"Unto Him that LOVED us, and WASHED us from our sins in His own BLOOD . . .

to HIM be glory and

dominion forever and ever. Amen!"

(Revelation 1:5 - 6)

UNDERSTANDING ATONEMENT

"As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free." (Zechariah 9:11)

First of all, it is very important to realize that the Old Testament and the New Testament are not like two
different accounts standing in contrast to each other. The Bible is all one piece. Additionally, God's
method of saving men from eternal punishment has been the same throughout the entire time man has
lived on this planet. It has never been by obedience to the law.

Many people have mistakenly thought this about the law, but that was wrong. In Romans 3:20 it says,
"Therefore, by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified, (declared not guilty), in His sight; for by
the law is the KNOWLEDGE of SIN." God gave the law as a "schoolteacher" to help man understand that
he is spiritually sick and lost in sin.

Yet we need righteousness in order to be made fit for eternal life with God, so the big question which
the ENTIRE BIBLE works together as ONE PIECE to answer is: How can a condemned sinner be made
righteous before God, and forgiven?

God began way back with Adam and Eve, in the Old Testament, to show that He would provide that
righteousness for them if they would put their TRUST in Him. God devised a plan whereby fallen man
would have the opportunity to demonstrate their faith and trust in Him. In the Old Testament, that plan
would point the way to its final fulfillment in the promised deliverer to come. In the New Testament that
deliverer did come. His name was Jesus the Messiah.

The plan that God unfolds in HIS complete word is called, "Atonement". It unfolds in the Scriptures this
way . . .

ATONEMENT

To understand atonement, it is best to go back to the beginning. By this I refer to the account of Adam
and Eve. They were originally created to live forever in perfect fellowship with their creator, God.
We learn in the Bible that this fellowship was ruined when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God by
eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (For the sake of brevity, I will not go into great
detail here, but if you desire more information on this topic, I highly recommend the resources available
at www.goodseed.com - see "Stranger on the Road to Emmaus")

The choice to disobey God is called "sin", and as a result of it, the entire human race became separated
from God. God still loved the people that He had made, but He is also HOLY and RIGHTEOUS. If it were
possible for unforgiven sinners to come into His Holy presence, He would have to punish them with His
wrath. But God is also LOVING and MERCIFUL. For this reason He devised a WAY by which human beings
could be restored to fellowship with Him.

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit outlined this plan within the writings of the
Scriptures. He did this because He wants us to understand His way completely. He called His plan,
"Atonement".

The word, atonement, means, "to cover". This provision of God was the way He provided in order for
human beings to be FORGIVEN for sin. In the Bible, in Leviticus 17:11, God points out what part of this
plan would bring this "covering of forgiveness". It says: "For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I
have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes
an atonement for the soul."

This is why the Old Testament begins dealing with the subject of sacrificial offerings so early in it's pages.
In fact, the first sacrifices are recorded in the book of Genesis. God lost no time in revealing His
Atonement Plan of forgiveness to sinful man. He did not want people to perish and be eternally
separated from Him.

THE FAITH FACTOR

The faith factor is well illustrated in the account of the sacrifices of Cain and Abel in Genesis chapter 4.
God had obviously revealed this plan to them, for the Bible records that they both knew and understood
that God had asked them to offer a sacrifice so that God would forgive their sin. The difference between
them was in how they responded to God's specific instructions for receiving that forgiveness.

Abel pleased God when he put a lamb from his flock of sheep on an altar, and killed it by shedding its
blood. By following God's directions to make this sacrifice, he demonstrated that he was trusting in
God's plan to provide an atonement covering for his sin. He showed he had FAITH in God by being
OBEDIENT to God's PLAN. Because of Abel's trust, God accepted his sacrifice and granted Abel the GIFT
of SALVATION.

Does the Bible clearly declare that Abel was SAVED and is in Heaven now? Yes! In Hebrews 11:4 it is
written: "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained
witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it, he, being dead, yet speaks." Why
does he, being dead, yet speak? Because even though he is dead physically, he lives forever in God's
presence, having received salvation. This is the fellowship of ETERNAL LIFE with God.

