LESSON EIGHT
THE ATONEMENT

A. THE MEANING OF THE ATONEMENT.
"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission" (Hebrews 9:22).

1.	The whole doctrine of salvation is built upon the atonement.
2.	In the Atonement, it can be seen just what God did in providing salvation for fallen man. 
3.	The account of what He did, the incarnation, the ministry of Christ on earth, the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, is found in the four Gospels. 
4.	A study of the book of Acts will reveal what man must do to be able to receive what God has provided for him.

B. THE ORIGIN OF THE ATONEMENT.
•	"But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you" (I Peter 1:19-20).
•	(Revelation 13:8).
•	(Genesis 3:21).

1. ORDAINED IN HEAVEN.
•	Calvary was in the plan of God from the beginning.
•	The term "foundation of the world" is referring not to the creation of the universe but the chaotic condition that came into being with the fall of man. 

2. INSTITUTED ON EARTH.
•	When God clothed Adam and Eve, blood was shed. 
o	Beginning of the crimson line of sacrifice.

C. THE NECESSITY OF THE ATONEMENT.
1. GOD'S HOLINESS AND MAN'S SINFULNESS.
•	Necessity of the atonement:
o	
o	Man’s Sinfulness
o	God’s Holiness. 
•	
•	Sin is an attack on God's honor and holiness.
•	The reaction of God's holiness against man's sinfulness is known as His WRATH.
•	Man chooses his own will rather than God's and becomes a law unto himself. 
•	God will not permit His honor to be attacked.
o	His honor calls for the destruction of the one resisting Him. 
•	Man delays and scoffs at the thought of judgment. 
•	The Cross of Jesus declares that He never was, is not, and never can be indifferent to man's sin.
2. SEPARATION FROM GOD.
•	"But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear" (Isaiah 59:2).
•	God is holy in nature: He is righteous in character and conduct. 
•	Man's sin has created a great gulf between God and man. 
•	The atonement is the bridge that spans that gulf.

3. THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH.
•	"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23).
•	 The judgment of sin is death. 
•	Life is in the blood and when blood is spilled, life is given.
•	When blood is shed the wages of sin is being paid.

D. REDEMPTION.
•	The word "redeem" in both the Old and New Testaments mean:
(a). To buy back by the paying of a price.
(b). To loose from bondage by the paying of a price.
(c). To buy in a market and to take from a market.
•	Jesus is a Redeemer and His atoning work is described as redemption.
A redeemer must have the following qualifications:
(a). He must be kin to the man.
(b). He must be willing to redeem or buy back.
(c). He must have the price.
•	Jesus measured up to all three of these qualifications. 
•	"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." (I Peter 1:18-19).  (I Corinthians 6:20)
•	We are bought with a price - the blood of Jesus shed on Calvary's Cross.
•	Study the following references: Leviticus 25:47-49; Matthew 20:28; Galatians 3:13; Titus 2:14; and Revelation 5:9.

E. RECONCILIATION.
•	"And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself…" (II Corinthians 5:18-19).
•	"…We were reconciled to God by the death of His Son…" (Romans 5:10).
•	"And you…yet now hath he reconciled" (Colossians 1:21).	
•	 God did something in order to reconcile man to Himself.
•	This act of reconciliation is a finished work. 
•	It remains for the evangelist to proclaim it and the individual to receive it. 
•	Christ's death has made the reconciliation of all mankind possible; each individual must make it actual. 

LESSON EIGHT
SELF HELP TEST SELF HELP TEST
A. Explain the difference between the two terms "Before the foundation of the world" and "from
the foundation of the world" in reference to the atonement.
B. When was the atonement instituted on earth?
D. Name the THREE qualifications of a redeemer.
1. _______________________________________
2. _______________________________________
3. _______________________________________
D. Explain clearly why it took the shedding of blood to atone for sin.