Maana ya neno “upatanisho” inahusisha maana ya kitheolojia ya “kufunika,” kwa kawaida kwa damu ya dhabihu ili kulipia dhambi. Inaleta upatanisho na mhusika aliyekosewa. Adamu, kwa kutotii amri ya Mungu, alikosa haki ya Mungu na kuleta juu yake mwenyewe na jamii yote ya wanadamu adhabu ya kifo. Lakini upendo na huruma ya Mungu haingetosheka kumwacha mwanadamu chini ya adhabu hii milele. Kwa hivyo, katika Yohana 3:16 tunasoma jinsi Mungu, kwa sababu ya upendo wake mkuu, alitoa njia ya kisheria ya kumkomboa mwanadamu kutoka kwa matakwa ya haki. “Kwa maana jinsi hii Mungu aliupenda ulimwengu, hata akamtoa Mwanawe pekee, ili kila mtu amwaminiye asipotee, bali awe na uzima wa milele.” Yesu alikuja duniani, alizaliwa kimuujiza na Mariamu na akafa akiwa mwanadamu mkamilifu pale Kalvari msalabani kama dhabihu ya upatanisho kwa ajili ya dhambi, hivyo kuwaweka huru Adamu na wanadamu wote kutoka katika adhabu ya kifo ambayo itapatikana kwa wote kwa wakati wake Mungu.

The meaning of the word “atonement” involves the theological meaning of “covering over,” usually with the blood of a sacrifice in order to atone for sin. It infers a reconciliation with the offended party. Adam, by his disobedience of God’s command, offended God’s justice and brought upon himself and  all the human race the penalty of death. But God’s love and mercy would not be satisfied to leave man under this penalty forever. Hence, in John 3:16 we read of how God, because of His great love, provided the legal means to redeem man from the demands of justice. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.“ Jesus  came to earth, was born miraculously of Mary and died as a perfect human being on Calvary’s cross as an atoning sacrifice for sin, thus freeing Adam and all mankind from the penalty of death which will be experienced by all in God’s due time.

Maana ya neno “fidia” ni bei inayotakiwa au inayodaiwa ili kumwachilia mtu aliyefungwa. Tunasoma maneno ya Yesu katika Mt. 20:28 : “Kama vile Mwana wa Adamu hakuja kutumikiwa, bali kuhudumu, na kutoa nafsi yake iwe fidia ya wengi.” Mtume Paulo ni 1 Tim. 2:5-6 inasema: “Kwa maana kuna Mungu mmoja, na mpatanishi kati ya Mungu na wanadamu ni mmoja, Mwanadamu Kristo Yesu; ambaye alijitoa mwenyewe kuwa ukombozi kwa ajili ya wote, utakaoshuhudiwa kwa wakati wake.”

The meaning of the word “ransom” is the price required or demanded to release someone held captive. We read Jesus’ words in Matt. 20:28: “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” The Apostle Paul is 1 Tim. 2:5-6 states: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”

Neno “upatanisho” linatokana na neno “patanisho” ambalo nyakati fulani hutafsiriwa “kiti cha rehema.” Katika Agano la Kale wakati wa safari yao ya kwenda Kanaani, Mungu aliwapa Waisraeli maagizo ya kujenga hema ambamo alipaswa kuabudiwa na dhabihu kutolewa. Katika chumba chake cha ndani kabisa kiitwacho Patakatifu Zaidi, palikuwa na Sanduku la dhahabu la Agano. Kifuniko cha safina hii kiliitwa “kiti cha upatanisho” au “kiti cha rehema.” Juu yake kulikuwa na maumbo ya makerubi wawili. Nuru ya kimuujiza iliyotokea kati ya mbawa zilizonyoshwa za makerubi wawili ilionyesha kuwapo kwa Mungu. Katika desturi yao ya Siku ya Upatanisho, damu ya wanyama waliotolewa dhabihu ilinyunyizwa juu ya Sanduku ikiwakilisha damu ya wakati ujao ambayo Yesu angemwaga ambayo ingefanya upatanisho kwa ajili ya dhambi ambayo kwayo rehema na upendo wa Mungu ungeenezwa kwa wanadamu.

