Topical Bible: Atonement: Made by Jesus: Typified

◄ Atonement: Made by Jesus: Typified ►

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The concept of atonement is central to Christian theology, representing the reconciliation between God and humanity achieved through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. This act of atonement is foreshadowed and typified throughout the Old Testament, providing a rich tapestry of symbols and rituals that point to the ultimate sacrifice made by Jesus.

Old Testament Typology

1. The Passover Lamb: One of the most significant typologies of Christ's atonement is the Passover lamb. In Exodus 12, God instructs the Israelites to sacrifice a lamb without blemish and apply its blood to their doorposts, so that the angel of death would pass over their homes. This act of deliverance prefigures Christ, the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). The Apostle Paul explicitly connects Christ to the Passover lamb, stating, "For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed" (1 Corinthians 5:7).

2. The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur): Leviticus 16 describes the Day of Atonement, a solemn day when the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the sins of Israel. The high priest would offer a bull for his own sins and a goat for the sins of the people, symbolizing the need for a mediator and a substitutionary sacrifice. Hebrews 9:11-12 explains how Christ, as the greater High Priest, entered the heavenly sanctuary "not by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption."

3. The Scapegoat: Also part of the Day of Atonement, the scapegoat ritual involved the high priest laying hands on a live goat, confessing over it all the iniquities of the Israelites, and sending it into the wilderness (Leviticus 16:21-22). This act symbolized the removal of sin from the community. Jesus fulfills this typology by bearing the sins of humanity and removing them "as far as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12).

4. The Sacrificial System: The entire sacrificial system outlined in Leviticus serves as a type of Christ's atoning work. The offerings, including burnt offerings, sin offerings, and peace offerings, all point to the necessity of bloodshed for the forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 10:4 states, "It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins," highlighting the insufficiency of these sacrifices and the need for Christ's perfect sacrifice.

5. The Bronze Serpent: In Numbers 21:8-9, God instructs Moses to make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole so that anyone bitten by a serpent could look at it and live. Jesus refers to this event in John 3:14-15 , saying, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life." This typology illustrates the necessity of faith in Christ's atoning work for salvation.

Fulfillment in Christ

The typologies of atonement in the Old Testament find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. His sacrificial death on the cross is the culmination of these foreshadowed events, providing a once-for-all atonement for sin. As the writer of Hebrews declares, "But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God" (Hebrews 10:12). Through His atoning work, Jesus reconciles humanity to God, offering redemption and eternal life to all who believe.

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Genesis 4:4
And Abel, he also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect to Abel and to his offering:
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Hebrews 11:4
By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaks.
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Genesis 22:2
And he said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and get you into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.
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Hebrews 11:17,19
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
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Exodus 12:5,11,14
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: you shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
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1 Corinthians 5:7
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
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Exodus 24:8
And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you concerning all these words.
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Hebrews 9:20
Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God has enjoined to you.
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Leviticus 16:30,34
For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.
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Hebrews 9:7,12,28
But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
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Leviticus 17:11
For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you on the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul.
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Hebrews 9:22
And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
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Library

The Fact of the Redeemer's Return was Foreshadowed in the Ritual ...
... The thrice repeated "all" evidenced the completeness of the atonement there made,
and thus ... now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Rom.8:1 ...
//christianbookshelf.org/pink/the redeemers return/5 the fact of the.htm

Ninth Day. Holiness and Mediation.
... of the coming Saviour, our blessed Lord Jesus, a wondrous ... the high priest not only
to effect atonement by his ... person to secure a holiness too that made him and ...
/.../murray/holy in christ/ninth day holiness and mediation.htm

The Blood of Sprinkling
... I put this strongly, because the attempt is being made nowadays to
set forth Jesus apart from his cross and atonement. ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 32 1886/the blood of sprinkling.htm

The Knowledge of Jesus Christ the Best Knowledge
... to instruct, a priest to make an atonement for, and ... I have made this digression from
the main point before ... lead him to a farther knowledge of Jesus Christ, and ...
/.../selected sermons of george whitefield/the knowledge of jesus christ.htm

What is the Sanctuary?
... forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high ... perform the closing work of
atonement, preparatory to ... as a mediator, the scapegoat typified Satan, the ...
/.../the great controversy between christ and satan /23 what is the sanctuary.htm

What is the Sanctuary?
... forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high ... to perform the closing work
of atonement preparatory to ... as a mediator, the scapegoat typified Satan, the ...
//christianbookshelf.org/white/the great controversy/chapter 23 what is the.htm

Entire Sanctification in Type.
... evening, the paschal lamb, the Day of Atonement, the offerings ... Ye who are far off
are made nigh by ... own blood""and especially "The blood of Jesus Christ, His ...
/.../clark/the theology of holiness/chapter iv entire sanctification in.htm

The Great High-Priest.
... acquire the power of sympathy by offering atonement for Himself ... Shall we say that
Jesus Christ had less moral ... said to Him, "Thou art My Son," made Him thereby ...
/.../chapter iv the great high-priest.htm

How Christ is the Way in General, "I am the Way. "
... the curse and wrath that was due to us, being "made a curse ... "By him have we now received
atonement," Romans 5 ... but it is only the blood of Jesus, typified by that ...
/.../brown/christ the way the truth and the life/chapter iii how christ is.htm

Preface.
... specific statement of the doctrine of Atonement, in this ... until he had spiritualized
Law, and made it penetrate ... minatory element in the words of Jesus has also ...
//christianbookshelf.org/shedd/sermons to the natural man/preface.htm