Sacrifice and Atonement
Genesis 22, Leviticus 16, Hebrews 9-10
Message #6
What have we seen so far?
Creation – God made it all, the way it was supposed to be
The Fall – Sin entered the world and Mankind, but God had a plan
Abraham – God’s plan starts with a Covenant of Faith with one man
Moses – God lays out WHO he is and WHAT he requires
Connect the dots in your mind
Created the way it was supposed to be
Then The Fall
Then God’s Plan in a Covenant of Faith with Abraham
Then, The Revelation of God’s Holiness in the Law
God had made a Covenant of Relationship with Abraham, but then God revealed his holiness in the Law. And the question is, how can a holy God have a covenant relationship with sinful Mankind… How can God’s holiness and man’s sin ever be reconciled? Once you see God’s holiness on Mt. Sinai (our last message), it seems impossible for sin-full Mankind to be in a right relationship with a sin-less God? But today, we see how God’s plan deals with our sin so that we can be in a right relationship with him.
God’s solution for the problem of sin is sacrifice and atonement. But, when Christians talk about sacrifice and atonement, where do they start? Jesus, right?
When Christians comment to me about this series, seldom do they make reference to God’s Plan of Redemption in the Old Testament. Most often, they just say, “Yeah, Jesus Christ. What more is there?” And while ultimately and finally true… if we will grasp the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in light of the Old Testament, it will give us a much greater understanding of Jesus Christ fulfilling God’s plan on the Cross!
The Old Testament and New Testament are one message from God, and it’s so important we see how they perfectly dovetail together. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross was no whim of a decision by God just for the New Testament. God’s plan to deal with sin by sacrifice and atonement started all the way back in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve tried to cover the shame of their sin with leaves, right? But right after, the curse came from their sin, what did God do for Adam and Eve? Genesis 3:21 says the Lord made garments from animal skin to cover Adam and Ever – meaning an innocent life sacrificed.
In Genesis Chapter 4, we know the concept of sacrifice had been instilled in God’s people because that was the issue that led to Cain killing Able. Able’s sacrifice was accepted by God – Cain’s was not, and Cain’s jealousy and anger caused the first murder in the Bible.
Which brings up an important point.
It was the condition of Cain’s heart that God rejected. Cain went through the right motions, but God saw through his motions into his heart, and because Cain’s heart was not right, God rejected the offering he brought. And if you will make a note to read through the Book of Malachi, you’ll see that God has always been only interested in the condition of our heart, not the religious routine of sacrifice. God has never accepted the religious ceremony alone. God is always looking at our heart condition.
So, still in Genesis, we have to look at one of the greatest pictures of substitutionary sacrifice in the Old Testament. Substitutionary sacrifice is simply the sacrifice of one in place of another. Turn to Genesis Chapter 22.
We don’t see the details of God’s sacrificial system to atone for sin until the Law and the Book of Leviticus. But the concept of a sacrificial death to substitute for another had been made very real long before that. Remember, God had promised to make a great nation out of Abraham’s son Isaac – his only true son with Sarah.
Genesis 22:1–2 (ESV)
1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
Ecuuuse me? Let’s read verse two again.
In verse 1, God was testing Abraham, but Abraham didn’t know that. And notice in verse 2 God says, “take your only son, whom you love” and offer him on Mt. Moriah. This is very significant language. Mt. Moriah is a ridge that became the City of Jerusalem. On this ridge called Mt. Moriah, Solomon built the Temple, and on the highest point of this ridge is the place we call Golgotha where God offered up his only Son whom he loves. That’s about as significant as it gets.
And so, in the next verse we read,
Genesis 22:3 (ESV)
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning . . .
Abraham set out believing God more than his circumstances and to willingly obey God because he trusted God. God said he was going to make a nation out of Abraham’s son. And Hebrews 11:19 says Abraham had faith that God was able even to raise his son from the dead to accomplish his promise.
And so, after three days, during which time Abraham was considering his son dead, when they came to Mt. Moriah where one day a Cross would stand, Abraham tied his son to the altar and lifted a knife to slay him. And in Genesis 22:11, the Angel of the Lord called out, Abraham, Abraham and stopped him at the last second.
Then we read,
Genesis 22:13 (ESV)
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
Genesis Chapter 22 is overflowing with eternal significance, and it so clearly points to the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross that we wonder how anyone can miss it.
But for our study today, the focus is… At this point, Abraham fully and completely understood God’s plan to use a substitutionary sacrifice in our place. Abraham’s son was required to die, but God allowed an innocent ram to die instead of Abraham’s son – literally in his place. At that point, Abraham was totally on board with the substitutionary sacrifice answer to our problem of sin.
And we remember two messages ago, the Passover where an innocent Lamb was slain so that the Angel of Death would Pass-Over the house of the Israelites. From there, God delivered the Law to Israel, and the concept of a “substitutionary sacrifice” really became part of the daily lives of God’s People. The Book of Leviticus “lays out” the required sacrifices for Israel to be in “right standing” with God, and it is often said there is blood splattered all over Leviticus. There is so much blood running through Leviticus that many people are completely turned off by it. That’s because we don’t understand the seriousness of our sin, and we don’t understand the consequences of our sin. And an overview of Leviticus will definitely help cure you of that.
