Chapter 16
Wonderful Atonement!
|
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to Elohim by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also joy in Elohim through our Adonai Y’shua Christ, by Whom we have now received the atonement (Romans 5:10-11). |
The term "atonement" has been simply explained as "at-one-ment" with Elohim. After sin entered the heart of the first man and woman, mankind became separated from Elohim. The whole purpose of the plan of salvation has been to restore the connection between the Creator and mankind.
That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without Elohim in the world: But now in Christ Y’shua ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:12-13).
Through the death, life, and ministry of Christ, we who were hopelessly lost, may be fully restored into the joy of salvation. It is through Christ that we become holy temples, fit dwelling places for the Holy Spirit.
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of Elohim; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Y’shua Christ Himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in Adonai: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of Elohim through the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).
For years, Christians have looked with great trepidation upon the subject of the Day of Atonement. This day represents judgment and the close of spiritual probation. Thus, it is a terrifying concept to sin-ridden, failing mortals. From the days of Paul, through the late 1800’s and into the first part of the twentieth century; people were commonly taught that it was necessary to overcome sin, through the power of Elohim, in order to stand ready for judgment in the final Day of Atonement.
But as time went on, the old doctrines were changed to alleviate fears of such an awesome day. It was easier to believe that we have no other part to play in our own salvation, than depending on Christ to make up for our insufficiencies. But, feebly continuing in our old sinful habits while claiming Christ’s blood is the false gospel message. (See 2 Timothy 3:1-7 and Romans chapter six.) Such a powerless life denies the transforming strength of Christ, intended to make us new, Law-abiding and obedient creatures. Christ came to save us FROM our sins not IN them!
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Y’SHUA: for He shall save His people FROM their sins (Matthew 1:21).
As was previously presented, like as Peter walked on water through Elohim’s power, we may defy our carnal nature and become over-comers through the provision of heaven.
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through Elohim to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of Elohim, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).
Still, such a close and victorious walk with Elohim is not easy! It is a constant battle with self and our natural love for sin. Only through keeping our will surrendered to Elohim’s are we enabled to be victorious. But we have the ability to yank our heart reigns out of Elohim’s hands at any time. This is why the victorious Christian walk is likened to a hard-won race. Paul wrote:
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which Adonai, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
To the one who is running the course well, the finish line is a highly anticipated goal. In the same way, to the transformed and heaven-empowered Christian, the experience of judgment on the Day of Atonement is the blessing he has most been seeking. In it, he finally finds full "at-one-ment" with Elohim. Additionally, through Atonement, the Christian finds comfort in knowing that he is sealed unto salvation and is no longer spiritually at risk! No wonder Paul considered this a goal worth the fight!
With this foundational perspective, let us examine the Day of Atonement as a rehearsal. In it we will find the blessings which spiritual giants like Paul spent their lifetime pursuing.
Ten days after the Feast of Trumpets began, the Day of Atonement arrived. The last of the Days of Awe, this was the most solemn annual convocation, upon which the sanctuary was completely cleansed of sin. Hence, prior to this momentous event, the people of Elohim were to "afflict their souls" in heartfelt prayer. This was a time for soul-searching, forgiveness, and cleansing. All sin was to have been forsaken so that a full cleansing could happen at Atonement. Thus, during the preceding ten Days of Awe, the sinner prayed that all his sins be made known to him that he might make confession and be fully cleansed before it was too late. David expressed the prayer of the truly repentant sinner:
Search me, O Elohim, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24).
In the Torah, Elohim gave specific instructions for keeping the rehearsal of the Day of Atonement.
And YHWH spake unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation (rehearsal) unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls… And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before YHWH your Elohim. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath. (Leviticus 23:26-32).
Following quickly on the heels of the Feast of Trumpets, Atonement occurs in the modern calendar during the month of October. As we have already discussed, the Day of Atonement was the day that the earthly sanctuary was cleansed. Part of this cleansing process involved two goats. The first goat was known as YHWH’s goat, representing the sacrifice of Christ. The other goat was the scapegoat, representing Satan.
And he shall take the two goats, and present them before YHWH at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for YHWH, and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which YHWH’s lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before YHWH, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness (Leviticus 16:7-10).
