The Day of Atonement is coming in a few days. And of course, as we prepare for it, we also seek (most importantly) to be prepared for the epic, final Day of Atonement – the Day in which the Door of Probation will forever close.
On that Day, we will either be forever Sealed with the Seal of the
Living God.
Or we will be marked with the beast.
Two sides.
Two destinies.
One Day.
Prayerfully considering this, I recently had a strange thought.
I felt almost like a three-dimensional person beginning to catch
flashes of a fourth dimension—not scientifically, of course, but spiritually.
I wasn't actually seeing another physical dimension. I was beginning
to see reality differently.
And perhaps the simplest way I can explain it is this:
We are born seeing ourselves as the center of our universe.
Everything begins with me.
What do I want?
What do I need?
What happens to me?
Am I happy?
Am I safe?
Will I be saved?
What does God have planned for me?
Even our religious thinking can remain centered on ourselves.
I need forgiveness.
I need salvation.
I need protection.
I need eternal life.
None of those statements are wrong.
But there is something deeper.
What if I am not the center of the story at all?
What if I have been looking at reality from the wrong perspective?
The Self as the Center
Think about a solar system.
Imagine every planet believing that it is the sun.
Each one says, "Everything revolves around me."
That sounds absurd to us.
Yet spiritually, that is exactly how fallen humanity tends to live.
Self is the operating system.
We are born selfish.
We have to learn to share, to sacrifice, to consider others, to love.
And even after becoming believers, the gravitational pull of self
remains remarkably strong.
If there existed a complete record of earth’s history, including the
lives of every person who has probably thought and operated in this manner,
since the dawn of time on earth, it would not be the story of any of them. Each
person who has ever lived has only played an infinitesimally small role in a much
larger tapestry. The Tapestry actually portrays the Story of Another. In fact,
even its very name: HISTORY, comes from meshing two telling words together. It
is HIS-Story.
We can unconsciously make ourselves the center of God's Story.
But Yahweh is not a supporting Character in our story.
We are supporting characters in His.
He is the Sun.
He is the center.
He is the beginning.
He is the end.
Everything is from Him, through Him, and unto Him.
He is Light. Darkness is the absence of Light.
He is Truth. Everything contrary to Truth is deception.
He is Life. Apart from Him, there is no life.
And once you begin seeing that, something extraordinary happens.
Suddenly, familiar doctrines that were only appreciated on the
surface, begin to look different as you view them from a new, greater depth.
Salvation is… Deeper.
We usually approach Salvation from the question:
"How can I be saved?"
Again, that is a legitimate question.
But it begins with me.
What if we step back and reapproach it as HIS-Story?
Why did Yahweh provide Salvation in the first place?
Because humanity rebelled against the One who is Life.
Because Sin produced a Breach between the Creator and His creation.
Because Yahweh's Character is Love.
Because He desired to restore what Sin had destroyed.
And because He provided a Way back.
Salvation is not merely God rescuing me from punishment.
It is reconciliation with Him.
It is restoration of the broken relationship between the creature and
the Creator.
It is being brought back into harmony with the Source of Life.
And suddenly the center moves.
It isn't:
"God exists to save me."
It becomes:
"I exist to be reconciled to God."
That's a very different perspective… with an existential ripple effect
that begins to touch every nuance of who I am and how I think…
Judgment is… more Profound.
Perhaps nowhere is this shift more profound than in Judgment.
When we think about Judgment Day, we naturally imagine ourselves
standing before God.
I am on Trial.
Will I be Saved?
Will I be lost?
What will my Record say?
What will the Verdict be?
And yes—there is a Life-and-death reality here.
But what if we widen and deepen the picture?
The great controversy is not ultimately a controversy about us.
It is a controversy over Yahweh's Character, His Government, His
Law, His Justice, His Mercy, and His Right to Rule.
The adversary has attacked God's Character.
He has accused Him.
He has portrayed God's Government as unjust.
And the entire universe has been watching.
So, Judgment is not merely about determining who gets into Heaven.
It is also about the vindication of Yahweh's Character before the
universe.
The question isn't simply:
"Will I be Sealed?"
The larger question is:
"How can I serve to help vindicate Yahweh’s Character and
bring Him Glory?"
He is Righteous.
He is Just.
He is Merciful.
He is Faithful.
He is Love.
And our place in Judgment matters enormously—but we are not the
center of the courtroom.
He is.
Atonement is… far more
Powerful.
This is where the Day of Atonement becomes particularly powerful.
The word atonement carries the idea of being at one.
Reconciled.
Restored.
Brought back into harmony.
We tend to approach the Day of Atonement by asking:
"What sins have I committed?"
"Have I confessed everything?"
"Am I ready?"
Those are important questions.
But perhaps there is a deeper question:
At one with Whom?
