For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually. (Job 1:5 ESV)
Atonement
Recently I heard a clerk in a store complaining about some shoplifters. He did not really know who had stolen. He did not know why anyone had stolen. He did not know how to get his money back.
But he repeatedly said, “Someone needs to pay!”
He was not wrong.
God is the epitome of Justice. And rebellion against Him (better termed, “sin”) is so antithetical to God that He cannot abide Sin. He abhors it. He despises it.
And He says, “Someone needs to pay!”
What God has offered to the universe is two options. Either we pay… or Someone else, namely Jesus, pays.
Our forgiven sins are not forgiven because God chooses to look the other way. They are forgiven US, because Jesus paid instead of us.
Job prays for his children because he clearly understood this concept. Atonement comes on the back of Someone else. It is not our suffering that purchases atonement. It is not our faint good works that purchase atonement. It is not our intentions or desires that purchase atonement. It is not our proper words of repentance that purchase atonement.
It is only the Messiah. It is only Jesus.
For Job, the Jesus to come. For us, the Jesus who came.
Job depended on the Messiah for the atonement of his children, who probably were not fully aware of their sins. Neither was Job, we find out. Neither are we..
Atonement happens ONLY through Jesus.