What is Atonement?
You have been told a lie. You are not perfect just the way you are. Don't misunderstand, you are a creation of God, eternally and infinitely valued, created in God’s image. But none of us are perfect. Not only are we creation and creation by its nature is not perfect. But we are also fallen creatures, we have disobeyed God's Word and walked in our own way.
This is why we need atonement.
The word atonement was popularized by a man named William Tyndale. He was a Christian martyr who translated our Bibles into English. As he was translating the Bible into English for the first time, he had to craft his own word to describe how sinful humanity could be reconciled to a holy God. He settled on the word atonement.
Look at the breakdown of the word, "at-one-ment." The word imagines two parties at odds being brought into oneness, two parties at war being brought into peace, and two parties who have irreconcilable differences being brought to reconciliation. Romans 5:1 captures the glory of atonement, Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The essence of atonement is peace with God through Jesus Christ.
Over the history of the church, there have developed a number of so-called "theories" of the atonement. But the atonement is not a mathematical equation to be studied, but a historical and theological reality to trust. Atonement was accomplished through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Through the death of Jesus, He was the lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). On the cross, Jesus stood in the place of sinners, not just dying for us but instead of us. Jesus became a curse for us so that we might be blessed with the gift of salvation (Galatians 3:13-14). We are in a right relationship with God because our sin debt was paid. But the atonement doesn't end there.
Jesus rose again on the third day in victory over sin, death, Hell, and the grave. He has won the victory and because we are in union with Him, we win in the end. Romans 6 speaks of Baptism as a picture of our victory in Christ, We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4). We are dunked under the water, a symbol of our death in Christ, and we rise up out of the water, an image of our newness of life.
In His resurrection, Christ has defeated death so that for His followers death has lost its sting. Hell is no longer our future. To live is Christ, to die is gain (Philippians 1:21). Sin's penalty and power over us has been defeated. We are brought into right relationship with God and we are empowered to walk by faith. Eternal life awaits us when we die, but eternal life also begins in the here and now.
Atonement. At-one-ment. A reality so wonderful Tyndale needed to add to the dictionary. A word so important that our eternity depends on it. Have your sins been atoned for? Do you have peace with God? It is available by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Turn to Jesus through repentance and faith and experience the wonders of atonement. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement (Romans 5:11, KJV)