Why Is Atonement Necessary?

So atonement will be in two days. And why is atonement necessary for those of us who, to receive the Holy Spirit and have been covered by the blood of Christ?

If we turn to Acts 2, verses 2 through 4: "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to be divided tongues as of fire, one sat upon each of them, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance."

The word "spirit" is the Greek word "pneuma" — P-N-E-U-M-A. In the Greek, they would put the P and N together when they pronounced it. And it means breath or life-giving spirit. With the word "holy" in front of it, we know that the word pneuma leads to the real life and not just temporary existence.

At the services of atonement, we are feasting on the bread of life. We are nourishing the Holy Spirit within us and seeking to be at one with God.

And you start turning to Genesis 3. We're also here because in the beginning, God made Adam and Eve. Genesis 3, read verses 11 through 15: "And he said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree which I commanded you that you should not eat?' Then the man said, 'The woman who you gave to be with me, she gave of the tree and I ate.' And the Lord said to the woman, 'Why have you done this?' The woman said, 'The serpent deceived me and I ate.'

And the Lord said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all the cattle and more than every beast in the field. On your belly you shall go. And you shall eat dust all the days of your life, and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.'"

The last part of this verse is in reference to our Savior, now being needed to remove the curse brought on mankind due to this sin.

Now I want to go back and look at the early results of being cut off from God. Just one more — over to Genesis 4, verses 1 through 9. "Now Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain and said, 'I have acquired a man from the Lord.'" The word "acquired" is Kana. According to Strong's, it can mean to procure or redeem. And the word for "man" is Ish and can mean another or a champion. Did she think that the promised one to redeem them from this curse was Cain, the first one? It would seem, given his attitude and entitlement.

"Verse 2: Then she bore again, and this time her brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. In the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstfruits of his flock and of their fat, and the Lord respected Abel and his offering. But he did not respect Cain and his offering, and Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

So the Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? Why is your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door, and his desire is for you, but you should rule over it.'

Now Cain talked with Abel, his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him."

Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel, your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"

The first father and mother had to learn the sorrow of losing their son and having their firstborn driven from their presence. Not only that, the mother of Jesus and God the Father had to see their own son tortured and died to pay for the penalty of sin — the original sin, and for all the sins that have been followed ever since.

We have been a world mostly cut off from the wisdom of God, having to try everything our own way. Another example of the results of this is that of King Saul. Saul was given the Holy Spirit to help him, but God removed it when he resisted the Holy Spirit and chose his own way.

Now in the New Testament we have examples of Ananias and Sapphira. If you want to go to Acts 5, verses 1 through 11: "But a certain man named Ananias with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession, and he kept back part of the proceeds. His wife also being aware of it and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet. Peter said to Ananias, 'Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.'

Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things, and the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him."

Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter answered her, "Tell me whether you sold the land for so much." She said, "Yes, for so much."

Then Peter said to her, "How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out." Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in, found her dead, carried her out, buried her by her husband.

So great fear came upon the church and upon all who heard these things.

Remember, Ananias and Sapphira had been at Pentecost and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. They resisted the Holy Spirit and chose their own path.

Our holy day year starts with the sacrifice of our Savior at Passover. Next comes the days of unleavened bread. We sought to remind ourselves of the need to continue on the course we began at baptism. At Pentecost, which came next, reminded us of the helper given to us with repentance and staying faithful — baptism, laying on of hands.

Last Sabbath we just went through the Feast of Trumpets — trumpet blasts that would herald the return of Jesus, the King of Kings. And now, in two days, we'll be celebrating the Feast of Atonement.

Why do we need atonement when we have been baptized, received the Holy Spirit, and all of our sins are covered by the blood of Christ?

Atonement is forward looking. It is a time when we will be spirit beings, ruling with Christ, and Satan will be bound. But it also has application to our lives today. We need the yearly reminder that we must stay reconciled with our Savior and not seek our own path. It is an ongoing process throughout our lives, and we continue to fall short of the goal and need to be brought back to oneness with God.

