Day of Atonement

For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins.

Leviticus 16:30

God made yearly provision for Israel for a unique annual emphasis on repentance, obedience, and atonement for sin. On that day, if all the proper sabbath respect was observed, if the priest offered the prescribed sacrifices, and if all Israel honored the Law, the sins of the nation would be forgiven for that year. This was a temporary atonement. Every fall, in the tenth month of the year, this all had to be observed carefully again. This kept Israel always aware of their need for God to forgive them. It made the sacrificial law a necessary part of their regular obedient worship. A cycle of sin and sacrifice, repentance and worship dominated life in Israel as they kept the covenant, constantly aware that blood had to be shed to forgive their sins.

In one day, sin for a year would be atoned. But then because it was temporary, the cycle would need to keep going. This was the case until one day God sent His Son into the world to be the Lamb of God Who would atone all sin... one time... for the world... forever!

Christmas is the celebration of the monumental gift that redefined human history. God sent His Son into the world to redeem us from sin once and for all! That’s miraculous. No more yearly Day of Atonement was needed. There were no more altars to be built, no more animals to die on them, no more yearly requirements to temporarily put a halt to sin’s disease. Once for all God sent His Son. Once for all the sins of the world would be atoned. Once for all those who love Jesus, trust Jesus, believe Jesus, call out to Him as Savior, and trust Him with their lives obeying Him as Lord have their sins forever forgiven! Jesus brought our Day of Atonement. Praise the Lamb of God!