The Atonement

Atonement - the work that Christ did in His life and death to earn our salvation.

This week as we look forward to Easter Sunday I want to take some time to really think and dwell on the implications of the atonement. What does it really mean? What it necessary for Christ to die? My aim is that this week is that our spirits are quickened to think deeply about the work of Christ on the cross, that as we do Easter Sunday would be all the more wonderful, all the more beautiful, and cause us to worship all the more.

The first question that we want to aim as we move toward good Friday, what was the cause of the atonement. This question and the next two days will set a foundation to understand how important this work of Christ really is.

The Scriptures will point to two main reasons as causes for the atonement: the LOVE and the JUSTICE of God. The problem that we are running into over the last few years has been the desire, or rather the misunderstanding of the character of God. We have become a culture that has defined God by one attribute and that is love. YES!! God is love, but He is so much more, He is justice, righteous, holy, and when we fail to recognize these characteristics as a part of God, then we ultimately diminish who He is and the weight of the atonement.

Romans 3:23-25-"For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of GOd, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forth as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins."

The wrath of God toward sin had to be satisfied so in His love for His people, and as a result of His holiness and justice He sent Jesus to die on that cross.

THis week as we move toward the cross on Friday and to the glorious resurrection on Sunday take time to meditate on God as just and love and may that increase your gratitude for the salvation Christ offers.

LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE