These opening statements are for insight value, not for shaming or indicting purposes. The typical American Christian below retirement age likely will not relate to basic concepts understood in the Old and New Testament worlds. In fact, many adults in the early 21st century will not relate to concepts commonly understood by their grandparents or great-grandparents in the first half of the 20th century.
Many people in our world of today more easily relate to "blood" and perhaps "blood atonement" than do the majority of Americans. Many people know death and life are connected because daily food requires death to sustain life. The relationship between blood and life are emphasized almost on a daily basis.
Often American social concepts work against an awareness that a need for atonement exists. Many Americans feel no personal need for atonement. Evil is a problem for others, not for "me."
Most Americans are isolated from the "shedding of blood." Our grandparents or great grandparents were not. Blood had to be shed for life to be sustained--killing a chicken or slaughtering a hog or cow. Today deboned chicken meat, or pork, or beef come in styrofoam trays wrapped in plastic, or in a cardboard fast food container, or on a restaurant plate. To most Americans, no essential link exists between the "shedding of blood" and the sustaining of life.
Nor is there a consciousness of dying for the benefit of others. Much of today's American population is far removed from the death of war. The oldest segment of American population knows the meaning of giving the life of a loved child in war for the benefit of the nation. Death was necessary to produce life. Their grief in their loss was real, but the necessity of their loss was unquestioned.
Mentally, emotionally, and experientially, the majority of today's Americans have few or no experiences to link their thinking to the concept of blood atonement.
Most Americans do not relate to the words "blood atonement." Too few American Christians relate to that concept. The primary concept of "sacrifice" in the New Testament world and the primary concept of "sacrifice" in today's American society are distinctly different. The primary first century concept focused on worship, and involved blood and death. In today's American society, the primary concept focuses on being deprived of something needed or desired. In the first century, "sacrifice" first produced religious images. Today, in our society, "sacrifice" does not first produce religious images.
"Sacrifice" was primarily a religious word and concept in the ancient world. It is not in American society today. Only when Americans are in a religious environment does the word "sacrifice" become a religious concept.
The religious act of sacrifice occurred frequently in the first century. It occurred on important personal occasions, important public occasions, and important political occasions. People frequently saw [made] religious sacrifices. Sacrificial rites were common, important elements in Jewish worship and in idolatry's worship.
Religious rites involving animal sacrifices was a common reality, a common occurrence in the ancient world. Nothing important occurred without an animal sacrifice. In Israel, there was a conscious, direct connection between the act of animal sacrifice and the removal of evil.
Many sacrifices involved blood atonement. Evil (wrongdoing) occurred in the worshipper's life. That evil offended God. In the blood of atonement, the worshipper acknowledged [took responsibility for] his evil, or the nation's evil. By offering atoning blood, the worshipper [with the proper motivations] expressed regret for the evil and turned from it instead of justifying it.
In Israel, the confession of evil [acknowledgment of responsibility for evil] involved offering a sacrifice (consider Leviticus 4:1-12). Through shedding animal blood and burning its carcass, evil was separated from the person who offered the sacrifice. Atonement occurred.
To many people of today, that is a barbaric concept. To the Christian of today, that is an essential concept. One of today's reasons for transforming Christianity into a meaningless procedure, one of today's reasons for Christians feeling insecure in their salvation is found in this fact: we have too little understanding of what God did for us in Jesus' death.
The process of offering sacrificial animals must include the sacrificer's understanding and desire. Animal sacrifice could not be reduced to a mere procedure. If the sacrificers were merely "going through the motions," their sacrifice offended God (see Isaiah 1:10-17; Jeremiah 6:20; Amos 5:21,22; Malachi 1:10). Because many Christians have little or no knowledge of God's accomplishments in Jesus' death, they also have little confidence in their salvation.
As in the previous lesson, one lesson can only introduce the concept of atonement. An in-depth study of atonement includes studying sacrifice, blood, and Jesus as God's lamb. It also includes studying relationships between atonement, redemption, propitiation, and reconciliation.
This lesson is not intended to be a comprehensive study of atonement.
