1214. From Sin–The Need of the Atonement
From Sin–The Need of the Atonement
"Moreover the Law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, Grace did much more abound" (Rom_5:20).
The world to-day thinks altogether too lightly of sin. Sin has been beautifully veneered, delightsomely draped, and generally it is either denied or excused. In all of this the need of the atonement is set aside. If sin is no more than "a misconception," or, a "temporary slip," there is no real valuation in the Cross of Christ. On the other hand, if sin is what God describes it as being: "exceedingly sinful," then sin is black, and sin is heinous–under the curse of God.
Three things stand out to us.
1. The atonement magnifies the character of God. "God is light and can not fellowship with darkness;" "God is holy, and can not receive the unholy," "God is just and can not forgive the guilty." If God were not light, nor holy, nor just, sin would not need atonement. God could then fellowship a man full of corruption and guilt into His unhallowed presence. The atonement concedes that God is light and that God is holy and just. The atonement proclaims that God cannot receive the sinner until that sinner has been cleansed from sin–thus, the atonement magnifies the character of God.
2. The atonement magnifies the sinfulness of man. Atonement pronounces that "we are all an unclean thing," that "there is not a just man on the earth that doeth good and sinneth not," that from the head to the foot, we are full of wounds and bruises and putrefying sores.
The atonement says, "All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God." If the Cross magnifies God's holiness it equally magnifies the sinfulness of sin. The atonement says that sin was so sinful as to demand the death of God's well-beloved Son, in order to obtain salvation from its curse.
3. The atonement magnifies the separation of the sinner from God. The atonement says, "God can not look upon sin." The atonement says, "If we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness we lie." The atonement says, "The wages of sin is death," and "death is eternal separation from God." Let those who read these words never think of sin or speak of sin as the "temporary slip of well-intending good morals."
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR