Day of Atonement

Well, thank you, Janie. That's not easy to get up here and sing on the Day of Atonement. We appreciate that. When you look around in the world today, you see that 75 to 80 percent in the news centers around disagreements between different parties, different individuals. You see where there's news of strife, warfare going on all the time. Look at the conflicts that have gone on between nations over the last part of the 20th century and into the 21st century.

I won't read all of these, but I just copied a list off. You might be able to see them in my notes here. Some of the current conflicts that have taken place, when they took place, who they were with or what they were about. You had Algeria, Angola, Burma, China. Some of these are on here like China a couple of times. Many of these are classified as insurgency, somebody trying to overthrow the government. And so, therefore, you have rebels and they're at war. You have the Congo.

You have Georgia, where there was civil war. India, Assam and Kashmir, some of the warfare and the fighting that were going on there. Indonesia, Israel, Lebanon, just throw the Mideast up, you know, anywhere in the Mideast. There seems to have been some type of conflict and war that has taken place.

The Ivory Coast, Korea, Laos, the Moldova, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine. It goes on and on. Peru, Philippines, Russia, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda. The United States is listed because we've been involved with Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, a few other places. And Yemen, Vietnam, if you want to go back, you're that far. So what you have, it just seems that if you pick up paper, you'll find people who are always at one another, where there is animosity going on. The United Nations defines major wars as military conflicts, inflicting 1,000 battlefield deaths per year.

They would classify that as war. In 1965, there were 10 major wars underway. The new millennium again with much of the world consumed in armed conflict or cultivating an uncertain peace. As of the mid-2005, there were eight major wars underway, down from 15 in 2003. With as many as two dozen lesser conflicts ongoing with various degrees of intensity. Most of these are called civil or intrastate wars, fueled as much by racial, ethical, or religious animosities as ideological fervor. Most victims today are civilians.

It says a feature that distinguishes modern conflicts. During World War I, civilians made up fewer than 1% of the casualties. Today, they make up 75% of the casualties. So it's the civilians who are getting caught in the middle of the warfare. Africa, to a greater extent than any other continent, is afflicted by war. Africa has been marred by more than 20 major civil wars since 1960. Rwanda, Somalia, Angola, Sudan, Liberia, Burundi are among those countries that have recently suffered serious armed conflict.

We could mention places like Rhodesia, South Africa. There have been armed conflicts there. It says war has caused untold economic and social damage to the countries of Africa. Food production is impossible in areas where there is conflict, and famine often results. Widespread conflict has condemned many of the children in Africa to live lives of misery, and in certain cases has threatened the extinction of traditional African cultures.

And then it talks about how it's almost impossible to get food into some of these areas. And when you do, billions of it is wasted, and that there have been billions of dollars wasted in many of these countries. The system in the world today seems to be based on being an adversary. That if you are an adversary, look at politics. In politics, one party puts the other party down. Today, we have the Internet, and now you've got blogs, and you've got everybody writing about politicians, calling them names, digging up their past, and anything that you can do to besmirk a politician so that your party might be able to win.

Look at the President versus Congress. We've been virtually a stalemate for the last couple of years. Hardly anything getting done in past because of personal agendas. Look at government, many times versus mayors, governors against state legislations. Look at the United Nations, which is anything but a United Nations. Should be called the Disunited, or Dis-nited Nations, or whatever you want to call them. Look at nation versus nation. They go to war.

Labor versus management. Race versus race. It's not only the white and the black, as we see in this country, but in Africa you have all of the various tribes there. What about religions? What about lawsuits? What about critics and movements and all of these things? In marriage today, you find you have the feminist movement. You have divorce. When you find that there's as many divorces as marriages taking place every year, somebody's in conflict somewhere, and what you find so many marriages are ending up broken in this way. Husbands versus wives. Children versus parents.

We could go on and on talking about the problems. Where do these type of problems come from? Why do we see so much of them? Why do we see them growing in intensity, growing in scope today? And how will you and I overcome them? How's God going to overcome them? And what do we need to do to be able to overcome them? Well, let's go back to the book of Galatians chapter 5, and let's start off with what part of the problem truly is. Galatians 5, verse 19. We find here in Galatians 5, beginning in verse 19, the works of the flesh and then the fruit of God's Spirit. And when you contrast the two of these, you see that there is a dynamic difference between those who have God's Spirit or are supposed to have God's Spirit and how we're supposed to live and how the world lives. Let me just read verses 19 through 21 for you. I'll read them, first of all, out of the King James Version, and then we'll come back to the New King James. Galatians 5, 19. Now, the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness.

