Sermon Theme

A Question of Atonement
It is perhaps to many people a BIG word… some may know it has religious or spiritual meaning The word is often repeated in the Old Testament as to the sacrificial system God instituted.. It is a word heavily connected to the work of Jesus on the cross.
That word is ‘ATONEMENT. One definition reads: “Atonement is the concept of a person taking action to correct previous wrongdoing on their part, either through direct action to undo the consequences of that act, equivalent action to do good for others, or some other expression of feelings of remorse1. …. In theology, atonement refers to the reconciliation of God and humankind, especially as accomplished through the life, suffering, and death of Christ”.
Last time when looking at Christ as prophet, we noticed that Islam rejects the notion of the need of atonement before God. All we need do is sincerely say sorrow, and that is sufficient to wipe our slate clean. So in Islam, Christ’s death on the cross has nothing to do with Him taking our place of punishment → our reconciliation with God. They reject the Bible’s teaching that Jesus is deity.
This view of Jesus and atonement is held to by most people all over the world, whether belonging to another religion OR atheist, who see no need for Jesus nor His sacrifice on the cross.
Taking up the second part of LD 12, we look at Christ our only priest. As we do so, we will see the CENTRAL part atonement plays in what He came to do and what He did achieve for us on the cross.

Sermon outline

  • JESUS THE CHRIST WHO IS OUR ONLY HIGH PRIEST
  • CHRIST’S ATONEMENT FOR OUR SINS
  • CHRIST’S CONTINUING WORK OF INTERCESSION FOR US

Readings reproduced on this page:
The Holy Bible: New International Version. 1996, 1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan

Readings

Heidelberg Catechism: Lord’s Day 12, QA 31

31 Q. Why is He called "Christ", meaning "anointed"?
A. Because He has been ordained by God the Father and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit to be
our chief prophet and teacher who perfectly reveals to us the secret counsel and will of God for our deliverance;
our only high priest who has set us free by the one sacrifice of His body, and who continually pleads our cause with the Father; and our eternal king who governs us by His Word and Spirit, and who guards us and keeps us in the freedom He has won for us.

Hebrews 9:11–28 (NIV84)

11When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation.

12He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.

13The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.

14How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

15For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

16In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it,

17because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living.

18This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood.

19When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people.

20He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”

21In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies.

22In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

23It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

24For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.

25Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.

26Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.

27Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,

28so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Text

Hebrews 10:1–18 (NIV84)

1The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.

2If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.

3But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins,

4because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me;

6with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.

7Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.’ ”

8First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made).

9Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second.

10And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

12But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.

13Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool,

14because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

15The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

16“This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”

17Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”

18And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.