The answer is Yahweh.
Atonement isn't ultimately about getting me comfortable.
It is about restoring the Breach between the rebel and the King.
And when I begin to see that, I realize something sobering:
Atonement is a Life-or-Death matter.
The Day the Door Closes
This brings us to Noah.
The Flood is one of Scripture's clearest pictures of the final Judgment.
The story of the Day the Door of the Ark was shut is a prophetic shadow picture
of the final Day of Atonement.
Returning to the Biblical Story of Noah…
We call it the story of Noah, but it really wasn’t his story either…
Yahweh warned.
Yahweh provided a way of escape.
Noah preached, but it was Yahweh’s Word and Message that he was
preaching.
The Ark stood open.
And people had a choice.
Then came the moment when:
"Yahweh shut him in."
The door closed.
And once Yahweh closed that door, no human being could open it.
That is a terrifying picture.
But notice something we often miss.
The people outside the Ark weren't simply rejecting Noah.
They were rejecting Yahweh's provision of Salvation through Noah's
message.
Noah wasn't the Savior.
The Ark wasn't ultimately the Savior.
Yahweh was the Savior.
Noah was the messenger.
The Ark was the provision.
Yahweh was the One who warned.
Yahweh was the One who provided the way of escape.
Yahweh was the One who closed the door.
And when the rain finally came, the people outside suddenly understood
what they had previously dismissed.
They may have pounded on the Ark.
They may have pleaded.
They may have believed Noah after all.
But they had waited too long.
The Door to life had closed.
Yahweh had closed the Door.
“…These things
saith He that is Holy, He that is True, He that hath the key of David, He that
openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth.” Revelation
3:7
"As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the
days of the Son of man." Matthew 24:37
The warning is not merely:
"Don't reject Noah."
It is:
Do not reject Yahweh's provided Way of Salvation while the Door is
still open.
Even Noah Contains a Picture of Atonement
There is another fascinating connection.
Genesis says Noah was commanded to cover the Ark with pitch.
The Hebrew word is kaphar—the same root associated with
covering, making atonement, and reconciliation.
The Ark was covered.
Those inside were protected.
Those outside were not.
The picture is remarkably powerful.
The issue wasn't whether the people considered themselves to be “good”
people.
It wasn't whether they had families.
It wasn't whether they were loved.
It wasn't whether they had done some good things.
The issue was whether they had entered the provision Yahweh had
made.
And that brings us back to the Day of Atonement.
"God Loves Me" Is True—But It Isn't the Whole Gospel
We often say:
"God loves me."
And He does.
But we can unconsciously turn that Truth into something Scripture
never promised:
"Because God loves me, He will save me regardless of what I
choose."
No.
God's love does not abolish human choice nor responsiblity.
His love does not redefine rebellion as righteousness.
His mercy does not cancel justice.
He has done everything possible to provide Salvation.
But Salvation still involves our response to Him.
Ultimately, just as it did in Noah’s day, Salvation requires us to
align with Yahweh. To orient around Him and His Word, rather than believing
what we think or doing what we want.
The Bible presents two ultimate destinies:
Life and Death.
And the issue is ultimately whether we will remain connected to the
Source of Life.
God will not preserve rebellion forever.
He will not immortalize sin.
He will not allow evil to continue destroying His creation throughout Eternity.
The final destruction of sin is therefore not a failure of God's Love.
It is the final triumph of His Righteousness.
Righteousness and Mercy Meet
And here we arrive at Calvary – where the Blood of Messiah was shed
for our Atonement.
At the Cross, something breathtaking happens.
Yahweh does not say:
"I love you, therefore Justice doesn't matter."
Nor does He say:
"Justice matters, therefore Mercy doesn't matter."
Instead, Righteousness and Mercy meet in a harmonized picture of
Atonement.
Psalm 85 says:
"Mercy and Truth are met together; Righteousness and Peace
have kissed each other."
Calvary demonstrates something the universe needed to know:
Yahweh's Love does not make Him unjust.
And His justice does not make Him unloving.
He is both.
The Cross is therefore not merely about getting me out of
trouble.
It is a revelation of who Yahweh is.
His Government is displayed.
His Righteousness is demonstrated.
His Mercy is revealed.
His Love is poured out.
And His Character is vindicated.
Again, the center isn't me.
The center is Him.
Then What About Death?
Here the perspective becomes almost startling.
If self is the center, death is the ultimate outcome.
Because I cease.
My plans cease.
My experiences cease.
My life ends.
But if Yahweh is the center, the question changes.
Paul could say:
"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
Why?
Because life is not ultimately about preserving self.
Life is about Christ.
If He is the center, then even the question of life and death becomes
secondary to the question:
Am I His?
And isn’t this a fundamental question of Atonement?
