Part 1
In 1 John 3:8 it is written, "for the devil sinneth from the beginning", and this, with some Old Testament Scriptures, leaves us in no doubt that sin originated with Satan. Moreover, though Adam brought sin into the world, Satan was behind it, seducing Eve, and bringing upon man the righteous judgment of God. But God accepted the challenge of sin, and in Eden announced that He had in reserve One Who would crush the serpent's head, giving the death-blow to the originator of sin, and glorifying God in regard to every question that sin raised. In infinite wisdom God has taken the occasion of the introduction of sin into the world to deal with it in its entirety, and for ever, so that He could have new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness could dwell.
How much was involved in the entry of sin into Eden. Adam and his wife were at once conscious of their guilt, attempting to hide themselves from God among the trees of the garden. They were evidently aware that they had estranged themselves from God, Who is of holier eyes than to behold iniquity. There was also the entry into man's nature of the principle of sin, and the enmity and defilement that it brought. This principle of sin became the ruling principle of human society and of the world in which man sought to make himself happy without God.
God could have met man's sin with immediate judgment, both on man and on Satan. Without the knowledge of the cross we might well have wondered why He did not do so. Yet to have done so would have been a triumph for the enemy and defeat for God in the face of the universe. God waited in patience till the time came for intervening in the Person of His Son, and while He waited, in view of the cross, He was able to remit the sins of those who had faith in Him. In Romans 3:25 we are taught that God's forbearance was manifested in not taking vengeance upon sin, and His righteousness declared in the cross of Christ.
Of old there were the types, such as the Passover, the sin offerings of the Day of Atonement, the Red Heifer and the live coal from the altar touching the lips of Isaiah. There were also many prophetic Scriptures, of which Isaiah 53 is an outstanding example, which tell of Him Who "was wounded for our transgressions … bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed". These teach plainly that God looked forward to the cross as the foundation for His remitting the sins of those who trusted in Him.
In Psalm 32 David speaks of the blessedness of the man whose "transgression is forgiven". He knew something of this when, on confessing his sin against the Lord, Nathan the prophet said to him, "The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die" (2 Sam. 12:13). But it was not until John the Baptist came that there was the preaching of "the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins". This was in view of the coming of the Lord Jesus and of His impending work on the cross. When Jesus came He was able to say to one, "Man, thy sins are forgiven thee", and to the poor sinner that washed His feet with tears, "Thy sins are forgiven" (Luke 5:20; Luke 7:48). Whether viewed as governmental or actual forgiveness, the sins of men were forgiven in view of the cross.
When the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, after glorifying God in regard to the whole question of sin, He said to His disciples, "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:44-47).
In Acts 2 we read of the disciples carrying out the injunction of the Lord when they began their preaching at Jerusalem, announcing the forgiveness of sins "in the Name of Jesus Christ". The apostle John says, "I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His Name's sake" (1 John 2:12). Paul joins his testimony to that of the twelve apostles when he writes, "In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Eph. 1:7).
It is one thing to remit a debt and forgive the debtor, but quite another to clear a man of his guilt. In human affairs it is impossible to clear a man who is evidently guilty; but what is impossible with men is possible with God. Not only does David speak of the forgiveness of sins in Psalm 32, but also of the blessedness of the man "unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity". But we have to wait until the Lord Jesus had died and risen again before we could actually know what it was to be righteously cleared from every charge of guilt.
The publican, of whom the Lord Jesus spoke in Luke 18, "went down to his house justified", for he had done what was right in the sight of God, confessing himself to be a sinner and casting himself on the mercy of God. Abraham, many centuries earlier, "believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness". From these cases we learn that faith in God and confession of Our sins will clear us from our sins in the sight of God, and we see how God is righteous in clearing us from every charge of guilt in the cross of Christ.
The basis of remission of sins, forgiveness and justification is in the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that, "without shedding of blood is no remission" (Heb. 9:22). Paul tells the Ephesians that forgiveness is "through His blood … according to the riches of His grace" (Eph. 1:7) and to the Romans he writes, "being now justified by His blood … " (Rom. 5:9).
God has been infinitely glorified by the death of His Son in regard to the questions that sin had raised, and His great love has been told out in that same death, even as it is written in 1 John 4:10, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son the propitiation for our sins". In the cross there has not only been displayed the triumph of God over sin, but the manifestation of His perfect, infinite and eternal love. Love has triumphed over all the hatred manifested in the rejection of Jesus, and God's goodness against all the evil.
The meaning of atonement is to cover, and David spoke of the blessedness of the man whose sin is covered. Nothing but the blood-shedding of a spotless victim of infinite worth could cover the countless sins of those whom God has forgiven. How wonderful that God Himself provided the spotless victim, at infinite cost to Himself, in the Son of His bosom. None but the Son of God could take away our sins from before the eye of God, but this He did when "His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree … and once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (1 Peter 2:24; 3:18).