Verse 4, talk about sexual sins. So they're the works of the flesh, sexually. And then idolatry and witchcraft. These have to do with worshiping false gods. And then we have hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envies, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like, of the which I tell you before, as I've also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

So those who are practicing these things, living this way, are not going to be in God's kingdom.

But let's go on in verse 22. I'll read out in the New King James Version. But it says, the fruit of the Spirit is, wherever God's Spirit is, there will be love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such there is no law.

And those who are Christ, those who are Christians, who have God's Spirit, have crucified the flesh with its passions and its desires. If we live in the Spirit, in other words, if God's Spirit is living in us, and we live in that Spirit, let us also walk. That means that's our daily conduct. That's how we live in the Spirit. And so you and I are to be that way. Let's take a look at the fruit of the flesh. And I want you to notice something that's peculiar about these.

Over half of them have to do with contentions and discord in one way or another.

Now, I could say adultery could be included in this list because when people go out and commit adultery, there's something going wrong in the family, or there's something wrong with an individual, and that person does not respect his mate, does not have the respect and the honor and the appreciation, and there is a betrayal that takes place. And I would say that that could fall under what I'm talking about. But let's begin here in verse 20 with hatred. Hatred is a spirit of contention, dislike and hostility, and hating and opposing other people.

Now, do we see any of that in society today where people oppose one another? They're hostile, they dislike each other, there are contentions that are going on all the time.

Well, I think we see hatred around us all the time. And then it mentions contentions, or variants as it is in the King James Version. Word contentions means discord, disputes, quarrels, strifes, wranglings. And so we find people who have discords all the time.

What about the fact that in about a quarter of marriages, there is abuse that takes place?

And that can go both ways. Generally, it's the man abusing the wife, but sometimes it's the wife abusing the man. What about the abuse of children that takes place?

What about sexual abuse, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse? I mean, the abuse exists on all levels. So you see very much contentions and variances in society today.

Then the next one is jealousy or emulation. Actually, this is the root word, is the word in the Greek for zeal. And it's used in the Bible talking about how you and I are to be zealous for God. Actually, it's a word that is used for zealous or jealous. It can be used either way and it's used that way. But in this context, it talks about rivalry, the fierceness of indignation, punitive zeal, and envious and contentious rivalry, jealousy. Notice a punitive zeal. What do we see today where there are terrorists who are out to promulgate their ideology or their religion or their way of life? And they don't care who gets in their way. Children, anybody, women, it doesn't matter who it is, they'll still go ahead and kill them.

So you have jealousy, you have emulation. And many times there's jealousy in between people and what one has, being jealous of what the other person has. What about wrath? The word wrath here means rage, fury, passion, anger, heat, anger forthwith boiling up and soon subsiding again.

In other words, somebody who's very quick tempered and you say something and boom, they just get red hot, that type of thing. Selfish ambition and strife.

This is conflict or turmoil, disharmony, contentions. It's the word I've mentioned to you before for politics. Engineering or intrigue for office, a desire to put oneself forward, a partisan and fractious spirit that does not disdain low arts, partisanship, being fractious, divided. And we see that constantly in society. And you see people having selfish ambition.

They don't care who they step on. If they want to go up and they've got to step on somebody, take his job, they'll do it. Pull the rug out from under you, doesn't matter, as long as they can advance. The next word is dissension or sedition. It's talking about treason, excitement of discord against government and division. You'll see a lot of these definitions, a lot of them tend to overlap one another, but it gives you an idea of what our society is like. Now the word heresy is from where we get heretics talking about sex, opinions contrary to authorized doctrine, a body of men following their own tenets, a sect or a party like the Pharisees, Sadducees. Actually, Christianity was also called a sect or a heresy at one time. Dissensions arising from diversity of opinions and aims, where different ones have different aims, different purposes, and they use that. Then we come to envy. Envy, jealousy, covetousness. Where you're ambious to somebody else, you're resentful of them, spiteful, regrudge them, resentful or unhappy feelings of wanting somebody else's success, good fortune, qualities, possessions, and so you become envious of them, envious of their talents, envious of their skills, envious of their wealth, position, whatever it might be. Murder is where you hate somebody so much that you're willing to take his life from him. So half of these have to do with disagreements and discord.