MAN'S ALTERNATE PLAN

Cain, however, did not accept God's plan. He did not appreciate God's plan of BLOOD Atonement.
Instead, he had his own idea for how to regain fellowship with God. Cain put the fruit of the ground,
(vegetables, fruit, and grain), on his altar. He apparently figured that God would see his good work and
accept him.

By doing things his own way, he demonstrated that he did NOT trust in God's plan. He did not
acknowledge that he was a sinner who needed atonement, so God did not respect or accept Cain's
sacrifice. Cain did not receive the GIFT. He did not obtain witness that he was righteous, as Abel had.
Since his sins were not covered by the atoning blood, he did not receive eternal life. Hebrews 9:22 says,
"without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin." ("remission" means forgiveness.)

God still loved Cain, so He tried to get Cain to agree to His perfect plan. Read Genesis 4:7, "If you do
well, will you not be accepted?" But instead of trusting God in FAITH, Cain threw a tantrum. His heart
was in rebellion towards God. He felt that God should have been pleased with his good work, and he
was angry. So angry that he murdered his brother Abel.

Incidentally, all MAN-MADE religions seek fellowship with God by CAIN'S PLAN. In other words, a man-
made approach to God is one that seeks to come to God by virtue of man's own efforts, by man's own
good works. By living in obedience to the law. The only problem is, God's law requires absolute perfect
obedience, as in the perfect obedience of Jesus himself. Because all humans are born with a fallen sin
nature, that is impossible! God knows this, and He inspired this verse to be written in Proverbs 16:25 -
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is the way of death."

BRINGING THE SACRIFICES

In Exodus, God instructed Moses to build a Tabernacle in the wilderness, and established the Levite men
to serve as priests in the administration of an organized system of DAILY sacrifices. The people were
instructed to bring their sacrificial offerings to the priests who would present them before God for
atonement. Although this was the established system, it was always required that the offerers came in
FAITH, repenting their sins. (Leviticus 1:2-4) For example, when the people of Israel, in the days of Amos
the prophet, were unfaithful, their sacrifices were no longer accepted by God. (Amos 5:21 - 22)

These sacrifices were brought to the tabernacle by people who were sorry for their sins. The person
bringing the animal would place his hand on its head. God made it clear that by doing this, with TRUST in
God's plan, then God would look at the animal as if the man's sins had now been transferred to it.

Now the animal would have to be killed. God required his people to do this so that they would
understand how He must punish their sin. Now the animal would be punished in his place. The animal
would SUBSTITUTE for the sinner in the taking of the punishment, which was DEATH. Romans 6:23 - "For
the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

With the sin punished, the sinner was pardoned. The BLOOD of the offering covered the sin. In
exchange, the guilty sinner was declared not guilty because the debt for sin had been PAID. The guilty
sinner did not deserve such forgiveness, but God's MERCY endures forever. This is why salvation is a
GIFT that cannot be earned.

THE ADVANTAGE OF PERFECTION!

All through the Old Testament, people are offering sacrifices to God on altars. But they are offered over
and over and over again. WHY did so much blood have to be shed? Hebrews 10:4 gives the answer . . .
"For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should TAKE AWAY sins."

Animals ARE NOT EQUAL in value to human beings. For this reason, they were not PERFECT substitutes
to take the punishment for human beings in atonement. God, in His mercy, only allowed the blood of
animal sacrifices to COVER sin during the Old Testament time of history. Because they were not perfect
substitutes, these sacrifices had to be made again and AGAIN for every individual sin.

This would be the way it was, until God would finish His perfect plan by sending a perfect atonement
GIFT. We celebrate the coming of this perfect atonement gift at Christmas. His name was JESUS, the Son
of God! At that point in history, it was the right time for God to take on a human body. In this way, He
became the "God-Man". As the Son of God lived and walked on this earth that He Himself had created,
He never sinned. This meant that he was the only sinless human being who ever lived.

