0822 ATONEMENT

AUGUST 22 = 1 JOHN 2

ATONEMENT

How could God do all of this forgiving? Especially considering that he is just, how can his justice be served by a simple confession? For that, we jump to chapter 2.

“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”

‭‭1 John‬ ‭2:1-2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus is our advocate with the Father. Like our defense attorney, he represents our interests before the Father. He can do that, first of all, because he is THE…RIGHTEOUS…ONE. The only person who was ever sinless. He earned a voice with his Father on our behalf. 

But there’s more to it than that. Jesus is the ATONING SACRIFICE for our sins. As with the Old Testament animals, offered as a sacrifice to bear the sin of people in their innocence, and by their blood to pay the price of death that was owed by the sinful person. It was ATONEMENT. You can break the word down to AT-ONE-MENT. We become reconciled to God, made at one again, by the blood of Jesus. That was the role of the sacrifice he made for us. It’s like we were given the death penalty for our crime, but Jesus volunteered to die in our place. That satisfies the court, and we are at one with the ones who determine guilt.

But it’s not just us, the Jews, or the lifelong believers, or the good people. It is the sins of the WHOLE WORLD. There is no person too far enslaved, no sin too deep, no person irretrievable. Jesus did the work of his death to cover every sin for all history by every soul on earth. 

And THAT, my friends, is GOOD NEWS! John said it all, starting with the BIG picture, and then going into small specific details. And now it is your turn to tap into that good news. It can be as fast as turning around, which is the word ‘repent’. It can be as simple as confessing your sins to someone. It can be as simple as being dunked in the water—we call that word baptized—to show that you are renouncing your life and becoming born again into Jesus Christ. And then you are in the family of the forgiven, the pure, the reconciled. How does that sound to you? And now, here is water, what keeps you from being baptized?