The history of the Bible, if we wanted to just go back and we won't cover the whole Bible, we'll hit a couple of places, but if we wanted to cover the whole Bible, the history of the Bible is nation and people who are at variance with one another and basically at variance with God, in discord with God, lacking harmony with God.

Let's go back to the book of Genesis. Genesis 2, verses 16 and 17.

Now the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden you may freely eat.

I want you to notice a couple things. Number one, who's in charge here? Well, God is. He's giving the orders. He's telling man what's good for him. That's the second thing you see. He says, look, you can eat every tree in this garden, but, but's the big word. It may seem small, but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. What was God doing? God was establishing the norm. He was telling man right from wrong. He was setting the standard to go by. Any departure from that standard, that norm, would separate the person from God. So let's notice in chapter 3, man does take the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and consequently, we read in verse 23, therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden. So remember again, there was a region called Eden. Within Eden was a garden planted called the garden of Eden, or the garden that was within Eden. So he sends him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So he drove out the man, and he placed caribam at the east of the garden of Eden and a flaming sword to turn every way to guard the way to the tree of life. So man is driven out of the garden. He's driven out from having that close relationship with God. He's cut off from the tree of life. So what we find is man is separated from God over established procedures, over what God said to do. Now the world, ever since that time, has had difficulty seeing God's standards.

In fact, they don't see God's standards. They laugh at them. Society today thinks that God's way is unintelligible, that it's stupid, that it's crazy. Actually, many of you at one time or another have been labeled crazy, weird, odd, any type of adjective that you might think of, because you wanted to obey God, which is adhering to the norm, adhering to the standard, and because they weren't, and you were, and so few do, consequently, it looks as if you're odd or weird, instead of the ones who are sound-minded. Sometimes even we in the church have difficulty adhering to the standards and the calling in the way that God wants us to live. Now the word Satan means adversary.

Satan was the first adversary, and we know that originally he was created as an archangel, he was a carob, and he rebelled against God. And Satan is behind this world's system.

Who was it who got to man, got to Adam and Eve, and talked to them, and you know, deceived Eve, and Eve went ahead and partook of the tree of the knowledge, good and evil, gave to her husband, and they sinned. And ever since that time, he has been influencing this world and society.

Is it any wonder that we see an adversarial type of system going on in the world where there's wars and violence and discord and people lack harmony and are after or against one another? Because Satan the devil is an adversary, and it is his makeup, and he became the adversary of God, and he has portrayed that same attitude to this world. Now, James chapter 3, let's go back to the book of James. James chapter 3 describes this world that is inspired by the devil.

James 3, beginning in verse 14.

James wrote, if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above. This doesn't come down from God, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. So who's behind it? The spirit world, Satan and his demons.

For where envy and self-seeking, confusion and every evil thing are.

The world today is called by what term? What one word can you think of that describes this world that God uses? He calls it Babylon. What does Babylon mean? Babylon means confusion.

This world is confusion when you look at it. At every level, in all of its institutions, in all of its higher learning, you find there is confusion.

Confusion or disorder is a result of disobedience and rejecting God's standard.

So if you reject God's standard, you're going to have confusion. If there's disorder, if there's competition, if there's hurt feelings, if there's striving for a position, this is not of God, because this is not how God operates. In 1 Corinthians 14.33, you might remember very clearly that Paul states here, 1 Corinthians 14.33, God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

So if God is not the author of confusion, and yet God calls this world and society around us, Babylon, our confusion, doesn't take a swift mind to figure out who's behind it. Satan the devil is.

Notice good news translation, because God does not want us to be in disorder, but in harmony and peace. See, this is what God desires, as in all the churches of God's people.

Now, verse 26 also says, here's what God desires for us.

This is verse 26. Now, is it then, brethren, or whenever you come together, each of you have a psalm, have a teaching, have a tongue, have a revelation, have an interpretation, let all things be done for edification. All things within the church are to be done to build up.

