Title: The Cross of Atonement
Contents
Title: The Cross of Atonement
Bible: Matthew 26:26-28
2007. 3. 28. Daytime
The shedding of the precious blood of Jesus on the cross is the atoning blood paid for the sins of many people. In that sense, the cross of Jesus can be said to be the cross of atonement.
1. Man created in the image of God
When God created humans, he created them in the most beautiful image of God.
“God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
God has blessed mankind greatly.
1) He gave the authority to rule all things on behalf of God.
“And God said, “He blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. Conquer the party Have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the earth.”
So, humans have dominion over all things. And it was very good in the sight of God. The saying that it was very good is applied only to Lee Gan.
“It’s great to see you.”
2) Among them, what animals do not have is free will.
Free will is what you can do or not do at your own discretion.
In other words, the human will is the will to set and execute a certain purpose on its own without being constrained or constrained by external factors. The will that human beings have been endowed with since creation by God This is an amazing privilege. It is one of the images of God that animals do not have. This is why humans do not move only in a manipulated state like a robot, and do not live by instinct like animals do.
2. Becoming a disobedient sinner by eating the forbidden fruit.
Adam, the ancestor of mankind, has a precious privilege that God has only given to humans, and by misusing it, he passes on to mankind a tremendous amount of sin. One of the worst uses is free will. In the end, it is the moment when what is blessed becomes an instrument of being cursed. It is the fruit of good and evil that is used for human desires with free will.
God warned Adam that he may or may not eat the fruit, but on the day he eats it he will surely die.
“You shall not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day you eat of it you will surely die. do.”
This is not to restrain people, but to give them happiness.
Two meanings of good and evil
1) The concept that there is poison in it
They were told not to eat it because it contains poison that will kill humans if eaten. It is the poison or apple given by the devil in Snow White.
Even now, there are many poisonous things around us. There are things not to eat, things not to be done, and roads not to go. God has taught them beforehand in order to give us happiness and life. Then it's up to you to do or not. This is free will.
2) The concept of boundaries that should not be crossed
This tree of good and evil is the boundary between man and God that cannot be crossed. Humans always have a line that must not be crossed. It is Satan who induces us to cross this line. He whispers sweet words. They tempt them with all kinds of coaxing theories that if they cross that line, they will become like God. In the end, Adam crosses a line he cannot cross with his free will. This is a sin. --Fruits are displayed in the fruit shop, but there is an invisible line.--
It is a blessing to use free will for God and mankind, but if it crosses the line that should not be crossed for the sake of my fleshly desires, it is death. In the end, I use it according to my desires with free will.
Consequences of eating the forbidden fruit
1) Expulsion from the Garden of Eden - Tragedy of Paradise Lost
“The Lord God brought them up out of the garden of Eden, and saw them to plow the land from which they were born.”
2) We live in our sins we have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
“There is none righteous, not even one.”
3) Death Comes - Inevitable Death -
“The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
3. The wages of sin is death
Therefore, man as a natural man cannot be saved. All of us are under sin, and we have no choice but to live in our sins and die for our sins.
Thinking, speaking, and understanding are all sins. And as a result, the final destination is eternal death.
No one is exempt from having to pay the price for sin. The rich and the poor, the powerful and the lowly should all receive it. Only those who are innocent are exempt. However, since no human being is without sin, no one is exempt from the price of that sin.
This is one of the greatest despairs of mankind. God has solved this problem.
4. The Cross of Atonement
God solved our sin problem in His own way. I could not bear to see the human beings who were made in your image dying in their sins. So God sent His only begotten Son to this earth. This is the incarnation event. And he decided to come and pay the penalty for the sins of mankind. In order to teach this fact, God provides indirect education for 4,000 years. That is the sacrificial law in the Old Testament. A lamb appears in the sacrifice.
1) The Atonement Method of the Old Testament
There is also a way of redemption in the Old Testament. When the Israelites sinned, they did not directly kill the person, but instead killed the person by slaughtering an animal. That method is the Old Testament sacrifice method.
“When he is awakened to the sin he has committed, he shall bring a heifer without blemish and offer it as a gift for the sin he has committed, and he shall lay his hands on the head of the sin offering, and he shall slaughter it in the burnt offering.”
Putting my hands on the beast's head puts my sins on him, and the beast dies instead of me. Then my sins will be atoned for. Many animals are dying because of me.
2) The cross of atonement in the New Testament
The Old Testament is a type of the New Testament. In other words, the sacrificial laws of the Old Testament are the shadow of the New Testament's method of receiving true atonement for sins. Therefore, the beast that dies for me in the Old Testament typifies Jesus who died for me in the New Testament. So the apostle John said to Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
and exclaimed. Jesus also spoke of himself in today's text
“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins,” he said. This in Hebrews
“Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood he entered into the sanctuary once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
conclusion
Dear saints,
The cross of Jesus is the cross of atonement for me. He died in the place where I should have died and made me alive. We must not forget this grace. Every time I look at the cross, I thank Jesus who died in me, and I pray that you will be faithful to the Lord with a heart of recompense for the rest of your life.