Thursday, March 22, 2007
Romans 3:25 God presented him [Jesus] as a sacrifice of atonement.
ATONEMENT -- BIG WORD WITH A BIG MEANING
In English we use the word "atonement" to describe both the sacrifice Christ made to reconcile us sinners to the holy God and the state of being reconciled to God (at one!) as a result of the death of Christ in our stead. Perhaps this is one reason why we have come to speak of the "vicarious atonement" when we emphasize the fact that Jesus sacrificed Himself in our place.
Usually when a word ends up being understood in more than one way, this is a result of usage. That is, over the years people use words in different ways and these usages become commonly understood and therefore a part of the language. The English word atonement has a different and very interesting origin. Here's the "rest of the story".
While William Tyndale labored in translating the 1526 English Bible, he recognized that there was no single English word that conveyed the fact that Christ's sacrifice for us brought about both the forgiveness of sins, and, through this, reconciliation with God. There was the word "reconciliation" with its emphasis on peace restored. But in itself this word says nothing about forgiveness. There was also a word for the action of making amends for sin -- "to atone". It was Tyndale's idea to incorporate the concept of reconciliation (at one) and remission of sin (atone) in the single word "atonement". He especially used it in Leviticus 16 and the Old Testament "Day of Atonement" (lit. day of covering) in which the blood of divinely appointed sacrifices were sprinkled on the Ark of the Covenant. In this way Tyndale cemented the connection between reconciliation and sacrifice in the word ATONEMENT.
Christ's sacrifice for us brought about both the remission of sin and the reconciliation of man to God. Every tongue the world over must be made to proclaim this wondrous saving truth. And since the words of man can barely lisp the wonders of God's works on our behalf, at times words will just have to be invented.