Now, if society were functioning on the principle that everything it did was to build up, if politicians worked from the perspective that they were trying to, in their legislation, everything they were doing to build up people, to build up institutions, to build up society, to strengthen it. What a different world we'd live in. Notice verse 40. Let all things be done decently and in order. Well, that's just the opposite of what we see around us today in the world. Things being done decently and in order. But this is describing how the conduct and how we should relate to one another within the church. Mark chapter 3 and verse 22.

Mark chapter 3 and verse 22. Christ gives an interesting principle here.

It says, the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, he has vials above, and by the ruler of the demons he cast out demons. So they were doing to Christ back then what politicians and people do today. Call each other names. You throw dirt up and get people to believe it. So where did he get this power? How is he casting out demons? Well, Satan must be giving it to him. That's what they were saying. So he called them to himself and said to them in parables, how can Satan cast out Satan?

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself, he is divided. He cannot stand but has an end. Rather, what you find is this world is divided, very much so against itself. And as a result, Christ says, it will not stand.

This society is not God's society. This is not God's world. The Bible uses the terminology that today's world is called this present evil age. And so it's called an evil world or evil age. What God is desiring is he's desiring that we become one with him and that eventually the whole world become one with him. We know that today pictures the time when Satan the devil and his demons will be restrained and mankind as a whole will become one with God.

Now, if that's going to happen and is happening, it begins with us, doesn't it? It's already begun with us. We must become one with God now in our personal lives and how we live. And we need to be at one with each other in the church because, you see, God takes us and he calls us one by one as his children. But he doesn't leave us out there by ourselves. He doesn't say, okay, you know, I called you, I'll give you my spirit. You just stay home. You do your own thing. You know what he does? He throws us together, doesn't he? He puts us collectively in a group and collectively then we've got to learn to get along with one another. And when you get married, guess what? Before you got married, you're just responsible for yourself. Get married. Now you got to get along with your mates. Have children. Got to get along with your children. Have grandchildren. Now you got to get along not only with your children, but your, you know, their mates and now your children. Now your grandchildren. And there are in-laws out there. And so, you know, it keeps expanding. And the same thing is true in the church that we have to learn to be at one with one another and to be at harmony with each other. And God is eventually going to extend to the whole world what he is offering to us right now. And you and I will be the leaders in bringing that way of life to this world. But how can we bring it to the world unless we become one ourselves and how we approach God and how we approach one another? In Genesis, chapter 6 and verse 14, you'll find that there are two words in the Bible that we normally refer to on the day of Atonement that picture what the Atonement process means. In the Old Testament, the word for Atonement is kaphar. K-A-P-H-A-R. We normally hear a lot of people talking about this is kampur, but the word is pronounced kaphar, and it means something very clearly. Let's notice it here. With the building of the ark in the Old Testament, make yourself an ark, a gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and outside with pitch.

Now, in the King James Version, it says, pitch it inside and outside. The word pitch is kaphar.

It is the word for Atonement, and the word means to cover over or thoroughly hide.

Whereas when they built the ark, the wood, they were to take the pitch and they were to rub it over the boards and to cover it to seal the boards and to make it leak-proof. And so, therefore, it covered. So, Atonement in the Old Testament has its fundamental meaning to cover.

And we'll see how it's used in various ways. The example of a bed sheet. Sheets on the bed would be the same thing. They cover the mattress. The lid on the jar covers the food and the contents that are in the jar. And so, the same thing is true of Atonement. It means to cover.

Notice how the translators translated it. And I'm taking this as it applies to the King James Version.

Word is used 102 times in the Old Testament. 71 times it was translated Atonement.

Purge 7 times. Reconciliation 4 times. Reconcile 3 times. Forgive 3 times. Purge away twice. Pacify twice. Atonement made twice. Merciful twice. Cleanse once. Disannulled once.

Now, it's also used as a piece. Once. Put off once. Pardon once. Pitch once.

Well, pitch is here in verse 14. Now, why would the translators translate it in so many different ways?

Normally, you'll find when a basic word that is known to mean Atonement is translated differently, it's conveying a different connotation. Let's go over to chapter 6 in the book of Leviticus in verse 30. Let me refer to several scriptures here. We'll read them very quickly because we don't need to just adult on these. Leviticus 6, 30 says, But no sin offering from which any ill of blood is brought into the tabernacle of meeting to make reconciliation or to reconcile. The word is reconciled in the King James Version, but here in the New King James, they take the liberty to go ahead and translate the word by one word, which is Atonement. So, you don't become confused. That's good when you read it because you know basically what the word means. A lot of times when you read the other translations and it's translated differently, you never know if the word is the same word unless you look it up. But in the King James Version, it was translated reconcile. And it has the meaning here of reconciling parties through the shedding of blood. That God and whoever the sin offering was brought in for are reconciled. The barrier that stood between them is removed, how? By the blood. So, there's reconciliation between parties who disagree. When there's discord or disharmony, there will be the need for forgiveness.

