The Apostles' Creed (part twelve)

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2).

Today’s text contains an important word: atoning. Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Other ways to translate this word include sacrifice, payment, and cover. No matter how you say it, the meaning is clear—through Jesus, our sins are forgiven.

But there is something neat about translating atone as cover. Using this term draws our attention back to the Old Testament. When God designed the Tent of Meeting for the Israelites, the innermost room was called the Most Holy Place. This is where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. The Ark was a special box designed to hold the most important document on earth—the covenant God had made with His people at Mt. Sinai. Once each year, on the Day of Atonement, the Chief Priest would sacrifice an unblemished lamb and take its blood into the Most Holy Place, where he sprinkled it on the cover of the Ark. When this was done, God forgave all the sins of His covenant people.

This annual ceremony was a picture of what God planned to do in the future. The lamb’s blood anticipated the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world. When Jesus shed His blood for us, our sins were covered up—covered forever. This is why King David wrote: Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered (Psalm 32:1). Jesus is the atoning sacrifice, the One who covers our sins.

In the Apostles’ Creed, we say, "I believe in the forgiveness of sins." The Catechism says that this is the single most important teaching of our Christian faith. Do you wonder why some people give up reading the Bible? It’s because they do not believe in the forgiveness of sins. If you cannot accept that God is willing to forgive you freely and completely for Jesus’ sake, then the Bible is nothing but a book of laws and regulations that must be stringently obeyed. If there is no forgiveness, then God is only a harsh judge who hates sinners, a God without compassion and whose heart is unmoved by love. If there is no forgiveness, then the only way for you to ever be free from guilt is to somehow make right everything you have ever done wrong. If there is no forgiveness, full and free, then Christianity is no different from any other religion—because all earthly religions demand that you escape hell and climb to heaven by your own determination and self-discipline.

But we believe in the forgiveness of sins. This belief has changed our whole attitude towards God. Because we know that Jesus will be merciful to us, we rush to Him for comfort when we have done wrong. In contrast, sinners who don’t trust in Jesus’ mercy want to get as far away from God as possible, because all they expect from Him is anger. We see it already in the Garden of Eden; after Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they ran and hid as soon as they heard Him coming. When God confronted the first couple, they did not even think about asking for mercy; they just assumed that punishment would be God’s response. So each of them tried to escape responsibility for their actions by shifting the blame. It was only after God promised them a Savior that Adam and Eve felt comfortable standing before Him once more.

We believe in the forgiveness of sins. This belief has changed our whole way of life. Romans chapter 3 tells us that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. Over the years since Paul wrote these words, many have criticized this teaching. They claim that if you believe forgiveness is free, you won’t make any serious effort to live a godly life—why abandon sinful behavior when all you have to do is ask and you’re forgiven? But this is a groundless fear. When Zacchaeus found out from Jesus that his forgiveness was free, the little man immediately paid back everyone he had cheated and gave half his wealth to the poor. When forgiveness is free, it moves our hearts to thankfulness and generosity. We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19).

We believe in the forgiveness of sins. That’s why we love our Lord and try to serve Him with everything we have. A man raised in slavery was purchased by a different owner, who then set him free. His friends asked him what he would do with his new life. He astonished them by saying that he was going to stay where he was and continue to do the work he’d always done. Frustrated by his attitude, they asked him: "then what’s the difference between being a slave and being free?" "The difference," he replied, "is that, as a slave, I had to do these things. Now I want to." In his gratitude for being freed, the former slave chose to serve the man who freed him. So it is with us. By forgiving us, Jesus bought us freedom from Satan’s control. Freed from slavery to sin, our grateful response is to serve our Lord. We don’t try to obey God’s commandments because we have to, we try because we want to live lives that please the Savior. We serve God,not out of fear, but out of love.

We believe in the forgiveness of sins. This empowers us to forgive each other. A cornerstone of my premarital counseling is the session on forgiveness. If a man believes he never does anything wrong, he will expect the same from his fiancée. If a woman isn’t sure that God has truly forgiven her, she will have a hard time forgiving her partner. While issues regarding money and sex can cause significant problems in a marriage, they are not the leading cause of divorce. The chief problem in every troubled marriage has to do with a wrong attitude towards sin and forgiveness. Strong marriages happen when both spouses know that they are sinners and trust that Jesus forgives them; such couples have the honesty to admit their sins to each other and the compassion to forgive those transgressions. In the same way, parents and children cannot expect to get along with each other unless each is willing to admit their own sins and forgive the sins of those they live with. This also applies to church life; the members of a congregation must confess their sins and offer forgiveness if they wish to work together harmoniously in service to the Lord.

