Atonement

The Lamb of God

The core theme of the Old Testament is that God chose the nation of Israel to bring redemption to some of fallen mankind.  Due to God’s justice, this redemption required atonement for sin in the form of a blood sacrifice.  Thus, a system of animal sacrifice was set up by God, through his prophets, to prefigure the ultimate sufficient sacrifice that Christ would make for the atonement of sin since animal sacrifice cannot atone for sin.  For God to sacrifice his own son to satisfy his justice is a most unbelievable display of his love and mercy.  In Genesis 22:8 this is vividly pointed out when Abraham told his son Isaac, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”  While Abraham was referring to what he thought was going to be the sacrifice of his son Isaac, it points to the ultimate sacrifice of Christ.  Seven hundred years before Christ, the prophet Isaiah predicted in chapter 53, and elsewhere, this ultimate sacrifice.  In verse 7 Isaiah said, “he was led like a lamb to the slaughter.”  The sacrificial atonement of Jesus Christ as a propitiation for human sin is the central theme to all of Christian theology.  Doctrine after doctrine lead back to the cross and the crucifixion of Christ.  The fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy about Christ is shown in its most concise form in Romans 3:19-31.  Salvation is from God and is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.  Faith is the key that opens the door to heaven and eternal life.  The following verses are but some in the Bible on the subject of atonement:

Leviticus 17:11 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.
1 Chronicles 28:11 Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement.
2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Colossians 1:22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation--
Hebrews 2:17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
Romans 8:3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man
John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Hebrews 10:11-12 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹²But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.
1 Peter 1:18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, ¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.