And you'll find normally there's going to be sin involved. Now Psalm 79 verse 9, Psalm 79 and verse 9. Again, the new King James Version translates it atonement, but in the King James, it was purge. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name and deliver us and provide atonement for our sins. King James said purge our sins. Why?

For your namesake. For your namesake. Atonement or purge means to cover our sins, to pardon them, to purge them, get them away from us totally for God's sake so that we would be before God a clean vessel, a right vessel, a wholesome vessel, a pure vessel. Not because of our goodness, does this take place, but because of God's mercy. In Ezekiel 16 verse 60 through 63, I'll just refer you to verse 63 here, Ezekiel chapter 16.

And notice verse 63 says that you may remember and be ashamed and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, which I provide you an atonement for all that you have done, says the Lord God. Now, in the King James Version, this was translated that you may remember and be confounded and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame when I am pacified toward you.

Now, why would they translate it pacified as opposed to atonement? Well, what you find is that God's wrath is pacified when we repent and our sins are covered. You know, God, you'll find, got very angry with Israel when they sinned and they kept sinning. And finally, He would say, I'm going to send you off into captivity. But what happened to a people when they repented? What happened to Nineveh, who repented at the preaching of Jonah?

God was ready to destroy that whole city and they repented and fasted and God relented.

He was pacified because of their fasting. So you find that God's anger, God's wrath, may be pacified when we repent of our sins. And what God was thinking about doing, He may not do as a result of it. So you'll find that it's translated merciful, it's translated pardon, in all of these different ways. But let's go back to one other scripture in Genesis 32. Genesis 32, verse 20. You might remember the story here.

Jacob's trying to come back home. Esau hears that he's coming. Esau comes out to greet him.

Jacob doesn't know why he thinks that Esau's coming out to take vengeance against him because he stole his birthright. So he's not sure what's happening. And if you remember, he sent three waves of gifts to him, camels and donkeys and mules and so on, loaded down with gifts. And verse 20, it says, Also say, Behold, your servant, Jacob is behind us.

For he said, I will appease him with the presence that goes before me, and afterwards I will seize face. Perhaps he will accept me. The word appease is kafar, the word for atonement, the cover. The translators here use the figurative sense.

Jacob was trying to hide his offense from Esau. He thought, now, if Esau gets enough goods, enough clothing, enough gold, enough produce, that maybe he'll forget.

Maybe he'll just forget what I did to him. So he was trying to hide his offense, to appease him.

And all of these passages, the meaning of covering, are hiding something, is clearly the underlying meaning behind how the word is.

Okay, with all of that in mind, let's go over to Leviticus 16.

Leviticus 16 is where the ritual on the day of atonement was instituted.

And let's notice, beginning in verse 8, that they were to take two goats.

Verse 8, Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. Now, it is a very unfortunate translation that we have, scapegoat, because this is not a scapegoat. Originally, it meant a scapegoat, one that you allowed to escape.

A scapegoat means that he's blamed for something and he's not guilty. And that's not what we're talking about here. Cast a lot for the, we'll just say, the escape goat.

And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord's lot fell and offer it as a sin offering.

Jesus Christ is our sin offering. So this goat that was pictured as a sin offering was a type of Christ who died for our sins. But the goat on which the lot fell to be, the scapegoat, or the escape goat, shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement. Upon it should be over it, make an atonement over it, to let it go as the escape goat into the wilderness.

Now it is Christ's sacrifice, his shedding of his blood, that covers or hides our sins.

When you and I repent, we're baptized, we're taken under the water. Figuratively, our sins are buried in that water, our sins are hidden, and it's Christ who died for our sins. In verse 10, here we have, again, the scapegoat. The Hebrew word is azel, azazel goat, or azel goat, meaning one sent away, one that is sent away or one that is let escape. This word could very well be translated. One just sent away instead of scapegoat here. Now, as we will see, this is actually nothing more than a goat that stands for Satan. Let's drop down to verse 21.

Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the goat, and confess over it all of the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions concerning all of their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all the iniquities to an uninhabited land, and he shall release the goat into the wilderness. Now, Christ bore our sins.

His blood was shed, and if you'll remember the ritual here on the day of atonement, the blood was taken by the high priest once a year into the Holy of Holies, and sprinkled seven times on the the ark within the the mercy seat within the Holy of Holies inner chamber, and picturing Christ's blood being accepted by the Father for our sins so that our sins could be covered. But Satan the devil has been responsible for deceiving mankind, misleading man, and leading man in a way to sin against God. And Satan's guilt for leading man into sin is placed back on his head what he has done for leading man into sin, because he has been partially responsible, and then he will be cast or sent away. Now, this is pictured back in the New Testament. Let's go back to the New Testament. In the New Testament, in Revelation chapter 20, we find that when Jesus Christ returns to the earth and before the thousand years, before the millennium begins, that he's going to do something. It says, I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold of the dragon that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after those things, he must be released for a little time. So he is released for a short period of time, and then in verse 10, after that short period of time, at the end of the millennium and before the white throne judgment begins, he's released, and then he's taken captive again. Notice, the devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, for the beast and the false prophet should be were cast, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Well, who is they?

Not the beast and the false prophet. They've been burnt to a crisp a long time ago.

It's talking about Satan and his demons being tormented. Now, I want you to notice they are sent away into the abyss, and eventually they will be cast into outer darkness.

Back up to the book of Jude. Jude, verse 13. Jude, verse 13. And here we have a prophecy that has a dual meaning. It's talking about spots in our love feasts, back in verse 12. But then it blends up, and then it is a type of what God will ultimately do with Satan and his demons. It says, Raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame, wandering stars, a star as the symbol of an angel, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. From everything that we can tell, and there's not a whole lot written on this, it appears that Satan and his demons will eventually be sent away ultimately into outer darkness beyond the environments of what we would know is the created universe. And they will foam out their shame forever, and they will be totally cut off, cast out, and have no contact with the family of God. They will then live forever.

Now, why will God do this? Let's go over to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians 2, I think, gives a pretty good summary, beginning in verse 1, of what Satan and his demons have been up to since man has been created and put on this earth.

Verse 1, Ephesians 2, You who made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh in the mind, whereby nature, children of wrath, just as others. So Satan and his demons are those who are working in society to lead man astray and to be disobedient, to be the adversary of God. For the last 6,000 years, we have seen man's history that Satan the devil's way does not work.

As in produce peace, as in solve the wars, it doesn't work. His whole motive, his whole modus operandi, is to undermine God in what God is doing. If God says the light is good, he says it's bad.

If God says light is good, the devil says black is great. And so anything that God stands for, he's against. He opposes everything that God stands for. Consequently, he hates you.

He hates me. He hates the church. He hates anybody who has anything to do with the truth of God.

Why? Because we are the body of Christ on earth today. He hated Christ. He tried to get at Christ when Christ was on the earth. He hates us, and he tries to get at us. We are doing the work of God today, and he hates that. He will do anything to undermine that. You and I are a reflection of what God stands for, and he hates everything that God stands for. We are supposed to be a reflection of God in us, of his standards, his values, his way of life. We know what his ultimate fate is going to be. We don't fear him, and we one day will judge the angels. We will judge the angels, and that includes the demon world. We will have a hand in determining part of their ultimate fate.

Satan doesn't want to see one of us in the kingdom, because once we are, we will be much more powerful, part of the family of God, the kingdom of God, and we'll have authority and power forever, and that it will be greater than theirs. Now, with that in mind, let's notice that in the New Testament, the word atonement is usually translated to reconcile.

It gives the additional meaning in the complete sense to the word atonement. Let's go back to Romans chapter 5. Romans 5 verses 10 and 11.

It says, For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

King James Version translates that atonement. It's the only place that translated it. It's atonement.

Receive the atonement or the reconciliation. The word reconciliation comes from the Greek word k-a-t-a-l-a-s-s-o. And it means to exchange or exchange, hence to reconcile those who are at variance.

Those who are at variance. What did we read about the works of the flesh?

People who are at variance with one another.