The word “propitiation” is a derivative of the word “propitiatory” sometimes rendered “mercy seat.” In the Old Testament during their journey to Canaan, God gave Israel instructions to build a Tabernacle in which He was to be worshipped and sacrifices were to be offered. In its innermost compartment called the Most Holy, there resided the golden Ark of the Covenant. The lid of this ark was called the “propitiatory” or “mercy seat.” On it were the figures of two cherubim. A miraculous light that appeared between the outstretched wings of the two cherubim indicated God’s presence. In their Atonement Day ritual, blood of sacrificed animals was sprinkled on the Ark representing the future blood that Jesus would shed that would make atonement for sin by which God’s mercy and love would be extended to mankind.

Neno "upatanisho" linamaanisha kuanzisha tena uhusiano wa zamani. Inakisia kuwa mzozo au kosa limetatuliwa na sasa mambo yamerejea jinsi yalivyokuwa hapo awali. Yesu alikuwa njia ya kuwapatanisha wanadamu kutokana na adhabu iliyotamkwa juu ya Adamu. Efe. 2:13-14 inaeleza hili vizuri: “Lakini sasa katika Kristo Yesu ninyi ambao hapo kwanza mlikuwa mbali mmekuwa karibu kwa damu ya Kristo. Kwa maana yeye ndiye amani yetu, aliyetufanya sisi sote tuliokuwa wawili kuwa mmoja, akakibomoa kiambaza cha kati kilichotutenga.” Hii ni kweli sasa kwa wale wote wanaomwamini Yesu kama Mwokozi wao. Hili pia litakuwa kweli katika ufalme ujao wa Kristo duniani, “... wakati wote waliomo makaburini mwao watakapoisikia sauti ya Mwana wa Adamu na kutoka nje...” (Yohana 5:28-29.) Msimamo huu ya upatanisho wa wakati ujao pia inaelezwa katika Ufu. 21:7 : “Yeye ashindaye atayarithi yote; nami nitakuwa Mungu wake, naye atakuwa mwanangu.” 

The word “reconciliation” means to re-establish a former relationship. It infers that a dispute or wrong has been settled and now things are back to the way they were before. Jesus was the means of reconciling mankind from the penalty pronounced on Adam. Eph. 2:13-14 expresses this well: “But now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made near by the blood of Christ. For He is our  peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us.” This is true now for all those who believe in Jesus as their Savior. This will also be true in Christ’s coming kingdom on earth, “... when all that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of Man and come forth...” (John 5:28-29.) This position of future reconciliation is also described in Rev. 21:7: “He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.” 

Dhabihu moja ya “fidia” ya Yesu juu ya msalaba wa Kalvari ndiyo pekee iliyokuwa na litakalohitajika kufanya “upatanisho,” “upatanisho,” na “upatanisho.” Ebr. 9:28 inatuambia: “Vivyo hivyo Kristo alitolewa dhabihu mara moja ili aziondoe dhambi za watu wengi; naye atatokea mara ya pili, si kubeba dhambi, bali kuleta wokovu kwa wale wanaomngojea.” Katika Warumi 8:3 tunasoma hivi: “Kwa maana yale ambayo torati haikuweza kufanya kwa kule kudhoofishwa kwa hali ya mwili, Mungu alitenda kwa kumtuma Mwanawe mwenyewe katika mfano wa mwanadamu mwenye dhambi ili awe dhabihu ya dhambi. Na kwa hivyo aliihukumu dhambi katika mtu mwenye dhambi” (NIV). Yesu alikuwa na ndiye sadaka pekee ya dhambi ambayo ulimwengu utawahi kuhitaji. 

