In a day when the message of the cross is so often marginalised and its meaning so often undermined, doubling our efforts in proclaiming it could hardly be timelier and more relevant. Those who deny, distort, dismiss, and disparage the biblical doctrine of the atonement do injury to the gospel. Therefore, my brothers, preach the atonement. Preach it powerfully, passionately, and plainly.

“I advise you to keep close to the atonement. The doctrine of the cross is the sun in the solar system of truth.” Every gospel preacher would do well to heed this timeless counsel from John Newton. The atonement refers to the entirety of Jesus’ work of reconciling God and men, by dying as a substitute, and paying the infinite penalty for our sins. Christ died in place of sinners and bore the sins that God justly condemns and punishes. This teaching, that God himself has made full atonement for sinners (1 Peter 2:24), is unique to Christianity.
As such, it’s no hyperbole to say that the atonement is the real heart of the gospel—and the lifeblood of the Christian life. A crucified Saviour is what sets Christianity apart from all other world religions. This understanding is apostolic to the core. Even Paul preached as of first importance that “Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). More tellingly, he identifies the gospel as “the message of the cross” (1 Corinthians 1:18). One can scarcely read the Gospels without seeing that this very idea was the orienting reality of Jesus’ life and ministry. He came to “give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
No Greater Theme
Worthwhile preaching doesn’t merely rake leaves across the surface of scripture. Rather, it drills deep to mine out the gold. Such ought to be our preaching of the atonement. We need to preach that the atonement is perfect (Hebrews 7:26-28), efficacious for all those who come to God and believe (John 6:37, 40; Isaiah 53:5). We also ought to preach its various motifs: reconciliation (Romans 5:10-11; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20); redemption (Romans 3:24; Galatians 3:13); propitiation (Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17); sacrifice (Ephesians 5:2; Hebrews 9:1-10:18), forgiveness (Ephesians 1:7); and victory (Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8).
Those of us who preach are never at risk of being too atonement-centred. In fact, to preach the doctrine of salvation without properly spotlighting the atonement is to preach an emaciated gospel at best and a non-gospel at worst. Paul’s resolve was to “preach Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). The knowledge of Christ crucified stands perched above all other knowledge. We may also deduce that there can’t be true pastoral ministry apart from the cross.

In light of this apostolic precedence, we too must centre the cross in our preaching and pastoring. If we do, we will benefit ourselves and our hearers in the following five ways:
1. The Atonement Establishes Both Identity and Assurance
Our essential identity as Christians is tied up with Christ’s work on the cross. Martin Luther said that the sweetness of the gospel is found in the first person pronouns: “the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Jesus did not die for nameless, faceless people. He died for “me.” His cross stands as an eternal monument of God’s holy and infinite love towards believers, like me.
His love is such that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)! The cross testifies to the matchless blessedness of every believer. So Paul asks: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).
That Christ died in our stead also cements our assurance of eternal forgiveness (2 Corinthians 5:15-21; Galatians 3:13). The words of Augustus Toplady ring ever so true: “Payment God cannot twice demand, / First from my bleeding surety’s hand, / And then again from mine.”
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Psalm 6 proves the truism that says: hope may despair, but despair can hope. As the Bible unfolds, we see the cross of Christ as God’s solidarity with and compassion for the assaulted. And we see the resurrection as his promise that he will heal and redeem all our suffering. As we appropriate the grace given to us in the Psalms, may we be guided on an ascent from the valley of despair to the peak of the mount of God’s grace.

Suffering is pervasive in our world. As Christians, we are never insulated from it. Afflictions, losses, persecution and oppression are just a few forms of suffering. But God loves to identify with sufferers. He is for us (Psalm 56:9; Romans 8:31). God is ever tenderly disposed towards us, not least when we’re suffering (Exodus 3:7). He has graciously given us the book of Psalms as a divine resort—a place where we can go to be strengthened against defeat, despair, denial and doubt. As we eavesdrop on the psalmists’ heartfelt transparent articulations of even the strongest feelings of anger, betrayal, heartache, hope or pain, we learn that we too can pour out our hearts to God in desperate candour. Psalm 6 illustrates this point superbly. 
It is a song of both lament and penitence. It is stained with tears. We see David giving voice to those ravaged by abuse, persecution, pain and affliction. He pleads his misery in order to receive mercy. Similarly, as we manoeuvre the deep pits of life’s misfortunes, we are enjoined to do as he does. Fellow sufferers can unburden before God by doing three things.
1. Offer Passionate Pleas for Mercy (Psalm 6:1-3)
David turns to the covenant God. One easily notices the fourfold vocative: “LORD.” Afflicted saints need not wonder where to turn to be heard. God is never repelled by our pain when voiced in faith. For he is gracious and merciful (Psalm 145:8). God responds to pleas of mercy and heals both disjointedness of “bones” and “soul” (Isaiah 19:22)—physical pain, broken hearts, or troubled consciences.
When we suffer, we often feel like our suffering is endless. The psalmist plaintively cries “O LORD—how long?” cueing us into the appropriateness of godly lament. Intense despondency common to victims of suffering can be rightly lamented because lament is the language of the downcast as we process our pain.
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