In NT, though the thought is fundamental, and finds expression in a variety of forms, e.g. Forgive- ness, Pro])itiation, Redemption, the word Atone- ment or its equivalent Reconciliation (itaTaXXo7/j, in L.X.X )iracti(iilly confined to 2 Mac fi*) is found only in 2 Co S'""', Ro 5'°' U", cf. Col l'". Here, as in (")T, the use of the word presupposes an estrange- ment between God and man. On man's side this
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ATONEjNIENT
estrangement is the direct consequence of liis sin. On God's side it is the direct consequence of His holiness and His love. Because He is holy and lovii-g, He cannot be inditlerent to sin. His wrath must rest upon the disobedient (Jn 3^, cf. Ro 1"*). Now in human wrath there mingles almost Inevitably a feeling of personal irritation, pique, or resentment. The language of the NT is carefully chosen to guard against the supposition that any such shadow mars the purity of the divine indig- nation. Men are spoken of as God's enemies (iX^poi, Ro 5'", cf. 8'), but God is never spoken of as the enemy of man. Men are invited to accept the oH'ered reconciliation ; God is never brought before us as Himself needing to be appeased or reconciled. On the contrary, the atonement originates with Him. See esp. 2 Co 5" ' God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself,' Ro 3^ ' whom God set forth to be a propitiation.' The atonement, there- fore, of which the gospel speaks, cannot, any more than the means of atonement provided uniier the law, be regarded as a device for overcoming any reluctance on God's part to forgive. It is the provision which He Himself has made for the removal of the obstacle to communion which sin has introduced.
Let us consider a little more closely what this obstacle is.
Sin is lawlessness (1 Jn 3*). It is the refusal on man's part, a refusal now as it were ingrained in his very nature, to remain in subjection to the law of God (Ro 8'). Each act of sin, therefore, is the outward sign of a spiritual alienation from God. But yet more. Each act of sin reacts upon the sinner, and increases his alienation. It not only weakens his power of moral self-determination, and so makes him more than ever a slave to his sin (Ro T") ; it incurs fresh guUt, and so adds new terror to the curse of the law (Gal 3'^) ; it deepens his defilement, and so makes him shrink more than ever Irom the presence of God. And the wages of sin, which from another point of view express the judgment of God upon it, is death (Ro 6^).
The power by which this obstacle has been over- come springs from the person of Christ. He Himself is our peace (Eph 2"). He, the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father, is the Lamb ' foreknown before the foundation of the world '(IP 1*"), and the restora- tion of the broken harmony of the universe (Col l'*", cf. Eph 1") springs from His eternal surrender of Himself to do the Father's will (He 10»). This eternal sacrifice, which is thus seen to have its roots deep in the inmost mystery of the divine nature, was manifested in time, and became efi'ectual for our redemption, when the Word was made flesh and revealed at once the relation in which mankind stands to Him and His own eternal relation to the Father, througli a life on earth of perfect obedience to the Father's will. This obedience reached its final consummation when He shed His blood upon the cross, and His life, even as the life of the sacrificial Wctims in the OT, was set free by death for the work of our recon- ciliation. The atonement, therefore, is ascribed specifically to His death (Ro 5'°), His cross (Eph 2"), and His blood (Col l**).
Tlie cost of the atonement is represented from two sides, — as it all'ected the Father, who ' spared not liis own Son, but freely gave Him up for us all' (Ro 8'-); and as it ati'ected the Son, who ' sutt'ered for us ' (1 P 2^'), and by ' whose stripes we are healed' (1 P 2'«, cf. 18 53°). The cost to the Father we clearly have no power to conceive, and the Bible makes no efiort to define it. The sufferings of the Son in our flesh were human sufferings. We are able therefore in some measure to conceive of them. They were the direct result of His perfect acceptance of all the consequences that the
presence of sin in the world entails upon us. Thej culminate on the one side in an agonising aiid shameful death ; on the other in an uulathuniable depth of spiritual suflering, when for a moment it seemed as if even God had forsaken Him (Mt 27'", cf. Mt 26**-" and parallels, He 6').
Such light as we can receive on the relation of these sufferings to the work of our atonement is derived chiefly from the typical ritual of OT sacrifices. This included, as we have seen, (1) the presentation of an offering with an acknowledg- ment of guilt, (2) the slaughter of tlie victim, (3) the symbolic use of the blood so shed. Each of these elements found a place in the sacrifice on the cross.