The scapegoat was not slain. Rather, the sins of the people were confessed and symbolically placed upon his head. Then this goat, representing the one who had tempted the people to displease Elohim, was taken out into the wilderness and left to die. The scapegoat’s demise pointed to the end of the devil. He too will take a "wilderness" trip at the end of the world. The suffering, which Satan will endure, will be brought upon him; not only for his own sins, but also for the sins he tempted Elohim’s people to commit, as is symbolized in the ancient rehearsal of the Atonement. In the barren wilderness, the goat has nowhere to go. There is nothing for him but utter desolation.
So it will be for Satan, when he will be bound to the devastated earth for one thousand years. There is no one left to tempt. All the righteous have been taken to the heavenly kingdom. (See Revelation 20:4.) And the wicked have been slain by the brightness of Christ’s coming. (See 2 Thessalonians 2:8.) Satan’s sinful obsession with deception will be thwarted. Then, he can "deceive the nations no more."
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season (Revelation 20:1-3).
Not only is this information prophetically significant, the Day of Atonement also bears a deeply personal message. As the earthly sanctuary was cleansed from all sin upon this day, so the Atonement represents the day when the individual will be made forever clean. The atonement message is to us, as Christians! We are the temple that is to experience atonement!
Know ye not that ye are the temple of Elohim, and that the Spirit of Elohim dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of Elohim, him shall Elohim destroy; for the temple of Elohim is holy, which temple ye are (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).
David, like Paul, recognized that the Day of Judgment was the wondrous day when our confessed and forgiven sins would be permanently expunged from our eternal record. This is why, on four recorded occasions, David eagerly pleaded with YHWH to judge him.
We begin to get a true glimpse of this blessing David craved. Through an understanding of our sinful nature and how we originally acquired it, we may find hope in the Day of Atonement.
In the garden, Satan took the form of a serpent and tempted Eve to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He told a partial truth when he claimed that if she ate of this forbidden fruit that, "ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (See Genesis 3:5.) While it was true that the tree would enable Eve to know evil for the first time, she would loose far more than she would gain.
All that Eve learned by eating of that forbidden fruit was the knowledge of sin and its results. "The knowledge of sin through experience is the definition of a sinful nature." (God’s Holidays, p. 36.) With the entrance of sin obedience to Elohim’s Law that had previously been natural, was hence-forth humanly impossible. Man’s holy nature had been lost. Humanity had thereafter been imbued with a fallen and carnal nature.
Paul understood what it meant to be carnal in nature. It was his greatest bane. How he longed to be strong enough to do what was right. Yet his carnal nature was always warring against holiness. In obvious frustration, he expressed it this way:
For we know that the Law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I… For I delight in the Law of Elohim after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members (parts of the body). O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank Elohim through Y’shua Christ our Adonai. So then with the mind I myself serve the Law of Elohim; but with the flesh the law of sin (Romans 7:14-25).
The wonderful news of Atonement is that the law of sin, or the carnal nature and experiential knowledge of sin gained in the fall of mankind, will one day be removed. Then the Law of Elohim will be written in our natures just as it was in the heart of Adam before the first sin. On that great day, we will be given the same pure nature that Christ had and now has. As Paul exhorted, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Y’shua" (Philippians 2:5).
Christ "knew no sin" (see 2 Corinthians 5:21) and thus did not have a sinful nature. His nature, then, was as Adam’s before the fall. As such, Paul calls Christ the "last" or "second" Adam.
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam (Christ) was made a quickening (transforming) spirit… The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second Man is Adonai from heaven. As is the earthy (the nature of the first Adam), such are they also that are earthy (people, untransformed have the same carnal nature as fallen Adam): and as is the heavenly (Christ’s nature), such are they also that are heavenly (Christ’s followers will be transformed to have a heavenly nature like His). And as we have borne the image of the earthy (every person has been a sinner in the image of fallen Adam), we shall also bear the image of the heavenly (every sinner may receive a new nature like Christ’s)…(1 Corinthians 15:45-50).
The Bible teaches that YHWH will make a final pronouncement upon the ultimate Day of Atonement. On that day, there will be no more switching sides. The record of the decision of every man, woman and child to obey or reject Elohim’s Law will be forever sealed and unchangeable. Thus, our heavenly Father proclaims one final pronouncement:
He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be (Revelation 22:11-12).
Following the making of this pronouncement, the ability to change sides will have ceased. No longer will the saved backslide or the lost be converted. Whatever side a person will be on before this final declaration, whether outside the experience of the sanctuary altogether or inside the experience of the holy place, this will be where that person remains forever.
For Elohim’s people, this declaration will be a wonderful release. It is what they have longed for and sought after. This is the declaration of sealing.
As was mentioned in "Faith Takes Flight," (chapter two) once sealed into righteousness or holiness, one’s salvation cannot be lost through any demonic temptation or falsehood. From the moment Atonement takes place, not one more "spiritual worm" can pass through the sanctuary courtyard experience in order to be brought near Elohim. But the good news is that not a single "spiritual butterfly" can ever again loose his connection to holiness and be returned to "wormdom."
Because the redeemed can no longer fall prey to temptation, the devil’s ability to tempt Elohim’s people will be completely broken at the time of their sealing. For what power would temptation hold to those who could never again sin, or fall prey to it? A temptation, by definition, must be tempting. Thus, the words that he who is "righteous" or "holy" will forever be "righteous" or "holy" is greeted with delighted relief by those suffering, victorious remnant upon whom the devil has relentlessly and ineffectively rained his most pointed spiritual weapons.
The Day of Atonement is good news to Elohim’s people! It bears the hope-filled truth that the long conflict over human souls will come to an end. The scapegoat will be cast into the wilderness experience.
The devil knows that his power will be completely broken at the close of probation, when the final sealing takes place. This is why he works to tempt everyone that he can, while he can. It is his motivation to wreak speedy and massive destruction upon every unprotected soul. But for those who hold true to Elohim and stand in obedience to His holy Law, the promise is given that they will overcome Satan’s deceit.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. (Revelation 12:11:12).
Hence, we see that the first powerful work of Atonement is to forever break the demonic grip, which has for centuries held this planet. Without the ability to tempt humanity to fall, Satan’s source of strength is completely ebbed away.
But this will not be the only good news about Atonement. The atoning work is three-fold. While the first work will be to break Satan’s power to bring even the slightest temptation to Elohim’s saved ones, the second act will be giving every saved person a complete nature transplant. At the time of our sealing, YHWH will change our sinful natures, writing His Law on our hearts. This means that it will be our natural inclination to obey the Law of Elohim. Obedience to the Law will come as naturally to those who are sealed as it comes to the angels of heaven!
This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith Adonai, I will put My Laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more (Hebrews 10:16-17).
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Y’shua (Philippians 2:5).
It was this transformation and atoning experience that David craved, when he prayed, "Create in me a clean heart, O Elohim; and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10).
As the first two blessings of Atonement involve Satan’s power over our lives being forever broken and having our natures changed, it becomes clear why David and Paul looked forward to the Judgment on the Day of Atonement!
But there is a third and final blessing to be bestowed upon Elohim’s people in that day. This third blessing of Atonement is a complete purging of the existence of our sin! Our sins are to be completely blotted out. A preacher, from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, very succinctly explained the full scope of what this part of Atonement means. Brother E.J. Waggoner wrote an article on this very subject in the September 30, 1902, issue of the Review and Herald.
We need to be on our guard against the idea that the blotting out of sin is merely as the passing of a sponge over a slate… This is not the blotting out of sin. An ignorant man who saw a thermometer for the first time thought to lessen the heat by breaking it. But how much effect did this have upon the weather? Just as much as the wiping out of the record of his sin has upon the sinner!
The tearing of a leaf out of a book, or even the burning of the book containing the record, does not blot out the sin. The sin is not blotted out by blotting out the account of it, any more than throwing my Bible into the fire abolishes the Word of God…
The blotting out of sin is the erasing of it from the nature, the being, of man. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin… The erasing of sin is the blotting of it from our natures, so that we shall know it no more. ‘The worshippers once purged’ – actually purged by the blood of Christ (represented in YHWH’s goat in the ancient Atonement rehearsal)—(will) have ‘no more conscience of sin,’ because the way of sin is gone from them.
