Trusting in Jesus’ Sacrifice
Hebrews 7:27 (NIV®)
Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.
When you read the book of Leviticus, you cannot help but be amazed by the amount of animal blood God required His people to shed in order to receive His forgiveness. The smell of burning blood would have been a constant aroma in every place God’s people lived. In addition to the animals they slaughtered for food, the necessary animal sacrifices were never-ending. As Hebrews 10:1 tells us, “The same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, making perfect those who draw near to worship.” It was that very system of sacrifices that Jesus fulfilled and replaced when He gave Himself as the perfect, once-and-for-all sacrifice, taking our punishment for sin upon Himself and dying in our place. When we place our trust in Jesus as the sacrifice for our sin and the only Mediator between humans and God, we are acknowledging the indescribable gift He offers to anyone who will receive it.
THINK ABOUT IT > John the Baptist was filled with wisdom when he recognized the Messiah and declared, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, NIV®). That is a realization, a recognition, and a declaration that the world desperately needs to hear from us today.
PRAYER > Heavenly Father, I come to You in humility and gratitude for what You have done for me. Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus Christ, to die in my place. Help me to remember His sacrifice and never take it for granted. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Blessings,
Pastor Allen Jackson
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“11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:11-15).
Thankyou Lord Jesus, for your sacrifice, shedding your blood that we might be saved and experience eternal life.
Steve