War with one another. Hating one another. Confusion discontent.

Now, reading from West's word study, it says Vincent's note is most illuminating.

The verb means primarily to exchange and hence to change the relationship of hostile parties into a relationship of peace. To reconcile, it is used both of mutual and one-sided enmity. In the former case, the context must show on which side is the active enmity. Okay. Who is at enmity with God?

Romans 8-7. The carnal mind is enmity against God. God isn't at enmity against us. He created us.

He's created the whole plan of salvation. We are the ones who are hostile at variance against God and His standard. In the Christian sense, West goes on to say, the change in the relationship of God and man was affected through Christ, and this involved. He said four steps.

This is what reconciliation is all about. A movement on God towards man with a view to break down man's hostility. We are enemies of God. At some point, God has to extend the olive branch. That's called grace, His mercy. And God begins to work with us, even in our hostile state.

He opens our mind. He begins to reveal His truth to us. He shows us the right way of life. His spirit begins to work with us. We eventually then come to see ourselves as God sees us and repent.

So God is the one who has to initiate the process, get it going, to break down man's hostility, to commend God's love and holiness to Him, to convince Him of the enormity and the consequences of His sin. It is God who initiates this movement in the person and the work of Jesus Christ. Notice in 2 Corinthians 5 verses 18.

And 19 is a summary of this.

2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 18, Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself. See, we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ and has made us or has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

That is, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. That's what I'm reading to you right now, the words of reconciliation, of how you and I can be reconciled to God.

The second step, Wes says, is a corresponding movement on man's part towards God.

God initiates the process. He calls us. He opens our mind. You and I have to respond.

There has to be a movement on our part, yielding to the appeal of Christ's self-sacrificing love, laying aside His enmity, renouncing His sin, and turning to God in faith and obedience.

That's part of the reconciliation process. We recognize the enormity of our sins.

Thirdly, Wes says, a consequent change of character in man.

Now, I thought that was really incisive. A consequent change of character in man, the covering, forgiving, and cleansing of his sin.

What does the word atonement mean from the Old Testament? A covering of sin.

So our sins are covered, forgiven, we're cleansed. A thorough revolution in all of his dispositions and principles. So there's a revolution that goes on within us. We become a different person, a new creature, as the Bible says. And then, number four, a corresponding change of relationship on God's part, that being removed, which alone rendered Him separate from man, so that God can now receive man into fellowship and let loose upon Him all of His love and grace. Thereby, He has completed the reconciliation process. So it begins with God, God's call, our responding, our having to change. Guess what? God doesn't change. God says, I change not, says the Lord. So God's not going to change His values, His standards, His way of life. Actually, Unger's Bible dictionary has this to say about reconciliation. In the New Testament, reconciliation possesses the idea to thoroughly change from one position to another. So here we were over here in the world, hostile, at enmity, discord, contentious, at variance with God, all at once we change, and now we love God. You know, we have love, joy, peace, patience. We want to go God's way. There is a big difference. Reconciliation therefore means that someone or something is completely altered and adjusted to a required standard. Guess who has to make the adjustment? I do. You do. It's a God's standard. And when we do, God will give us His Spirit and begin to work with us. God does not change His standard, His laws, His value, His character.

Man must change his standards. As Christians, you and I have to be constantly striving to reconcile with one another, brethren. God desires unity and harmony within His Church. He desires that we be at one with Him in our own personal relationship. But again, we've got to practice it with ourselves, put it into practice. Salvation, as John 17 says, is becoming one with God. Christ prayed that we would become one as He and the Father one. That there be no variance and no disagreement with God.

God will only save those who agree with Him. We don't agree with Him. We're in trouble. We won't be there.

So the Old Testament word shows God is willing to forgive, cover, hide our sins. That's what Christ's sacrifice did for us. In the New Testament, we find that we must change our standards to God.

We have to adjust. Our responsibility is to change our thinking to God's way, change every facet of our mind, and begin to develop His character.

Satan will eventually be locked up before this can happen worldwide, before God can extend salvation to all mankind in the millennium and the great white throne judgment. And then he will be cast into outer darkness, cut off completely from any contact with the family of God.

Brethren, once we are all in God's family, everyone has had an opportunity. He's either there or he ceased to exist. Then the human family, who is now a God family, the kingdom of God, will truly be at one with God in the way that God has always wanted.