Jesus’ one “ransom” sacrifice on Calvary’s cross was all that was and will ever be needed to make “atonement,” “propitiation,” and “reconciliation.” Heb. 9:28 tells us: “So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” In Romans 8:3 we read: “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man” (NIV). Jesus was and is the only sin offering that the world will ever need. 

Swali linaulizwa mara nyingi: “Ikiwa Yesu tayari amefanya upatanisho kwa ajili ya wanadamu, basi kwa nini Adamu na wazao wake wote wangali makaburini mwao? Kwa nini Mungu hajawafufua, na kuwapa baraka ambazo kifo cha Kristo kilipaswa kuleta? Jibu: Mungu katika hekima na upendo Wake mkuu hakutaka tu kuwakomboa wanadamu kutoka katika laana ya kifo, bali anataka kuwarudisha kwenye ukamilifu ambao mwanadamu alikuwa nao kabla ya Adamu kufanya dhambi. Lakini kabla Mungu hajafanya hivyo katika ufalme wa Kristo wa kidunia ujao, ana kusudi lingine la kutimiza. Anataka kuleta “wana wengi kwenye utukufu” (Ebr. 2:10). 

The question is often asked: “If Jesus has already made an atonement for mankind, then why are Adam and all his descendants still in their graves? Why hasn’t God resurrected them, and given them the blessings which Christ’s death was supposed to bring about? The answer: God in His great wisdom and love wanted not only to redeem mankind from death’s curse, but He wants to restore them back to the perfection that man had before Adam sinned. But before God does this in Christ’s future earthly kingdom, he has another purpose to accomplish. He wants to bring “many sons to glory” (Heb. 2:10). 

Tangu Pentekoste Mungu amekuwa na bado “anaita kutoka katika ulimwengu watu kwa ajili ya Jina Lake” (Matendo 15:14), akiwaelimisha, kuwazoeza na kuwakamilisha ili waweze kumsaidia Kristo katika ufalme wake katika kubariki familia zote za ardhi. (Ona Mwa 12:2; Gal. 3:29). Kundi hili la walioitwa litakuwa bibi-arusi wa Kristo (Ufu. 19:7-9). Ni baada tu ya Bibi-arusi kukamilika ndipo ahadi ya Matendo 3:21 itatimizwa: “Ambaye (Yesu) mbingu lazima zimpokee mpaka nyakati za kufanywa upya vitu vyote, ambazo Mungu alisema kwa vinywa vya manabii wake watakatifu tangu nyakati za zamani. ilianza.”

Ever since Pentecost God has been and still is “calling out of the world a people for His Name” (Acts 15:14), educating, training and perfecting them so that they might assist Christ in His kingdom in blessing all the families of the earth. (See Gen 12:2; Gal. 3:29). This called-out class is to be the bride of Christ (Rev. 19:7-9). Only after the Bride is complete will the promise of Acts 3:21 be fulfilled: “Whom (Jesus) the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”

Mpango wa Mungu ni mzuri na wenye utaratibu unapoeleweka. Na ndivyo itakavyokuwa kwamba siku moja, katika wakati ufaao wa Mungu, kwamba Adamu na mabilioni yote ambao wamekufa tangu wakati huo watafufuliwa ili waishi katika Ufalme unaokuja wa Kristo, ingawa ile “fidia,” ile “upatanisho,” “upatanisho,” yaani, upatanisho. " na "upatanisho" ulifanyika takriban miaka elfu mbili iliyopita. Hebu tutoe sifa na shukrani zetu kwa Mungu wetu mwenye upendo na kwa Mwokozi wetu, Yesu Kristo, ambaye alitoa maisha yake kwa ajili yetu.

God’s plan is beautiful and orderly when it is understood. And so it will be that one day, in God’s due time, that Adam and all the billions who have since died will be resurrected to life in Christ’s coming Kingdom, even though the “ransom,” the “atonement,” the “propitiation,“ and “reconciliation” was made approximately two thousand years ago. Let us offer up our praise and thanksgiving to our loving God and to our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave His life for us.