Their iniquity may be sought for, but it will not be found. It is forever gone from them, -- it is foreign to their new natures, and even though they… recall the fact that they have committed certain sins, they have forgotten the sin itself…
This is why the experience of Atonement is sometimes called "at-one-ment." Our old natures are replaced with holy ones. Our sin record is not only blotted out, but it is completely purged. And, while we are aware that we have sinned, after our final Atonement, we will not remember any sins we have committed! Just as Paul wrote in Hebrews 10:2, "The sinners, once purged should have had no more conscience of sins."
The word "conscience," in Hebrews chapter ten and verse two, is translated from the Greek word suneidesis, meaning "perception." (Strong’s Concordance #4893) It comes from the root word suneido, meaning "to understand, become aware, to be informed of, to be conscious of, to know…" (Strong’s Concordance #4894)
Only through Christ’s precious blood can the miracle of Atonement be ours. But, the rehearsal with the animals, while it did not accomplish the ultimate work of the final Atonement, did offer the participants a promise. One day the final Atonement would come, and when it did, we would know what to expect from having studied the rehearsals of it!
…Having a shadow of good things to come (a rehearsal for the final event), and not the very image of the things (not the actual final event itself), can never with those sacrifices, which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. (We are not ultimately and completely Atoned through following the rehearsal.) For then would they not have ceased to be offered? (If the rehearsal of offering animal blood could atone us, humans would have been able to stop offering animals after the first year.) because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. (When the real Atonement takes place all knowledge of our past sins will be gone.) But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. (After the Atonement rehearsal of sacrificing animals was ended, people still remembered their sins). For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. (The purpose of atonement is to completely take away sins making them as if they never happened!) Wherefore when He (Christ) cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me. (Because animal blood could not Atone or take away our sins completely, Christ came to die for us Himself.) (Hebrews 10:1-5).
As has been mentioned, Atonement took place once a year in the ancient rehearsal. Thus, we learn that the ultimate Atonement will take place in our lives only once. Our evidence that it has happened will be our lack of ability to recall any specific sins we have committed in the past.
However, a mere wipe of our memories is not the whole scope of this cleansing. Just as E.J. Waggoner mentioned, atonement is not merely wiping the words off a chalk or slate board. The sins are truly gone, as if they have never happened. To show the permanence of their removal, the Bible teaches that even Elohim Himself will forget His atoned people’s past sins!
…I (YHWH) will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:34)
David expresses the whole message of atonement beautifully in the fifty-first Psalm.
…Have mercy upon me, O Elohim, according to Thy loving kindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O Elohim; and renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:1-2, 7, 9-10).
Clearly, the process of being atoned is a beautiful one, indeed. It is the finish line to which every Christian life has focused, the goal toward which their every ounce of energy and measure of faith has stretched. But to the "filthy" and "unjust" (see Revelation 22:11), the Day of Atonement is the worst day of their lives, a day of doom. They are now without hope and beyond the reach of salvation.
This brings us to a very vital question. How can we be certain that we are preparing, as Elohim intended when He gave His people a rehearsal of Atonement. How can we be assured that we will be on the saved side of things when YHWH’s final declaration is pronounced and the sealing of the saved is finished?
The key to receiving the blessing of Atonement is found in the way we handle sin now. The Christian’s true conversion is evidenced by an insatiable hunger for truth, coupled with a desire to grow ever closer to Elohim. In this process of learning, the Holy Spirit will reveal aspects of the Christian’s life that are not in harmony with the newly revealed will and ways of heaven. How will the Christian respond?
Each glint of light and ray of new information brings another crossroads of decision. Will the Christian submit to the will of Elohim at every advancement of light? Will he leave the old sin behind? Or, will the sin be cherished rather than surrendered in light of the Biblical truth he has seen? Choosing the path of sin is spiritual suicide. Paul warned in Hebrews the tenth chapter that willful sin makes us ineligible to further claim Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf!
For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins (Hebrews 10:26).
As we find through the Day of Atonement rehearsal, we are now to be prayerfully getting our lives right with Elohim. Each aspect of our characters will be placed under heaven’s microscope. We will plead now for the Holy Spirit to reveal all aspects of our lives that are not totally submitted to Elohim. Then, through heaven’s provision and supervision we are to receive a new heart to "cease" from sin. As the prophet Isaiah put it so clearly:
Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith YHWH: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Isaiah 1:16-18).
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto YHWH, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:7).
Chapter 16 Summary