When we begin to live with Yahweh as our center – and with life and
death secondary to the overarching goal of submission to Him and living as His –
it produces a profound and transforming freedom.
Finally, I realize – my life is actually not about me!
Now, my formerly self-centered heart can say:
"Yahweh, whether I live or die, I want Your Will."
And something rare and profound begins to happen inside.
My formerly desperate grip on self begins to loosen.
The question stops being:
"How do I make sure I get what I want?"
And becomes:
"What does He want?"
That is surrender.
That is faith.
That is REST.
That is At-one-ment!
This is the ultimate existential realization… For when this realization fully dawns upon
us, it changes why we live.
If this earthly existence is not the ultimate reality, why are we
here?
Why breathe?
Why struggle?
Why endure?
Why live?
Because this life is not the final destination.
This life is actually preparation for LIVING – which is living
for eternity.
This life is the arena in which we choose whom we will serve.
It is where the question of allegiance is settled.
It is where the character is formed.
It is where we learn whether we will remain centered upon self—or
surrender ourselves to the One Who is the true Center of reality.
We were not created merely to exist.
We were created for Him.
For His love.
For His glory.
For relationship with Him.
For His purposes.
Paul says: "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all
things: to Whom be glory forever." Romans 11:36
Everything begins with Him.
Everything continues through Him.
Everything ultimately returns to Him.
And Then Something Changes
Perhaps this is the spiritual "dimension" I have been trying
to describe.
The first way of seeing reality is:
Me → God
God is over there.
I am here.
I need something from Him.
I need Him to save me.
I need Him to bless me.
I need Him to protect me.
I need Him to answer my prayers.
Even when I do ministry for Him, I am not asking Him what He is doing
(and joining Him), I am asking Him to bless me in what I want to do for Him.
Even though I believe in God, I remain the reference point.
But then something begins to change.
The perspective flips:
Yahweh → me
He is the center.
I am the one who exists in relation to Him.
My life derives its meaning from Him.
My Salvation is reconciliation with Him.
My righteousness being clothed in His Righteousness.
My purpose is His Purpose.
My future is His Future.
My life is His.
My death is His.
My everything is His.
And suddenly, deeply and profoundly, I understand something I may have
intellectually “known”, for years, yet it hadn’t previously penetrated:
It isn't about me.
Not ultimately.
It never was.
The Sun of the Solar System
Imagine again the solar system.
We aren't the sun.
We are planets.
And planets don't generate their own light.
They receive it.
They reflect it.
They orbit around something greater than themselves.
That may be one of the great spiritual problems of humanity:
We keep trying to become our own sun.
We want our own truth.
Our own morality.
Our own purpose.
Our own authority.
Our own way.
Our own salvation.
But there is only one true center.
Yahweh.
He is Light.
He is Truth.
He is Life.
And when we move away from Him, we don't create another source of
life.
We are enveloped in darkness in the realm of death.
There’s another aspect of the final Day of Atonement that is foreshadowed
in the Flood story… Because the Day the
Door shuts is a life and death Day, there are people pleading for their lives
in the Flood story… They have chosen
already and their pleading cannot prevail.
But the pleading is there… its part of the story of Atonement…
Atonement... Pleading for our lives... Letting that sink in...
So, on what basis do I plead on the Final Day of Atonement?
"Grant me Eternal Life, because I'm a good person..."
When self is on the throne of our souls, we do tend to think we’re
good. Street evangelist, Ray Comfort, often asks regular people, on the street,
“If there’s a Heaven and if there’s a Hell, where are you going when you die?”
(Not that I agree with Ray on the State of the Dead, but I digress) …
99% of everyone Ray asks, replies, “God loves me. I’m a good person. I’m
going to Heaven.”
It doesn’t matter who Ray asks the reply is almost always the same. The
person might be a democrat or maybe they identify as a republican. They might be
a conservative biology professor or a neo-nazi skin head. Maybe it’s a lesbian
couple that he asks, actively living in this lifestyle choice. No matter who
they are nor how they are choosing to live – the answer they give is almost
always that they are going to Heaven.
But, I am not a good person (Mark 10:18; Romans 3:23). No human being
is a good person, by biblical definition! We have all broken the Law of Yahweh
(which is Sin – 1 John 3:4) more times than we can even count! Therefore, if God
is Just Judge – and He is – what Judgment do we deserve? We deserve a Judgment
of death…
Death is what I deserve (Romans 6:23). So, no, on Atonement, I cannot
plead for my life on the basis of my own merits…
So, on what basis do I plead on the Final Day of Atonement?
"Grant me Eternal Life, because people love and need me…"
Well, that “argument” got Dorcas raised from the dead... (Acts 9:36-42).