Our Creator God is the source of life. His physical creation is founded on life. The highest form of life God created was human life. Evil, through deception, separated life from its Creator. Evil's deception produced much more than separation. It produced alienation. God could no longer associate with human life as He intended at creation.
A biblical understanding of atonement should begin with this awareness: (1) Our lives exist because God gave life. (2) Evil captured human life through deception and perverted human existence. (3) Evil's existence in enslaved humanity alienated people from relationship with God [as God originally intended]. (4) Because humans were slaves under the control of evil, the end of evil's domination could not be produced through the efforts of its slaves.
Life no longer existed in its created form. Evil's contamination made human life repulsive to God. Only death could release contaminated life from evil and produce reconciliation with God.
Only a death could release evil's slaves from evil's domination, and it could not be the death of someone enslaved to evil. The death of one enslaved to evil only paid the consequences for his or her evil. Only an innocent death could end evil's domination.
This is a basic principle of forgiveness: there can be no forgiveness without the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22; also see Leviticus 17:11).
Forgiveness [the removal of evil from life and destruction of the removed evil] required a death.
Hebrews 9 and 10 contrasts the Jewish system of animal sacrifices with Jesus' sacrifice. Hebrews 9:1-10 speaks of the Mosaical sacrificial system. It refers to Israel's daily sacrificial system (Hebrews 9:6) and to Israel's day of atonement (Hebrews 9:7; Leviticus 16). There was an insurmountable weakness in animal sacrifices: animal sacrifices could not free the worshiper's conscience from an awareness of guilt.
Animal sacrifices for evil [such as Israel's day of atonement in Leviticus 16] continually reminded the sacrificers that the existence of evil was not a solved problem. Those sacrifices [of necessity] were offered on a repetitive basis because the problem was not solved. Jesus' sacrifice solved the problem. It was the "once for all" perfect solution for the problem of evil (Hebrews 9:12; 10:10,14). Therein lies a primary difference between an animal sacrifice and Jesus' death on the cross. The animal sacrifice addressed the immediate need but provided no permanent solution. Jesus' death provided a permanent solution. Whereas the animal sacrifice became a reminder of failure and guilt, Jesus' death should be a reminder of permanent solution. That is why animal sacrifices could not cleanse the conscience and Jesus' sacrifice can. An animal sacrifice for evil said, "This situation is addressed, but the solution is not permanent." Communion [the Lord's Supper] says, "The problem is permanently resolved." Jesus' cross frees the Christian's conscience. He or she is not free because he or she is perfectly free from evil mistakes. He or she is free because God's forgiveness in Jesus' blood is perfect and continuing.
God perfectly addressed the weakness in Israel's animal sacrificial system in Jesus' death. The resurrected Jesus took his blood into God's Own sanctuary one time for everyone. At that time he obtained eternal redemption for those who trust his sacrifice (Hebrews 9:12). Jesus' blood produced a decisively different result. It perfectly addressed the weakness of Israel's animal sacrifices. His blood can cleanse a believer's conscience thereby freeing the believer to serve the living God (Hebrews 9:14).
Jesus took his innocent blood into God's heavenly sanctuary to atone for our guilt. Our human perfection [which cannot exist] does not atone for us. Jesus' blood atones for us. Our confidence [faith] is not in our human efforts, but in God's accomplishments in Jesus' death.
Hebrews 10:1-14 gives tribute to God's unique accomplishments in Jesus' blood. (1) Israel's sacrificial system was merely a "shadow" of the reality to come (verse 1). (2) Animal sacrifices reminded those worshippers of their evil failures. Israel's day of atonement was a continual reminder of their guilt. Instead of cleansing consciences, those sacrifices reminded Israelites of their guilt (verse 2). (3) Animal blood could not resolve their conscience problem (verse 4). (4) What animal blood could not do, Jesus' blood did. The sacrifice of his body sanctifies anyone who places his or her confidence in Jesus' sacrifice. One offering produced sanctification [the liberation of the conscience] "once for all" (verse 10). (5) By a one time offering of himself, Jesus "perfected for all time those who are sanctified" (verse 14).
In this list, note the power of God's forgiveness in Hebrews 10:14. God sanctifies [makes holy] those who place their trust in Jesus' death. That sanctification makes the person flawless before the Holy God for all time. He or she is flawless because God sanctified him or her in Jesus' death. He or she is not flawless before the Holy God because he or she is perfect.
Two factors work against the American Christian placing his or her confidence in God's accomplishments in Jesus' death. The first is religious. The fear that people will abuse God's grace by deliberately doing evil is such a powerful religious factor that we often oppose or deny what God did in Jesus' death. Paul said an awareness of God's recreation of us in Christ should produce a devotion to God's ways, not evil's ways (see Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 4:17-24; Colossians 3:5-11). If a Christian deliberately renounces Christ to return to an evil life, Peter said they offend God in ways that exceed their prechristian existence (2 Peter 2:20-22). The writer of the letter called Hebrews said a Christian's intended separation of himself or herself from Jesus Christ destroys his or her sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:26). He or she becomes one of Jesus' crucifiers rather than a beneficiary of Jesus' death (Hebrews 6:1-8).
The second is cultural. Americans can think of nothing worse then losing independence. They are comfortable with the concept, "You owe me." They are extremely uncomfortable with the concept, "I am totally dependent." The person who is forgiven, freed, and sanctified by Jesus' death is totally dependent on God's kindness. American Christians struggle with that truth.
Paul affirmed the power and sufficiency of Jesus' blood in Ephesians 1:7,8 [Jesus' blood assures our redemption, our forgiveness of sins, by lavishing God's grace upon us] and Colossians 1:20 [through Jesus' blood, God does two things: (a) He reconciles all things to Himself and (b) He makes peace with the reconciled.]
There can be no forgiveness without Jesus' blood. There can be no restoration of relationship with God without Jesus' blood. Peace can exist because God permanently resolved the problem of evil.
For life contaminated by evil to be reconciled to God, there must be a death. Liberation from evil occurs only if a death occurs. The death that made reconciliation to God and liberation from evil possible was Jesus' death.
For us (a) to have opportunity to live in relationship with God and (b) to have our evil be a permanently resolved problem, Jesus had to sacrifice his life (see Hebrews 2:14-18). For his sacrifice to accomplish God's intent, he had to be innocent of all evil (see Hebrews 4:14-16).
This should provide some in-depth insight into immersion (Romans 6:3-7). Paul wrote a letter to Christians in Rome. Their immersion into Christ was immersion into Christ's death. Christians live daily life differently because they have "newness of life." Life contaminated by evil was destroyed. That destroyed life was buried. Union with Christ's death liberates a believer to live the new life (now!). The power comes from Jesus' resurrrection. The objective of immersion into Christ is to end slavery to sin by producing death to sin and acquiring freedom [or acquittal].
Christians need clearly to understand that immersion into Christ is a participation in Jesus' death. Death was declared by burial. Life was announced by resurrection. We participate in Jesus' death in order to be freed to live a new life.
The atonement of Jesus' blood makes this possible. Confidence in "my" salvation never rests in what we did or do, but in what God did in Jesus' death and continues to do in our lives.
A biblical understanding of atonement increases a Christians confidence in his or her salvation.
Discussion questions:
(a) The majority of Americans are removed from experiences wherein the shedding of blood [death] is necessary to sustain life. (b) American attitudes toward self often exclude any need for atonement.
"My problem with evil [the consequences of my evil failures] is resolved through someone else's death. I am separated from my slavery to evil through someone else's blood offering. The "someone" is Jesus.
(a) Forgiveness; (b) redemption (c) lavish access to God's grace (all in Ephesians 1:7,8); (d) sanctification by God that perfects one for all time (Hebrews 10:14).
In Jesus Christ's death, God permanently resolved the problems evil caused in our relationship with God. Confidence in one's salvation grows as faith in God's accomplishments in Jesus' death grow.
Link to Student Guide
Lesson 6