Jesus didn't atone for sins, He was the propitiation for them. Atonement covered sins. In fact, it memorialized them. Propitiation took them away; never to be remembered or counted against us again. Jesus lived a life we could not. He then took the penalty of death for sins He did not commit. Then He was raised from the dead to offer us the life of God we had lost in Adam.
"For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." Hebrews 10:4
"And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." 1 John 2:2
“Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” Hebrews 10:17
"Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them." Romans 4:8
"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." 1 Peter 2:22
"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit ..." 1 Peter 3:18
"For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!" Romans 5:10
Atonement is a huge topic and some of what you say I agree with, but:
Why can sins not be forgiven by God to remove them?
If I look at Lev. 5 atonement is more of a process and not just one action, since the sinner has a part to play.
You have to think about it:
When you go up to an nonbelieving sinner you are not trying to get the sinner to accept some doctrine, theology, church, or some book (even the Bible), but you are trying to get him to accept Jesus Christ and Him crucified, which the Bible describes as the ransom payment.
If the sinner accepts Jesus Christ and Him crucified, a child of God is released to enter the Kingdom to be with God, but if the sinner rejects Jesus Christ and Him crucified a child of God is kept from entering the Kingdom.
Does all this sound very much like a kidnapping/ransom scenario?
Who want the blood (God, satan or me)?
John 6: 53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and
drink his blood, you have no life in you.”
Christ and God did not personally want Christ’s blood to leave his veins, but I need to know that blood is available for me. I need to physically
feel that blood in the form of wine flowing down my throat and over my heart to know Christ’s blood is cleansing my heart and not just something outwardly. So each week at least I need communion.
Yes, satan might want Christ’s blood, but it would be wrong for God to “pay” satan, since God could just as safely and easily over power satan and take anything.
The atonement process is huge and like you said earlier there is a difference between punishment (discipline) and forgiveness, just as any wonderful Loving parent sees to both the forgiveness and disciplining of their children if at all possible. (more to think about)