The word atonement in English is literally “at-one-ment”. Theories that make the atonement a mere legal transaction because of the cross miss its fuller and richer meanings. The idea is that God and man are reconciled. When we are at-one with Jesus, being baptized into Him, in solidarity with Him, we are at-one with the Father through our Mediator. When we are at-one with Jesus, we have found the Way to the Father. But the final part of this at-one-ment is that we are so at-one with Him that we have become like Him. Entering into divine likeness is the end to which at-one-ment moves. We must not cut short this work.
“God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself,…so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:19, 21 (NASB)
