Jesus took away the sins of the world. John 1:29
Sacrifice is spoken of all throughout the Bible, starting in Genesis 4, with Cain and Able the sons of Adam and Eve. In the New Testament, of course, is the sacrifice Jesus made to redeem the sins of man. And from there it goes on to speak of other sacrifices, such as sacrifices of praise and our bodies are to be a living sacrifice to God, and so on. But why were the sacrifices of the Israelites so important?
Why didn't an alrighty God just send his Son down to earth and sit him on a throne in a big and beautiful palace to rule and reign from that kind of a vantage point instead of making him go through the humility and not to mention the terrible pain that he went through? And what did that have to do with Old Testament Sacrifices anyway?
As aforementioned, the sacrifices that God required in the Old Testament were a prelude to the sacrifice that would eventually have to be made for the sins of this world. And they are none the less as important in this day and age, as they were in Bible times.
Jesus, the Good Shepard, as called in Psalms identified himself also a lamb. He allowed (not forced by his Father) to be taken away to be slaughtered as a sheep, to die for an undeserving and ungrateful and sinful world. And just like the blood of the innocent animals of the Old Testament, his blood had to be spilled for that reason.God, in light of the Old Testament sacrifices, was preparing man kind way for the redemption of their sin without having to pay the price for it. Jesus was dammed in every sort of way we could only ever imagine. Humiliated beyond anything this world could ever know, and yet he did it because he loved us. God loved us and Jesus gave himself for us. John 3:16.
I have just touched on a partial look at what the bible has to say about sacrifice. There is so much more. But, as we look ahead to the upcoming Holy week (starting March 25th) we celebrate the most important reason why Jesus came to this earth. Not to sit on a grand throne to give us orders and tell us what to do, but to sacrifice himself to take away the sinful natures that we are born with. And as we celebrate the upcoming day that he arose from the grave, we must also be in reflection and in quiet thankfulness of that awful time when he had to do the very thing that we as a sinful people really deserved in the first place. Because without his suffering first, we could not have that redemption of our life. All praise to the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ!
Friends as we humbly contemplate the upcoming week that represents the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, may this time be a blessing to you and those around you.
Christ died for you to give you life and he knew you are worth all it took for him to hang upon that Roman cross. If he would have had to do it just for you, he would have certainly done it. Thanks for spending this time with me. You are important to me! And you are even more important to God!
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