The Sacrifice of Jesus: Understanding Atonement Biblically

Product Information

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” ( Galatians 5:1). O yes! We have received the atonement! We have now been reconciled to God through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. The words atone or atonement appear over one-hundred times in Scripture. It has a rich meaning; at its root it means “to cover.” There are many other words associated with it, among them are: cleanse, forgive, be merciful, and reconcile. It has been stated that the atonement is the axis on which all other doctrines revolve. This is because without what Christ did on the cross, there would be no need for any other doctrine. Along with this truth, the atonement also speaks of sacrifice. This sacrifice, i.e., the atoning death of Christ, is the central theme of the Bible. Book after book, through the prophets and others, they spoke and wrote of it in some way. Invite the young men to review President Russell M. Nelson’s talk “ Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives” and find scriptures that include things the Savior said or did. What do we learn about the Savior from these scriptures? What counsel did President Nelson give to help us draw the Savior’s power into our lives? Invite the young men to think of ways they can accept the challenge that President Nelson gave to the young adults of the Church. Invite the young men to commit to the things they choose to do. Plan a future time when they can share experiences they have had with studying about the Savior.

Old Testament sacrifice was intended to signify more than mere homage. The significance was that of securing forgiveness, expiation of sin, through the offering of a substitute. The offeror is not portrayed as a mere creature but specifically as a sinner, a sinful creature in need of forgiveness. The offeror comes with a consciousness of sin seeking restoration to God’s favor by means of the acceptable sacrifice. The sacrificial victim itself is an intermediary, a substitute providing expiation. It bears the sin of the worshiper who receives forgiveness by that substitutional sin-bearing. Is the “sacrifice of atonement” in Romans 3:25 referring to a propitiation (appeasing God’s wrath), an expiation (cleansing human sin), or the mercy seat (the place of God’s reconciling presence)? Ask the young men what they learn about the Savior and the Atonement from His final words on the cross (see Luke 23:34, 39–43, 46; John 19:26–30) or from His account of His suffering (see Doctrine and Covenants 19:16–19).

How have you gained a testimony of the Atonement? How has the Atonement been a blessing in your life? As spoken at the outset of this article, the atonement is at its core, a profound demonstration of God’s love. We read: In the end the Roman authorities and the Jewish council wanted Jesus dead. He was a political and social trouble-maker. But what made the death of Jesus more significant than the countless other crucifixions carried out by the Romans and witnessed outside the city walls by the people of Jerusalem? While the context of Rom. 1-3 is a revelation of God’s wrath, this doesn’t mean that salvation requires an “appeasement” of wrath. As J. M. Gundry-Volf says, “In light of the threatening wrath of God, the need of sinners can be said to be not the transformation of God’s attitude toward them but the transformation of their sinful existence before God [emphasis in original] (“Expiation, Propitiation, Mercy Seat,” Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, 282). Just as God poured out judgment on Egypt, and yet protected Israel through the sign of the Passover blood, so too God will protect all those marked/cleansed with the blood of Jesus when God judges the world for sin. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” ( Galatians 2:20).

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our LORD Jesus Christ” ( Romans 5:1). Matthew 26–27; Doctrine and Covenants 19:16–19 (In Gethsemane and on the cross, Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins and took upon Himself our pains) The problem is, when we come to read about animal sacrifice in the Bible, we unfortunately assume that the same gods are at work. Much of popular Christian belief has simply imported this pagan storyline, reminiscent of the Greek and Babylonian cultural texts referenced above, into Leviticus and the stories about Jesus’ death on the cross. The result is a tragic irony. What the Bible is portraying as an expression of God’s love gets twisted into something dark. Our version goes like this: Christ has made a perfectly sufficient atonement for all those who will trust in Christ. Just as in the story of the Exodus the Israelites had to place the door of the lamb on their doorpost, so too we must apply the blood of Christ. The atonement is effectual when sinners, by faith and repentance, apply the sacrifice of Christ to themselves. Through our union with Christ his death becomes our death and his life becomes our life.The English word is a combination phrase originally meaning “at-one-ment” or “at-one-with.” It means that you feel in every bit of your being the fracture in our relationship with God and you desire for it to be made right. That doesn’t mean you desire God, necessarily. But it means that you are created in the image of God and you know things are not as they were meant to be. Satisfaction was an idea used in the early church to describe the public actions - pilgrimage, charity - that a christian would undertake to show that he was grateful for forgiveness. He did not mean in the present instance to censure their joy in their success, but only to make it subordinate to another rejoicing, and to prevent its growing to excess.” Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover [ hilasterion].” (Heb. 9:5)