But, as much as I am encouraged to manifest them in my life – I’m even called
to Glorify God (Matthew 5:16) with them, still, none of my good works are
sufficient to plead for Eternity with (Ephesians 2:8-9) when my life is weighed
in the Scales of Divine Judgment.
So, on what basis do I plead on the Final Day of Atonement?
And then the light comes on... EVERYTHING is always about Yahweh...
He is the center... not me... not anyone else... Him...
So, on what basis do I plead for my life?
I plead for His Sake!
·
“Nevertheless
he saved them for His Name's sake…” (Psalm 106:8)
·
Therefore
say unto the House of Israel, Thus saith Yahweh God; I do not this for
your sakes, O house of Israel, but for Mine holy Name's Sake… And I will
sanctify My great Name...” Ezekiel 36:22-23
·
“For
My Own Sake, for My Own Sake, I do it, for how should My Name be profaned? My
Glory I will not give to another.” Isaiah 48:11
Scripture tells us to plead for our lives- Atonement overtones and
message - for Yahweh's Sake... For His Name... For His Glory...
The Day of Atonement Is About Coming Home to the Center
Perhaps this is one reason the Day of Atonement is so solemn.
It confronts us with the ultimate question:
Where do I stand in relation to Yahweh?
Not:
"Am I a good person?"
Not:
"Do people love me?"
Not:
"Am I important?"
Not:
"Have I accomplished enough?"
And not even:
"Do I deserve to live?"
Because if the standard is me, the answer is hopeless.
Instead, when we stand in Judgment, seeking Life, we plead on another
basis.
His Righteousness.
His Mercy.
His Character.
His Name.
His Covenant.
His Provision.
His Glory.
Why does Yahweh blot out my sins?
Isaiah gives us a remarkable glimpse of this God-centered perspective:
"I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for
mine own sake..."
For His own sake.”
That sounds strange to a self-centered mind.
But once Yahweh becomes the center, it begins to make perfect sense.
I don't plead:
"Save me because I am worthy."
I don't plead:
"Save me because people need me."
I don't plead:
"Save me because I have done enough good."
I plead:
"For Your Name's Sake."
"For Your glory."
"Because You are Righteous."
"Because You are Merciful."
"Because You provided the Way."
"Because I accept Your Invitation and Provision and I choose
to belong to You."
And then something remarkable happens.
The fear of losing me begins to disappear.
It has once been said that fear is a form of idolatry. Yes! In fact,
it is the deepest form of idolatry. For when we fear, we are saying that
something or someone is greater than the power of God over my life.
But, it’s even deeper than that. When we fear we are focused on self
instead of Yahweh. Fear indicates that we are focused on our own limits, vulnerabilities,
and what we might lose.
We fear a loss of control!
But we are not God – The reality is that we never had control to begin
with!
Fear, at its roots is me trying to claim the “solar system” as my own, placing myself in the central “sun” position. And then, being shocked to discover that things are not orbiting around me…
But when I finally stop trying to be the center point, yielding that
position to the One Who rightfully holds it, I can finally say:
"Not my will, but Thine, be done."
And I can rest.
At-One...
Maybe that is what Atonement ultimately teaches us.
Not simply:
"I want to go to heaven."
But:
"I want to be at one with Heaven."
Not merely:
"Save my life."
But:
"Connect me to the Source of Life."
Not:
"Make everything work out for me."
But:
"Make me right with You."
Not:
"Protect my kingdom."
But:
"Your Kingdom come."
Not:
"Glorify me."
But:
"Father, glorify Thy name."
The closer we come to Yahweh, the less central self becomes.
That is the deepest meaning of repentance.
Not simply feeling sorry for what I have done.
But turning away from self as the center of reality and turning
back toward Yahweh.
Turning Home.
Coming back into orbit.
Coming back into harmony.
Coming back at-one.
Perhaps the greatest sin to repent for in this time of Teshuva isn’t the bad things that I have done – but the rotten root system from which all those bad things sprung: having self as my center…
Sin whispers:
"What about me?"
"What do I want?"
"What will I get?"
"What happens to me?"
But Atonement calls us into an entirely different reality.
Look up.
The Sun is not you.
The universe does not revolve around you.
Your life is not ultimately your own.
Your Salvation is not ultimately about you.
Judgment is not ultimately about you.
Atonement is not ultimately about you.
Even death is not ultimately about you.
It is about Him. It’s HIS-Story… It always was.
And when we finally see that, perhaps we begin to understand what it
means to truly live.
"For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things."
Everything begins with Him.
Everything exists through Him.
Everything finds its purpose in Him.
And ultimately—
everything is about Him.
The Day of Atonement asks us to face the most important question of
all:
Am I still living at the center of my own universe—or have I
finally surrendered the center to the One who has always belonged there?