We are tempted daily by the adversary. And baptism and even receiving the Holy Spirit is not a once-and-done, cover-all-sin, once-saved-always-saved scenario.

This day in the Old Testament was the one day anyone entered the Holy of Holies — behind the veil — and it was only the high priest.

Matthew 27:51 — "Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth quaked and the rocks were split." The veil being torn was symbolic of the giving of the Holy Spirit, giving direct access to the Father through Jesus Christ, our high priest. We do not need an earthly priest to make intercession for us, but may come boldly before the throne of God.

The next step we're facing in the plan of God enacted each year is the Feast of Tabernacles, which points to those who live through the tribulation and live on into a time of peace and prosperity with Christ as the head of the nations, bringing them into servitude to God the Father.

That is not the end of God's plan. We are celebrating, but the last great day, which ends the yearly timetable, is a time of great celebration. As we look at the time when we will have lived and died and will be resurrected and given the chance to know Christ and to repent.

Atonement comes with universal implications and foretells the reconciliation of God — not just with those of us who are firstfruits, but with all who have ever lived. It not only stands for the removal of sin, but the removal of the primary cause of sin, which is Satan the devil, the enemy of God and his offspring.

If we want to start going to Isaiah 53, how can we know the penalty for our own sin is covered? Isaiah 53, verses 4 through 6: "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And by his stripes we are healed. And we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

We are well aware of how this was to be chronicled in the New Testament since Christ carried out the prophecy that began with the need for a savior in the Garden of Eden.

The adversary of God and mankind will have to be permanently dealt with before God's great kingdom can come to earth. All those living must come to the point of being at one with God, or being permanently removed — never to live again — also to the second death spoken in Revelation.

1 Peter 5:8 — "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour."

And then in Revelation 20, verses 1 through 3: "And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he 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 these things, he must be released for a little time."

Satan is not vanquished until the very end — right before God brings his kingdom to earth and dwells with men.

So drop down to verse 7. We'll read through 10. "Now, when the thousand years has expired, Satan will be released from his prison, and he will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophet are, where they be tormented day and night, forever and ever."

And Jude 1, verse 6 — "The angels who did not keep their proper domain but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains of darkness for the judgment of the great day."

Now we can look at 2 Peter 2, verses 4 through 11. "For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked. For that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds. Then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment; and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries. Whereas angels who are greater in power and might do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord."

Now if we go back and look at Revelation 20, verses 11 through 15: "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God. The books were opened, and another book was opened which is the Book of Life, and the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire."

And then Revelation 22, verses 1 through 3: "And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations, and there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him."

The curse that began in the Garden of Eden, and the need for a Savior — will have all been accomplished. Jesus came at his appointed time and overcame Satan and paved the way for us to be removed from the curse of sin.

Now if we go down to verses 4 through 7 in Revelation 22: "They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there. They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gave them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. Then he said to me, 'These words are faithful and true, and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.'"

So we have gone through the plan of God. We have been through the sacrifice of Christ, our baptism — a reminder to stay free from sin — and through the helper given to us, because it's impossible to do it our own way.

We have heard the sound of the trumpets that will bring the return of Christ to begin the process of restoring what has been destroyed by Satan's influence. And now the time that pictures him being put away — at first it will be temporary because one last test of mankind will come to see who will remain faithful.

The coming Feast of Tabernacles will show the reign of Christ and allow us to have a tiny taste of what it'll be like with peace and prosperity under His government. Then we'll be celebrating the eighth day, the Last Great Day of the feast, where the future will show that we will see all of our loved ones again and be part of the healing for all who have ever lived.

It is not complete until all the spirit beings along with Christ are no longer influenced and separate themselves from God through sin. It is not complete until all of mankind is brought into the state of being at one with God, when God will dwell with us to infinity and beyond.