Devotional: Atonement
Silhouette image of a businessman with broken chains in sunset
DAILY MANNA
WEDNESDAY 9TH DECEMBER, 2020
THE ATONEMENT
📜📜TEXT: LEVITICUS 23:23-32📜📜
🔑📖 KEY VERSE: “And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God” (LEVITICUS 23:28).
At 13, Dominic MacAulay wrote a poem titled ‘Sin and Redemption’. The poem read: “When the universe began, in His image, God made a woman and a man. Dominion was given them, over all the land. But one snake named Satan came to get those people to sin in shame. Thus the world fell; thousands of years later, One was sent: the longed-for Saviour. The Messiah’s name was Jesus… He died on a terrible cross, thus my redemption paid…”
This poem captures the whole essence of the sacrifice of Christ our Saviour. In theology, atonement represents the reconciliation of mankind to God accomplished through the life, suffering and crucifixion of Christ our Lord. By implication, outside Christ, no other atonement can guarantee our redemption.
In Israel, as shown in our text, a day was set apart when the high priest would enter into the holy of holies to make sacrifice for the sin of the people and the nation. This is referred to as the Day of Atonement. The Israelites observed it yearly. The Day of Atonement was a shadow of the better testament.
Jesus Christ is the sacrificial Lamb crucified for the sin of humanity. He offered Himself as the perfect Lamb for atonement. His sacrifice was final, and we no longer require any other sacrifice again. By His own blood, Jesus Christ entered once into the holy place to obtain eternal redemption for you and me.
From time to time, the redeemed of the Lord need to soberly reflect on this and appreciate Christ’s inexplicable love. He voluntarily went through emotional trauma of abandonment by the Father, excruciating pain of torture, and the most humiliating, debasing and shameful death on the cross for our redemption. If sin is still having dominion over you, do not delay any longer. Rather, humbly surrender your life, and appropriate the benefits of the final atonement into your life.
✍🏽 THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Without Jesus, life is as the twilight with the dark night ahead.
📜📜THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: OBADIAH 1📜📜