We believe in the forgiveness of sins. This moves us to support churches and mission work. Note the reach of Jesus’ hands—our sermon text says: He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. Jesus died for everyone—but two-thirds of the world either doesn’t know this or doesn’t care. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross will do them no good if they don’t believe that His blood can cover their sins.

Way back in the days before planes or trains, the governor signed a pardon for a man on death row. The letter of pardon had to be delivered by horseback. The rider set off with haste, as only two days remained before the time of execution. But the messenger ran into all sorts of obstacles. The horse stepped in a hole and broke a leg; undaunted, the rider continued his mission on foot. Then it started raining; soon the creeks were overflowing their banks. In spite of wind, hail and high water, the messenger pressed on. Hungry, wet, bruised and totally exhausted, he reached the prison only 30 minutes before the execution. When the warden had read the pardon, he looked at the wreck of a man who had delivered it and asked: "Why did you risk your life for this scoundrel? Why didn’t you let him die? Are you a relative?" "No, sir." "Are you a friend?" "No, sir." "Do you know the man?" "No, sir. All I know is that I was once sentenced to die and was pardoned for my crime."

We, too, were once sentenced to die—die eternally in hell—but by God’s grace we were pardoned of all our crimes. That’s why we are interested in sending out missionaries; that’s why we’re interested in filling churches with guests.

We believe in the forgiveness of sins. This gives us comfort at the time of death. Most of you reading this have been to funerals. Most of you have lost someone dear to you. But forgiveness of sins gives us hope as the casket is closed, reassurance as it is lowered into the ground. When a person’s sins are forgiven by Jesus, their soul is welcome in paradise. While we miss them, we do not grieve for them, because right now they are far happier than we are. When our sins are forgiven, we do not fear death because heaven is our home.

There should be no doubts in your heart about God’s offer of mercy through His Son. John the Baptist pointed out Jesus with the words: Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29) The disciple whom Jesus loved most dearly of all, wrote: the blood of Jesus…purifies us from all sin (1 John 1:7). Speaking of the Lord, His prophet said: We all, like sheep, have gone astray…and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). Christ became our substitute. He suffered what we should have suffered, paid what we should have paid. And so David wrote: The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love…he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities…as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103). How far is the east from the west? They are opposites that never touch. Through Jesus, our loving God has taken the guilt of our sin and sent them so far away that neither He nor we will ever think of it again!

We can believe in the forgiveness of sins because of the tremendous sacrifice God made by giving us His Son. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might gain the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). During a war many years ago, a father and son were walking along a city street. The boy noticed a star in a window and asked his dad what it meant. The father explained, "that means the parents living there had a son who was killed at the front line of the war." A little later, the first star of evening appeared in the sky over the rooftops; pointing to it, the child asked: "Did God also lose a son at the front?" After some thought the father replied, "He sure did. God looked down from heaven and saw man fighting a losing battle against the devil, sin and death, so He sent His Son into this world to fight for us. He fought hard and well and finally died at the front." God sent His Son to suffer, bleed and die to bring you the offer of pardon for your crimes. The almighty Father takes your forgiveness that seriously.

And we believe in the forgiveness of sins because Jesus Himself demonstrated forgiveness. Time and again he would tell people, Take heart…your sins are forgiven (Matthew 9:2). When our Lord was on trial for His life, Peter denied being Jesus’ friend for fear of being arrested—yet Jesus forgave him. Jesus even asked His Father to forgive the men who nailed Him to the cross and made fun of Him as the life dripped from His body. Jesus’ mission on earth was to bring us forgiveness, and He proved it over and over again.

Every Christian church sets up a cross where it will be the center of attention. Look at the cross. That cross represents forgiveness. That’s what Christianity is all about—God forgiving us, and our sharing that forgiveness with each other. Forgiveness repairs our broken relationship with God, replacing mistrust and fear with confidence and love. Forgiveness repairs our broken relationships with each other, healing families, strengthening friendships, and prompting enemies to set aside their differences and seek common ground. Forgiveness is what our world needs, and forgiveness is the gift that only Christ can bring.