Although the word atonement is not found in the New Testament, the doctrine is certainly there, as in the above Scriptures in 1 Peter, and also in Romans 4:7 and in many others. On the Day of Atonement the goat that was slain signifies the truth of propitiation, while the goat, on whose head were confessed the sins of the children of Israel, and that was sent away, indicates the truth of substitution. Propitiation is the meeting of all the claims of God's throne in relation to sin which enables Him to forgive and justify guilty sinners. In 1 John 2:2 it is written, "And He is the propitiation for our sins", for all the efficacy of the work of redemption, wrought on the cross, abides in Him Who is our subsisting righteousness in the presence of God.
We have already noticed that Adam's sin not only made him guilty of a serious offence against the commandment of God, but that sin entered into man's nature, an evil principle that defiled the springs of his moral being and manifested itself in deadly opposition to God and His will. The evil in man's nature was fully exposed by the presence on earth of the Son of God, and the cross of Christ is the evidence of its heinousness. Even before the cross the Son of God said, "They have both seen and hated both Me and My Father". Yet this evil was seen early in man's history, when Cain slew Abel because of his hatred of the righteousness manifested by his brother. Cain's insolent words to God indicated the hidden evil of his nature. As he could not harm God directly, he laid hands upon one in whom there was the life of God.
Man's nature, flesh, through sin became sinful flesh, and the ages during which man was under probation proved that the nature of man was incorrigible. Men vainly imagine that human nature can be improved by congenial environment, forgetting that it was in the perfect environment of Eden that man became a sinner. In whatever circumstances or conditions of life man has been, he has shown the dreadful evil of his heart. A Judas, who was for over three years in the company of the perfect Man, the Son of God, betrayed Him for thirty pieces of silver. Having proved that human nature is beyond recovery, incorrigibly wicked, God has brought it to an end in judgment in the cross, even as it is written, "God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin (that is, by a sacrifice for sin), condemned sin in the flesh" (Romans 8:3).
The sin that dwells in man's nature has defiled his every inward spring, but God has provided for our cleansing through the death of Christ and by His word. When the soldier pierced the side of Christ dead upon the cross, forthwith there came both blood and water. The precious blood of Christ is not only the basis of justification, peace and forgiveness; it also cleanses, for "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin". While the blood is the foundation of all, there is the water that morally purifies and separates us from the state of defilement that is ours as born of Adam.
When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, He said, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God". In the new birth we are cleansed from the state that belongs to man as "in the flesh" by the Spirit's application of the word within. Moreover, the Spirit of God also produces a new nature within us, that which is of God, and which cannot be defiled.
Moral cleansing is also required when sin has been allowed in our lives. God's provision for this is found in 1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". No fresh application of the blood is required for this, but the washing of water by the word.
Adam's fall had very serious consequences not only for himself, but also for the whole human race, even as it is recorded in Romans 5:12, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned". How awful are the ravages of sin, all proceeding from the one sin of Adam and from the guilt of his fallen race. The violence, corruption and falsehood that permeate the world's system can all be traced to Adam's fall. The results of sin caused the Son of God to weep when He stood by the grave of Lazarus. And how great is the grief of God's heart for all that sin has brought into the world He created.
Adam's sin has involved all who are under his headship in judgment, condemnation and death. But God has brought before us a new Head, of whom Adam is a figure, and all in Christ are brought into the favour of God, being justified in Him, and receiving the life of the One in Whom they have been justified. All under Christ's Headship, all who believe in Him, will soon reign in life with Him in His kingdom. While waiting for the full blessings of eternal life, when they will be conformed to the image of God's Son, they are under the reign of divine grace established through the work of Christ on the cross.
When sin entered into the world, the rest of God was broken. God will not rest until sin and all its dire effects are removed from before His face. To this end the Son of God came into the world saying, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work". John the Baptist witnessed to that which would be accomplished by the Son of God when he said, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world". The sacrificial Lamb would lay the basis in death for the removal of sin from this world; and in the coming day He will remove the working of sin when He wields the sceptre of power over the world.
God, in His infinite wisdom, allowed Satan to tempt man and bring sin into the world; but in the very scene into which it was brought, God has dealt with it, in view of removing it from the whole universe. Every question that man's sin has raised has been resolved for the glory of God in the cross of Christ. Not only will the evidences and effects of sin be taken away, but sin as an active principle will be banished from the universe of God.
The writer to the Hebrews tells us that, "once in the end of the world hath He (Christ) appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Heb. 9:26). The cost to God and to His Son has been infinite, but the results are infinite and eternal. How wonderful and complete is God's triumph over sin, and its entry into the world, removing forever every blot that has stained His fair creation and every question that could be raised. Moreover, the cross, where God's righteous claims in relation to sin have all been met, enables God to introduce His new heavens and new earth where righteousness shall dwell. Righteousness never could have dwelt in that new creation scene had God not triumphed over sin in the cross of Christ. In the new creation scene there will be myriads of the redeemed to celebrate for all eternity the mighty triumph of God in dealing with the question of sin, for His own glory, and for the eternal blessing of those who once were sinners, but who have been redeemed to God by the precious blood of Christ.
Wm. C. Reid.