The Meaning of the Atonement Death

 

The Meaning of the Atonement Death

 

John 11:50 "Neither do you understand that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish."

When one person dies for the people, it means atonement. In other words, it is redemption. Redemption means buying a slave with money. People are slaves of Satan, but God buys them with the blood of Jesus.

Leviticus 23:26-29 "Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'On the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. You shall have a holy convocation and afflict yourselves and present an offering made by fire to the LORD. You shall not do any work on that very day, because it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. Whoever does not afflict hisselves on that very day shall be cut off from his people.'"

The Day of Atonement means to "afflict yourself." The ten days from the Feast of Trumpets are to remember suffering and tribulation. After the ten days, the Feast of Atonement begins, and five days after the Feast of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles begins. The Feast of Trumpets means that the harvest is over. It means that the harvest is completely over for four months from Pentecost, and the trumpets are blown. Jesus died on the cross as a lamb on Passover, was resurrected on the Feast of Firstfruits, and the Holy Spirit descended on Pentecost. We can see that God's work in Israel was accomplished through the feasts. However, now that Jesus Christ has died to the law, keeping the feasts has become meaningless.

There are five sacrifices in Leviticus. Leviticus 4:20 says, "You shall do with the bull as you did with the bull for the sin offering; with it the priest shall make atonement for the congregation, and it will be forgiven." After explaining the five sacrifices, it is said at the end, "When atonement is made, it will be forgiven." The word "atonement" in atonement is "redeem," and in Ephesians 1:7, the Apostle Paul says, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."

In the phrase, “redemption, the forgiveness of sins,” the word “immediately” does not mean that redemption and forgiveness of sins are synonymous, but rather the concept of “continuing.” It means that there must be redemption in order to receive forgiveness of sins. Here, redemption is a quotation of “redemption” in Leviticus 4:20. Redemption is also used as a substitute or a redemption. It means that it is delivered after purchase. It is not that sins are washed away first, but that sinners are purchased and set free first. This concept is Yom Kippur.

In Genesis 6:4, "Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in it and cover it inside and out with pitch." The noun form of Yom Kippur is pitch. The word "cover" is kaphar. In the Old Testament, there was a bronze altar in the courtyard of the sanctuary. When laying hands on the lamb, all sins were transferred to it. This is also the word redeem. So the dead lamb and the sinner become one. This is the atonement that happens to those who repent. After that, they washed their hands and feet in the basin of water. After washing, they could enter the sanctuary.

There is a cover inside the sanctuary, and this cover is this word. The Most Holy Place is entered once a year (the 10th day of the 7th lunar month), and inside the Most Holy Place is the Ark of the Covenant, and above it is a cover (in Hebrew, kopher: meaning covered with grace) that is also called the Mercy Seat or the Mercy Seat.

The day when all sinners' sins were covered was Yom Kippur. That's why the high priest sprinkled blood on the mercy seat once a year, and the blood covered it. In the New Testament, for this to happen, the Lord had to buy sinners with blood. Jesus died on the cross (the veil was torn) and was resurrected, and went to God on the throne as the high priest, so God buys sinners from Satan with blood when they repent and turn back.

The word "covered" means covered (kapar). Covered from God's judgment. Therefore, there is no forgiveness of sin without redemption. God lives as a sinner who repents and turns back, and God's Son dies in his stead to buy sinners. It is an amazing grace. He pays the price of His Son's death only to those who repent. God's love is given to those who repent. Therefore, they become God's.

The word redemption is disappearing from the church today. Job 19:25 says, “I know that my redeemer lives, and he will stand at the end upon the earth.” Today, we can be tempted by Satan like Job. God allowed Satan to strike Job. So, God redeems those who repent in the dust and ashes. God buys them.

The word for "redemption" here is the word "gaal." In the Book of Ruth, in order for Ruth to marry, someone had to be able to buy the land of her dead husband. Buying is taking responsibility. This is love, and the word redeemer. The word redeemer has three names in Hebrew: "kopher," "pada," and "gaal." It means to buy a captive or slave with a price and set them free.

When the Hebrew people were under the oppression of Pharaoh, God liberated them in Exodus 6:6, "Therefore say to the children of Israel, 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments,'" and in Deuteronomy 7:8, "But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath that he swore to your fathers, he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt." Redemption is used as liberation here. Here is the death of a lamb.

The way to be free from the bondage of sin is to be buried in union with Jesus Christ. Romans 6:6-7 says, "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin." Redemption is applied only when a sinner dies to sin. Death is the death of the physical body, and although Jesus Christ has made the atonement, the death of Jesus is the death of a sinner. We must remember Jesus hanging high on the cross and find ourselves in that corpse.

Romans 6:8-11, "Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead can never die again; death has no more dominion over him. For the death that he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life that he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus." Being alive means receiving resurrection life. It does not mean the concept of a person dying physically and living again, but receiving spiritual life in heaven.