ATONEMENT IN A GODLESS WORLD

By Andrea Guachalla

Back in 2001, a renowned British author called Ian McEwan published a metafictional novel titled “Atonement” that accurately illustrates how atonement – the reconciliation of God and humankind through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ – is perceived by a godless culture, as opposed to how its explained by Scripture and understood by those who believe in Christ by the grace of God.

The story Ian tells in Atonement, it’s about a young female novelist during the Second World War named Briony, who ruins the life of her sister, Cecilia, and her sister’s boyfriend, Robbie, by lying about a crime that takes place in her household. Robbie ends up being imprisoned unfairly, and then he is sent to war, and Cecilia ends up having a miserable life as a nurse, exempt from the luxuries that her rich family possesses and enjoys. Tormented by her sins and the remembrance of those whose lives she ruined, she goes on a long journey seeking forgiveness, and reconciliation, atonement for her sins. But atonement is nowhere to be found for Briony. The book culminates by stating what atonement ends up being for this young writer, and I believe for whoever doesn’t believe in God, and Christ as their savior:

“How can a novelist achieve atonement when,
with her absolute power of deciding outcomes,
she is also god?

There is no entity, no higher form,
that she can appeal to, or be reconciled with,
or that can forgive her.
There is nothing outside her,
[There is] no atonement for God, or novelists,
even if they are atheists.

It was always an impossible task,
and that was precisely the point.
The attempt was all.”

We are often exposed to this idea that we are in control of our own lives, and that we can control or direct our destiny as if we were God. Often we are told that the God of the Bible does not even exist, therefore he can’t forgive, nor judge, nor atone for our sins. We live in a godless world where sin is celebrated and relative truths are embraced, in a world that rages against holiness and the only Truth, that of God’s Word. This is what we get in the world: people who do not want God, nor repent from their transgressions, nor seek God’s forgiveness and to be reconciled with Him who is our creator. It’s a world that rejects Christ, and God’s plan for salvation.

Like Briony, the world tends to think that we have the power to decide outcomes as if we were God. Briony’s conclusion is the world’s conclusion: there is no entity, nor higher form that man can appeal to, or seek forgiveness from, or be reconciled with. According to the world, there is nothing outside of itself, therefore, there is no atonement for sins, nor the need for it, Christ’s work on the cross is just a story, and God’s almightiness and sovereignty are just words. In the world, we are all demi-gods amidst other mighty deities, except we are not demi-gods…

None of this is true. We are sinners in need of a savior (Ephesians 2). And what a great Father we have that had a plan for salvation so that everyone who He would call (John 6:44), and who would repent and have faith in Christ would be saved for eternity(Acts 11:18), He was the same God who from the Old Testament portrayed what Christ would do in the cross later on. It is there, in the Pentateuch, where we read about the sacrificial system where animals would be offered as a way to atone for the sins of the people and to appease the wrath of God. It was the God of order, righteousness, and love who instructed the people to build the Tabernacle so they could approach Him, and who set the regulations for worship and the atoning for sins that gave place to Yom Kipur, the Day of Expiation that was held once a year for the Jewish people.

This same God is the one who willfully sent His one and only Son to the earth, the One who could atone for the sins of all. And it was this Son, Jesus Christ, who voluntarily offered Himself so that we could be reconciled with God through His death (Isaiah 53) and so He was made the perfect and last Scapegoat. The end of the Old Covenant, and the beginning of a New Covenant (Hebrews 8). What part do we have in all of this? What good was there in us so that God would send a savior to atone for our sins, iniquity, rebellion, and transgressions? As a theologian once said, the only thing we offer in this scenario of salvation, atonement, and the work of Christ, in general, is the sin that made it necessary. Nothing else. And this is why Christianity is so contrary to what the world says about man.

Because no, we are not victims of a tyrant God, we are His wrongdoers. We are not gods and goddesses, we are less than dust in comparison to Christ our Holy Savior. We are not good enough, strong enough, intelligent enough to control our destiny, only God controls what comes to pass while we are like mist trapped in this fourth dimension, time. Without Christ we can’t be reconciled with God, without our Savior we can’t be made righteous in the eyes of our Father. Without Christ we cannot love, we cannot do good works, we cannot understand God’s Word.

Oh, that we would understand our low state when we grasp through God’s Word, prayer, and the Holy Spirit His holiness and perfect love! That we would not dare look up to the sky in reverence to the God who gave us grace, and our Savior who reconciled us with His Father! If we were awed by His greatness, we would be equally awed by our faultiness, and transgressions, and again awed that He, our Savior, was made our Servant to atone for our sins (Isaiah 53).

What can we ask but that the Lord will give us boldness and strength to share His Word and be like Him in this world that doesn’t want to know Him? What can we ask but that He will truly make us light and salt in our households, in our schools, in our jobs, and our neighborhoods? What else can we do but be grateful because we were lost, and He found us, we were dead and He gave us life, we had no purpose nor meaning, however, through Christ He gave us a purpose?

How shall we answer the question of whether there can be atonement in a godless world? Let us answer this only: outside of Christ there is no way, nor truth, nor life, outside of Christ there is no atonement, nor salvation, nor reconciliation with the Father, only nothingness and judgment, sin and despair. But today, as His Word says, is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). Whoever is convicted by their sins is called to repent, and believe in Christ, the Son of God, our Savior, and thus have a relationship with God the Father.

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References:

• J. I. Packer. 2013. “From Heaven He Came and Sought Her.” Crossway.
• Ian McEwan. 2001. “Atonement.” Vintage.