How God's Atonement Works a Miracle in Your Life

I don’t necessarily want this blog to be a textbook definition of one of the many church words you often hear but don’t understand. However, the word for today is atonement, and without first defining it, it is hard then to explain how it works in your everyday life. Let me describe it, then teach 2 ways the unconditional gift of atonement works a miracle in your life.

Humbly put, atonement is “covering for your sins.” During Old Testament days, the people sacrificed animals and gave other produce to the temple to receive forgiveness for their sins, but there was no permanent atonement until Jesus arrived on the scene hundreds of years later. During these "Acts 29 days," however, there is only one way your sins are covered – through the blood of Jesus.

How, then, does Jesus’ blood make an atonement for your sins, and how does his gift work a miracle in your life?

Great question!

First Way Atonement Works a Miracle

Jesus died once for all sins. He didn’t just up and “die” one day; he sacrificed his life by hanging on a cross and lost all the fluid in his body. His blood became the atonement, or covering, for your original sin and that of all mankind. He was a spotless lamb who paid the ransom for the specific purpose of forgiveness and justification of your sin.

Look at what 1 Peter 1:19 says:

“[The ransom] was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.”

Without Jesus, there is no other form of atonement for your offenses against God. God will not accept any other way to reconcile (restore) your relationship except through faith.

According to Hebrews 11:6,

“Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

Before Jesus came into existence as a man, God created a way for your redemption (He bought you with a price). Jesus became a man to make the only possible atonement for you.

Hebrews 2:17 puts it like this:

“For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, so 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.”

Although you know the truth, you still try to atone for your sin by repeatedly asking God for forgiveness for the same iniquity, because of the guilt and regret you feel. But you forget God’s mercy is immediate and permanent. Your past injustices are covered – atoned – by the blood of Jesus. There is nothing in or of this world that could ever remove the stain of sin.

That’s part of the miracle!

~ Seeking Forgiveness for Sin Already Covered: Why?

Now, that’s a good question.

Jesus’ blood covers your original and future sins. You received atonement from the original sin you were born with when the Holy Spirit opened your eyes to it, and you trusted in the Good News of Jesus Christ. You believed in your need for Jesus and received his atonement.

However, due to the nature of fallen man (first Adam, then the rest of humanity), you continue to sin. You need the atoning blood of Jesus to cover your new sins now when you go before God to ask for forgiveness. God then sees you through the Jesus Filter – sinless, spotless, and pure.

Receiving atonement for original sin and subsequent forgiveness for present and future sins gives you the right to experience the complete miracle of atonement.

Second Way Atonement Works a Miracle

You heard the truth about Jesus. You believed and received him as your savior at some point in your life - old sins forgiven, new sins forgiven too, as the Holy Spirit opens your eyes and you repent. As amazing, awesome, incredible, terrific, and miraculous as that is, the second way atonement works a miracle is that you also receive the gift of eternal life with Jesus in heaven.

The chasm between you and God is so enormous that it would be impossible to traverse it without the cross. Without the death of Jesus, the reconnection to your Creator and the place He is “preparing for you” becomes impossible. The miraculous atonement of Christ, however, creates a promise nothing else can offer – eternal life in a place with no more pain, no more worries, and no more sin.

That’s the second half of the atonement miracle!

Conclusion

Many debts you owe won't receive a "paid in full" stamp, like your education loans or a new mortgage. It would be great if something covered them – that an atonement was created to pay off the debt. Just like monetary debt, you have spiritual liability, too. Your sins are like that bill – only your iniquities carry into the next life, where you will face judgment, whereas your education loans and mortgage won’t. Thankfully, Jesus paid the debt for your sin and gave you eternal life as a bonus when he covered your stain with his blood and made you white as snow.

Isaiah 1:18 confirms it by saying,

“‘Come now, let’s settle this,’ says the Lord.

‘Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.

Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.’”

Receiving freedom from judgment and eternal life? What an astounding miracle of atonement!

Would you like to learn more about experiencing this miracle? Click here to follow the Roadmap to Jesus. Or, click here now to answer the question Do I Need Christ?