The Great Misrepresentation

The atonement never made a lick of sense to me until one day, by happenstance, I came upon an article by John Gavazonni called the Great Misrepresentation. That was the first glimmer of light when I read the following words

In the old covenant, we begin to see the meaning of the blood when Jehovah says to the Israelites, "I have given you the blood upon the altar" (Lev. 17:11). We need the blood, not God! The Lord spoke these words to me as He unfolded the meaning of reconciliation. he said, "I am not the god who demands blood. I am the God who gives blood" Oh, precious words!

Since then it has been a long journey, of precept upon precept, but as I journey I am coming to a clearer understanding of the atonement and its purpose. I have gotten a glimpse into the heart of a God who did not demand a bloody sacrifice in our stead in order to reestablish a relationship with us. It has only been lately, with an understanding of Rene Girard and his mimetic theory....an anthropology of the cross that I have more fully realized just what it was that Jesus saved us from. He saved us from ourselves. From our blood lust. From our sacrificial frenzy. He saved us from the principalities and powers that keep us in bondage and ignorance.

Why did Jesus die?

To uncover the scapegoat mechanism within human nature and disclose to us our mimetic natures which ultimately lead to violence and chaos.

To defeat the principalities and powers that hold us hostage

To alleviate our fear of death

To provide an example for us to follow/imitate and empower us to do so with the Holy Spirit

To give us a clear picture of God, the Father

I start with some random thoughts about the atonement simply because that is where my journey started. As a new Christian I just could not reconcile the party line about the atonement with the God who had revealed himself to me. As an answer to prayer, he has allowed me to view the atonement from a different angle. He has led me to many, many resources that have built upon this understanding. Snippet upon snippet, precept upon precept. Some found in the most unlikely places....many times via google. The journey has been long...and sometimes lonely. It is hard to find fellowship when one believes the "heresies" I have come to believe (reconciliation of all, non violent atonement) I have banded together with a small group of seekers like myself on a yahoo group called Emerging Universalist. We are all universalists...mainly Christian universalists. Most have been Christians for a long, long time. Some their whole life. And we are exploring many of the tried and true beliefs that even Christian universalists take at face value. We have been discussing Rene Girard and his mimetic theory a lot over the past few months. Right now we are doing a book study on his latest book "I See Satan Fall Like Lightening" It is our first "formal" book study but Girard and the atonement have been discussed quite a bit over the past months. I have been greatly blessed by the band of emergents I fellowship with. The Lord has opened my eyes to wonderful new insights of his grace and mercy and plan to reconcile all to himself. None will be lost, every knee will bow to the glory of God the father. Amen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!