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Yesterday, we celebrated the coming of Jesus into the world in human flesh. Of course, the reason He came was mainly to show us what God is like when He is limited to a human body. Jesus was fully human (from Mary’s side of the family) and fully God (from the Holy Spirit.) He had to be both or He wouldn’t be able to pay for the sin of a countless number of people. But today, we are focusing our thinking around Jesus, the Lamb of God, who fulfilled many of the promises of the Old Testament.
Being the sacrificial Lamb of God: Speaks to His perfection and His bloody death.
So today, I’ll be talking about the gorier side of this glorious message. Blood had to shed to be for my sin. In the Old Testament, worship was not sweet or pretty. There was a goriness to it. Animals of all sizes were being killed. They were screaming. Blood was pouring out everywhere. Little boys may have loved watching it, but otherwise, I’m not sure it was fun to see. I heard a sermon a long time ago that I haven’t forgotten. It reminded me of just how awful and messy that sacrificial process was. They couldn’t come to worship pretending everything was fine. They were bringing or carrying animals that represented the sins they had committed…some for their sins of commission, others for their sins of omission. At certain times of the year, they brought different kinds of offerings. Sometimes, the whole house had to be cleaned out to get rid of leaven, a symbol of sin. As a wife, I read some of these sections and groan at all the work that had to be done.
Jesus came to be the One to substitute for us in taking the punishment we deserved for our sin. and giving us His perfect record.
But Jesus came as the perfect Lamb of God and paid for our sin so we could stand before God justified and forgiven. We are now dressed in the righteousness of Christ, not our own. Hebrews states it well. It is a book written to Jewish believers or those with a Jewish background. Now we no longer have to suffer under the weight of guilt, for our sin. It has been paid for
for info regarding sacrifices, click here Numbers 15
also check out sections of Leviticus for more rules about sacrifices.
And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:11-14, 19-25 ESV
There was no other way for sin to be forgiven without blood to be shed. Killing an animal in the place of a person was a stopgap measure until Jesus could com. It pointed to Jesus. Those who sacrificed their animal for their sin were doing it as a substitute for the time when Jesus would come and do it for them. They had no idea when that would happen
Blood had to be spilled in order for sin to be forgiven. Forgiveness and sin is not neat and tidy. It is a gory mess.
Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and
without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.Hebrews 9:22 ESV
Thank you Jesus for coming to earth o take away the sin of the world
