Discipleship 101
New Believer Lesson #3
Dealing with Sin -
Atonement & Redemption
By Andy Madonio
July 17, 2010
Introduction:
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 NIV)
“Now turn to the apostle’s personal glorying in the ministry of redemption. ‘He loved me and gave himself for me.’ And what was the purpose of the Lord’s redemption? Humanity lay in a dire and awful bondage. There was the fearful appetite for sin. There was the relentless claim of violated law. There was the nemesis of guilt. There was the power of the devil. There was the clutch of superstition. And there was death and the fear of death. That was the bondage. And the Lover loved the bondslave, and the glorious crusade of the Lover was by love to bring ‘deliverance to the captive, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.’”
John Henry Jowett – The Wonders of Redemption
Covering the Sin:
In Lesson #2, we briefly covered the fall of mankind due to sin in
the world. Once sin is present, it is here to stay. Sin is a barrier
between you and God. He is holy and we are not, and therefore we
are not able to stand in His presence until we can do something
about our sin. Look at it simply as if we were Pig Pen and God is
wearing a perfectly clean, ultra-white robe. He simply can’t get near
us in our condition. Admittedly, this is overly silly and simplistic,
but I am only using this illustration to make a point. Sin not only is
intolerable in God’s close presence (His perspective), but it truly makes us want to leave God’s presence; it makes us hate God (our perspective).
Read Psalm 2, noting that the “nations rage,” and how “the kings of the
earth . . . and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and
against his Anointed.” Tell what you think the “nations,” “kings,” and “rulers”
(those opposed to Jesus, non-believers) feel about the presence of the Lord,
and describe how we can avoid that thinking.
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We need to get clean!
God created man in His image, and He knew, given free will, that we would sin and mess up our relationship with Him. His plan included a way out to correct the guaranteed mess us Pig Pens (sinners) would make of our lives.
Several words in the bible speak of covering over sin, paying for freedom from sin, and making things right with sin. This discipleship lesson is not the place to split hairs over nuances in definitions, doctrines and semantics regarding biblical words that tell of dealing with sin. Sin exists – our sin exists – so what do we do about it? God knows we are incapable of setting things right without His help, so Jesus came to take care of our sin problem. The following few words are important for us to understand what He did on our behalf. You will see them in most bible translations you encounter. If you lump them together, that’s OK. A deep theological understanding is not necessary now, just a general gist. I simply want you to grasp the significance of God’s efforts to bring us back to Him, cleansed from sin.
Atonement:
The word “atonement” is the translation of the Old Testament Hebrew word kippur, which means to cover something by paying a price. If you use a King James Bible, the word used is usually “propitiation”; it's the same thing.
God loves us fiercely, and cannot even look upon us in our filthy sin-stained condition. However, if the proper price is paid, a covering of beauty and richness allows God to gaze upon the original perfection of His creation again, as in Eden before Genesis chapter 3. An atoning sacrifice as defined by kippur literally means to engross God’s sight with something so lovely, so captivating, and so disarming that God’s righteous anger at sin dissolves.
Another place the word atonement arises in the Bible is regarding the Ark of the Covenant, the box (remember Raider’s of the Lost Ark?) that held the original Ten Commandments. The lid on the ark is called by the same word – kippur, which also means mercy. This atonement cover, the mercy seat, stood between the Ten Commandments – God’s rules man had violated resulting in our sinful condition – and God. Because of mercy, God was able to overlook our sins; His atonement covered them completely. This is a picture symbolizing the atonement that Jesus provided. We cannot spend too much time discussing this in this lesson, but this topic is truly worth weeks of study, devotion, and reflection. I would be glad to have a coffee and discuss this at greater length with anyone who is interested.
Redemption:
The atonement provided by Jesus also carries with it the similar idea of redemption. The word “redeem” in both the Old and New Testaments means to buy back by paying a price, to pay any amount of ransom to free from bondage. If atonement covers over with extravagant beauty, redemption frees with the payment of an extravagant price.
The defining illustration of redemption is found in the Old Testament book of Leviticus (Leviticus 25:47-49). One may become a redeemer only if the following conditions are met: First, the redeemer must be kin to the one in bondage – a relative. Second, he must be willing to redeem the bond slave without coercion or force. Third, the redeemer must fully pay the price required, no matter the cost.
Jesus was fully able to meet all three of these qualifications. He became our kin by taking on the form of a man (Hebrews 2:14). He was willing, not considering equality with God something preventing Him from redeeming us (Read Philippians 2:5-7 and 2 Corinthians 8:9). Finally, He was able to afford the price by living a sinless life and offering His blood in place of ours (1 Peter 2:21-24).
Consider the sins you have committed, and consider what it cost Jesus to cover
them over and buy you back from their penalty. Thank Him for this
immeasurably costly gift. Offer Him your worship in any way you feel is
appropriate. _____________________________________________________________________________________
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See you in Lesson #4!
[Note – This lesson can be downloaded in PDF format for printing or sharing]