Understand this: the animal sacrifices were allowed to be substitutes because they were innocent of sin
themselves. But they were not perfect substitutes because they were not human. Now God himself was
able to be BOTH human and PERFECTLY SINLESS. Because of this, He, the Son of God, was the ONLY
perfect substitute sacrifice who could ever exist.

GOD"S OBJECT LESSON

God had used all of those Old Testament sacrifices to point the way to His perfect PLAN, His perfect
SON. The Holy Spirit helped John the Baptizer recognize this when he saw Jesus and said, "Behold the
Lamb of God, which TAKES AWAY the sin of the world." (John 1:29) As the LAMB, Jesus, the Son of God,
would become the PERFECT ATONEMENT.

On the cross when Jesus died, He cried out, "It is FINISHED." (John 19:30) He meant that the work of
atonement was now completely DONE. His suffering and shed blood was perfect, so it only had to be
done ONE TIME in history. Hebrews 10:12 puts it this way . . . "But this man, (Jesus), after He had offered
ONE sacrifice for sins FOREVER, sat down on the right hand of God."

Why did He sit down? Because the job of giving atonement to men was now DONE! It would never need
to be repeated. He was the perfect atonement who did not just cover sin, He WASHED SIN AWAY with
His blood. Revelation 1:5.

At that moment Jesus died on the cross, the benefits of His perfect atoning work were made retroactive
for all those Old Testament people who had the faith to trust in God's plans and obey His instructions.
They are SAVED.

In the same instant, Jesus' blood became the atonement for the sins of every person who would trust
Him in that day, and every person who would trust Him in the future. In other words, His atoning work
has become available to all men.

The big question for every human being is, will he / or she, TRUST HIM? Jesus said, "I AM the WAY, the
Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6) Every person is called
to make a choice to put their total TRUST in Jesus to save them. Every person must understand that they
are sinners, and that they are LOST, and will be forever separated from God unless they accept His GIFT.
Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

It is because God LOVED the people He created that He made His PLAN. Romans 5:8 and 9 tells us; "But
God demonstrated His love toward us in that, while we were STILL sinners, Christ died for us. Much
more then, being now justified (declared not guilty) by HIS BLOOD, we shall be saved from WRATH
through HIM."

The fact that Jesus did not remain dead after He was crucified, but that He ROSE AGAIN, is PROOF that
His precious BLOOD was sufficient to wash away all of our sins, IF we BELIEVE. Romans 5:25 tells us that
He was the ONE "who was delivered for our offenses, and was RAISED AGAIN for our justification."

HOW DOES THE BLOOD GET APPLIED TO THE SINNER?

The same way it has always been since the beginning . . . by FAITH in Jesus. We demonstrate our faith by
our actions. Romans 10:9 says: "That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall
BELIEVE in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be SAVED!"

This is the whole point of the Bible. It is the true account of a Creator who desired to have fellowship
with the crowning work of His creation, human beings. Of how that fellowship was destroyed, and of
how it has been regained by grace through faith in the very Son of God Himself.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whoever BELIEVES IN HIM, should
not perish, but have everlasting life."

John 3:16

We speak to God in prayer. Prayer is simply talking to God. In prayer a person can tell Him of his or her
decision to TRUST in Him completely to wash away his or her sins with Jesus' precious blood. By
agreeing to His PLAN, and accepting His shed blood for their sins, that person will be SAVED, and can join
in with those who praise God in Revelations 1:5 - 6, saying:

"Unto Him that LOVED us, and WASHED us from our sins in His own BLOOD . . . to HIM be glory and
dominion forever and ever. Amen!"

------------------------------------------------------
“As for you also, Because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless
pit."

(Zechariah 9:11)

See Commentaries in the link below for more information on this wonderful Old Testament Scripture
that points to the atoning work of our Savior Jesus!

(Scroll to the bottom to see the commentaries.)

http://bible.cc/zechariah/9-11.htm