TODAY'S VERSE:

Romans 6:23a For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
Leviticus 17:11 For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.

In Prep School we have been learning about justification (being declared righteous) and how all mankind is born unrighteous because of the original sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden. In the Old Testament, believers were commanded to sacrifice animals in order to atone for their sins. WHY???
 
Before the cross, God had special training aids for people to teach them about salvation and the forgiveness of their sins. Many people at that time couldn’t read or write. They needed to see an example of what they were being taught. So, from after the fall to the cross, innocent animals were sacrificed as sin offerings to teach the people about forgiveness of sin. The rich people used bulls, the middle class used goats or sheep, and the poor used doves. The animal’s life is in his blood. When the animal was on an altar and his neck was cut, blood sprayed out everywhere and he died. Ewww! This was very graphic and easily seen! God wanted to make sure the people got the picture.  It would be His Son, Jesus Christ, who would be the true, innocent, sacrificial Lamb.

Hebrews 9:11-12 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
 
The Son of God became true humanity so that He might be our merciful and faithful High Priest. In the Old Testament, once a year the high priest was the one who offered animal sacrifices to God for the people. These sacrifices neither saved people nor took away sin. They were pointing the way to Jesus Christ as our High Priest, our means of salvation, and the way to forgiveness of sins. Jesus Christ offered Himself once for all as a sacrifice for sins! He was the Priest for the sacrifice and was, also, Himself the sacrifice! He shed His own blood! Hebrews tells us that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. This is talking about the death of the sacrifice. The issue is not something or someone bleeding; it is something or someone dying. The blood of Christ means His death; He sacrificed His life so that all mankind could have salvation! Amazing grace!
 
Hebrews 9:25 Nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

Jesus Christ was willing to come to Earth and become a human so He could be the perfect, sacrificial Lamb. He did it out of His love for God the Father and His love for us. He knew that the plan of the Father for the redemption of mankind was perfect! He carried out the plan through the power of God the Holy Spirit. He did it with joy– the joy of saving many from the deadly effects of sin. Jesus Christ gives us great joy in knowing Him as our Lord and Savior. What a perfectly joyful day it will be when we are with Him face to face! For the time being, we are to fix our eyes on Jesus – His thinking and His heart!
 
Hebrews 12:2 Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
 
Thank You, Jesus, for being our Redeemer! Nothing compares to the promise of salvation we have in You!