Emmanuel's Atonement 16

We also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the Atonement. *Romans 5:11*  This is the only reference to Atonement in the entire New Testament.  The Atonement must be received by faith in Jesus' atoning blood.  "Atonement" is the Bible word for the Bloody Sacrifice that was made by an innocent Victim to forgive and reconcile the guilty back to God.

If you ask most men you meet, "Are you are an ungodly criminal in the sight of God?" In almost every case, they will reply, "No sir, I am not."  But what is the difference between being a criminal and being a sinner?  Well, a criminal is a person who offends and breaks the laws of man.  A "sinner" is a Bible term for a creature who breaks the Laws of God.  Men think to be a criminal is a horrible and shameful thing, but to just be a "sinner" is a light thing and no big deal.  Next to the "devil", there is no other word which is more dreadful than that word "sinner." A criminal cares nothing about the judge or his laws, and a sinner cares nothing for God or His Laws.  A sinner is one who breaks God's Laws, despises God's mercy, and rejects God's Son.  A sinner is one who loves to commit crimes against the Judge of all the earth.

Faith in the Atoning Sacrifice of the Lamb of God is the only way of Salvation for the immoral and the moral. It is much harder for the moral sinner to be saved, for he insanely trusts to his own righteousness.  Full Atonement has already been made, the utmost Ransom has been paid in full for sins; the free gift of full discharge is now available through the Mercy of God whom we have offended.  The KING OF KINGS free Salvation brings, but only to those who have no strength or merit.  Will you receive Him and believe on Him?  Hear the Gospel Message - God Himself became incarnate and suffers, bleeds, and dies to provide an infinite Atonement for human sin.

Trust to the Great Atonement made by God's dear Son on Calvary's tree. Be of good cheer - there is free forgiveness of sin available to you now.  God in human flesh made Atonement for all our sins by His own life's blood.  God Himself, the righteous Judge, became the innocent Sufferer, standing in the culprit's place.  Jesus bore our sins and offered to the infinite and inflexible justice a full recompense for our crimes and guilt.  Only the Atonement can hide your sins from the sight of God.  Man's religion is to "do good" and work your way to Heaven.

Confess to God that you have sinned, trust to the Blood that makes Atonement for sin.  The awful soul-destroying plague called Sin can only be cured and removed by the Blood of Jesus.  Free pardon and instantaneous forgiveness is offered to you through the Atonement made upon the Cross of Calvary.  Put your confidence in Jesus' bloody death to make Reconciliation for you before God.  God's way of making reconciliation is only through the finished work of Jesus Christ.  Bring to God the true Atonement for your sins, and He will accept it.  Salvation by Christ, or salvation by self, which will you choose?

Seek free salvation by simply trusting in Jesus, and you will see the face of God with acceptance.  Cold water is for the thirsty, and the good news of Mercy and Salvation through Christ's Atonement is for the guilty.  But the Holy Spirit must first make you feel your need and spiritual thirst.  When you have nothing at all to say for yourself, then God will pardon you.  The Holy Spirit must first empty you of self-righteousness and self-trust.  *He hath filled the hungry with good things.*

How can a thrice-holy God have mercy on a guilty sinner, and yet be Just?  The offended One took the nature and the place of the offenders, and here on Earth, Jesus of Nazareth, who was God manifest in the flesh, suffered all that we had brought upon ourselves, that the Law might be honored by executing its full penalty.  Jesus came to give pardon to the guilty, life to the dead, and salvation to the lost.  Jesus is the Giver of grace to the guilty.  The substitutionary work of Christ on behalf of the guilty is the way to New Jerusalem.

God Himself, in the person of the man Christ Jesus, bore the penalty that was due to human sin by suffering, bleeding, and dying, to put our sins away forever.  God had to forsake Jesus on the Cross, because Jesus had our sins on Him.  He was bearing my sins on the tree; my sins were punished in Jesus that day.  The penalty for sin is death, so Jesus had to die.  Jesus was the sinless Victim who bled to death for my sins.  I have actually committed sins against God, and only Jesus can clear me of those sins.  Jesus paid the infinite penalty for the Law you have broken, and is now able to redeem from the power  and bondage of sin.

God laid the blame for your disobedience upon Jesus.  You are really guilty, and you really deserve to be punished for sinning against God.  All wrongs must be rectified.  There is a just God, sins must be punished, divine justice requires it, there is a Hell, you have sinned, therefore you deserve eternal death.  Fear the future punishment coming to you from divine justice.

God must be Just, that is certain, and being Just, He must punish my sins.  But God gave His only begotten Son that He might stand in the sinner's place, and He bore the punishment that was due on account of my guilt.  Your sins deserve eternal punishment, and God laid that punishment upon Jesus, and therefore, He is now ready and able to forgive you freely for Christ's sake, not because of anything good in you, or anything you ever can do, but entirely of God's free Mercy.  Trust your soul with Christ Jesus, rely upon what Christ has done, believe simply in the mercy of God in Christ Jesus.

However guilty you may be, Christ stood in the sinner's place, He bore your sins, and made Atonement for your sins unto God's divine justice.  Now remember - The Lord Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, has made the only Atonement for human sin that can ever be made; simply accept what Jesus has done for you, trust alone to that.