Christ Alone Atones for Sin (May 31, 2023)

^“Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” (Exodus 32:30) (NKJV)

This verse from the Book of Exodus is one of many Old Testament examples that foreshadow the coming of Jesus Christ as God incarnate to save a world lost and dying in sin. To put this statement into its biblical context, Moses had just come down from Mount Sinai with two tablets containing the Ten Commandments written by the hand of God. The tablets were broken when Moses became angered that, in his absence, the Israelites had violated the first two of these commandments by practicing idolatry, worshiping a gold calf crafted by his brother Aaron, the high priest, at the people’s request. Moses asked all that were on the LORD’s side to come to him, but only the Levites, the priestly tribe, stepped forward, slaying about 3,000 of their rebellious brethren by the sword. Calling attention to the Israelites’ great sin of idolatry, Moses said he’d go back up the mountain to the LORD in an effort to atone for their transgression against their God.

To atone, according to Merriam-Webster, is to make amends; to provide or serve as reparation or compensation for something bad or unwelcome. Being sinful by nature, no human being -- neither Moses nor anyone else -- is capable of making atonement for sins that have been committed. Although he wanted to, Moses could not compensate for his people’s sins because he was a sinner himself.  However, Moses’ words did point to the One who would come to earth to accomplish that monumental task. Only Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who humbly stepped down from His heavenly glory to become the God-man, the only human who ever lived free of sin, was thus qualified to be the perfect sacrifice for the sins past, present, and future of all of humanity. Taking the punishment that we deserved, Christ suffered a cruel death on the cross to pay for our sins in full, so that by God’s grace through faith in our risen LORD, we could have eternal life!

 ^“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.  And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” (Romans 5:8-11) (KJV)