung bled and died on
the Cross? This reminds us to warn all so-called believers that wearing a
crucifixion cross around your neck is ungodly and a form of Pagan idol worship.
What are you doing when
you wear a cross around your neck? Are you glorifying the crucifixion of
Christ? Is the cross an image? What does the Bible teach about images? Why
would you want to see the suffering Servant hanging from a tree? Are crosses
status symbols are just another way Satan has got mis-guided people to reject
Christ?
Atonement is noted as the
reconciliation of God with sinners through the suffering and death of Christ.
However atonement belongs primarily to the Old Testament where we see this word
110 times mostly in Leviticus and Numbers. Atonement appears only once in the
New Testament in Romans 5:11.
So what is the relationship
of Old Law atonement and the atonement of the New Law? Also how was atonement
used are applied during the Old Law? What is the utility of understanding
atonement during the Old Law and the rejection of Christ? Atonement has a great
deal to do with sin and so does Jesus Christ.
On the Day of Atonement
the High Priest had to first make atonement for himself and his house (See
Leviticus 16:16). The sins were ceremonially dealt with by the use of two
goats. The first goat died as a sin offering (Leviticus 16:15) just as our Lord
died on the Cross.
Then the high priest
confessed the iniquities and transgressions of Israel over the scapegoat
(second goat Leviticus 16:21-22), which was then released and bore upon him all
their sins into a solitary land. (See Psalms 103:12, Micah 7:19, Isaiah
38:17). The sprinkling of the blood upon
the mercy seat (Leviticus 16:14) was the divine way of picturing the merciful
covering of our sins.
So in the Old Testament
under the Law atonement was a way to rid one of sin. Also we see in the record
that the Messiah would come to remove the need to atone for sin. Also we see
that sin, sacrifice etc. are all a part of the Tithing ritual and rituals of
sacrificial offerings. So if Jesus came to remove the need for these ceremonial
rituals why do so many contemporary church people still practice a bastard
rendition of the Tithing principles?
Meanwhile in the New
Testament and time of the New Law we see atonement as the central doctrine of
our faith and we can properly include all that our Lord accomplished for us on
the Cross. For 33 years He perfectly fulfilled the law on our behalf (Matthew
5:18) and then paid the penalty for our sins in His death for us upon the
Cross.
We gain further insight on
this question by defining Day of Atonement. In the 16 Chapter of Leviticus we
find the law for the Day of Atonement. Also see Hebrews 9:1-10:25. There are
four purposes for the Day of Atonement:
1. To show God’s hatred
for sin. ”Wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23. “Without the shedding of blood
there is not remission sin Hebrews 9:22.
2. To show the contagious
nature of sin Leviticus 16:16.
3. To point forward to the
death of the Lamb of God our Savior.
4. By its repetition year
after year to signify that the way into the very presence of God had not been
made manifest before the death of Christ (Hebrews 9:7-9).
When our Lord offered
himself on Calvary, the veil of the temple was rent (Mark 15:38), and God
signified that from that moment on, we were under a New Covenant a covenant of
grace, not of Law. “For the law was given to Moses, but grace and truth came by
Jesus Christ (John 1:17).
Today under grace we look
back to Calvary when the great Day of Atonement took place once and for all.
carl@freedomjournalpress.comcastbiz.net