Jesus’s atoning work means for genuine reconciliation with God.
John 3:16—the most famous NT verse—says “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Sometimes we interpret that verse to mean “God so hated the world that he had to send his son to die in its place.”
“Atonement”
The notion of atonement—which means “to be reconciled to God”—is based on Jesus’s death. Jesus willingly went to the cross on our behalf in order to turn away God’s wrath (an inherent part of his love, his justice, and ultimately his holiness).
Because of Jesus’s work on the cross, the bases on which we stand with God when we believe is no longer our rebellion, it is now the righteousness and obedience of Christ. This means that because of Jesus, when we repent and believe, God is genuinely happy with us.
He’s not faking it or lying to himself. Jesus’s work fully satisfies the barriers between us and God. The price has been paid. The account is settled. The debt has been paid in full! He’s the father who says to the prodigal son, “Come home!”
It is because of Christ’s effective work that God’s wrath is turned away. It is appeased. Because of Jesus, he is genuinely and truly happy with us when we simply repent and believe. It’s that simple.
The Loss of the Divine Presence
Since the problem of sin is the loss of the presence of God, justification is ultimately about the restoration of his divine presence through the Holy Spirit.
Justification is the means for the reconciliation between God and man. This reconciliation between God and us is the basis of the term “atonement” (i.e., “at-one-ment”), which is at the heart of justification. Atonement describes what justification accomplishes: restoring a ruptured divine-human relationship, making those who were at odds “at one.” Justification draws on the imagery of a courtroom in which God judges and declares us—the guilty—innocent based on Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf.
Reconciliation
The pronouncement of being truly innocent means that reconciliation between us and God is now possible. Because of Jesus, he is able to turn away his wrath from our wickedness because the harm that we’ve done others in our evil has been repaid through Jesus’s death.