A key verse in Leviticus is the following.
Leviticus 17:11 (ESV)
11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.
We’ve got to understand this word atonement. Maybe the best way to understand it is AT-ONEMENT. Meaning Atonement makes us AT ONE with God. AT-ONEMENT is God’s method of reconciling us to himself. Our sin violates the holiness of God. and it requires a sentence of separation from God (ultimately death). And that sentence of separation from God can only be averted by a substitutionary death in our place (which brings atonement). By the blood of sacrifice in our place, God’s judgment upon sin is met, and we are restored to a right relationship with him. THIS is the act of atonement, and it is God’s solution to the problem of our sin requiring his judgment.
And (again) we don’t like Leviticus because we don’t like the seriousness of our sin, and we don’t like to see the consequences. But imagine having to regularly bring an innocent animal to die to atone for your sin, time after time, watching the blood of an innocent sacrifice being spilled so you could be made right with God again. It would be a graphic reminder of the seriousness and the consequences of your sin, and you would be grateful that animal died in your place so that you wouldn’t have to.
The most famous picture of this atonement in the Old Testament is a day still celebrated by Jews today… Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement. We’re dealing with three major chapters on atonement and substitutionary sacrifice. Would you write them down for later?
Genesis Chapter 22 – Abraham offering Isaac
Leviticus 16 – The Day of Atonement
Hebrews Chapters 9-10 – Christ’s Once for All sacrifice
Let’s do the beginning of Leviticus Chapter 16, God spells out very detailed instructions for how the High Priests are to come before God, and God does this referring back to Aaron’s own two sons who were killed by God for approaching God “their own way.” And then Leviticus 16 spells out the “Day of Atonement” for Israel. One day a year, the High Priest would enter into the Presence of God to atone for the sins of the People. Sacrifices were being made continually – but the “Day of Atonement” – this is the big day.
According to the Law given of Moses, inside the Tabernacle was a room designated as “The Holy of Holies.” In this room was the Ark of the Covenant, which was a box about four feet long and two feet wide. Inside the Ark was the Ten Commandments representing God’s holy requirements of the Law. The lid of the Ark was solid gold and called “The Mercy Seat.” Above the Mercy Seat were two Cherubim touching wings, and there above the Mercy Seat dwelt the Shekinah Glory of God.
There is so much in the Tabernacle that so clearly points to Jesus Christ, it is truly mind-blowing. I recommend The Tabernacle: Shadows of the Messiah by David Levy. It will blow your mind.
So, on the Day of Atonement, after a lengthy preparation… we read a summary in Leviticus 16.
Leviticus 16:6–10 (ESV)
6 “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house.
‘make atonement’ in HEBREW = Kippur, as in Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel.
Second Goat became known as the Azazel - or “Scapegoat”
9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering,
10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
So, the High Priest would first sacrifice a bull for his own sins, and he would sprinkle that blood onto the Mercy Seat between the presence of God and tablets of God’s Law. Then two goats were chosen. One was slain, and its blood was sprinkled onto the Mercy Seat between the presence of God and tablets of God’s Law. The other goat (Azazel) was called “The Scapegoat.” And Leviticus 16:21 says the High Priest was to lay his hands on the Head of the Scapegoat, symbolically transferring the sins of the people onto a goat, and then the goat would be led away into the wilderness never to return (as in “as far as the East is from the West.”)
So, the Mercy Seat covered the Law, and the blood of the sacrifice literally covered the Mercy Seat, and when God looked down from above the Ark, he saw the blood as a substitutionary sacrifice covering the Mercy Sear and paying the penalty for the people’s sin. And then, so that the people could fully understand… their sins were symbolically placed on the scapegoat, and that goat was permanently sent away from them never to return and carrying their sins with it.
Now, the Day of Atonement was not the only time of sacrifice. Sacrifices were occurring continually, especially at festival times. The blood that flowed for the Atonement of Sin was never “finished” – the penalty of sin was never “satisfied.”
Jewish historians write about so much blood flowing during festival times in Jerusalem that the blood was carried from the altar to the Kidron Valley by two drain channels, and during those times of sacrifice, the Kidron Valley would run red with blood.
And the blood of the substitutionary sacrifices running red all around Israel was a non-stop reminder of what was required by God to atone for sin. However… these sacrifices were only temporary. They only temporarily “covered over” the people’s sin. They were constantly repeated because they were never meant to be permanent or final – nor could they be. Every single one of those sacrifices was looking forward to the ultimate and final sacrifice… to the final Day of Atonement.
Turn over to Hebrews Chapter 9. All of God’s Plan of Redemption culminates, finalizes, and concludes in Jesus Christ. Again, write these verses down. Hebrews 9:11-10:25 and read them, please. And for time’s sake, I have to read these verses from the NLT. Remember, we are talking about sacrifice and atonement and about the Day of Atonement in the Tabernacle. Now, listen to these verses.
Hebrews 9:11–12 (NLT)
11 So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world.
12 With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.
God’s Plan of Redemption based on an atoning sacrifice is eternally fulfilled in the final sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 9:23–28 (NLT)
23 That is why the Tabernacle and everything in it, which were copies of things in heaven, had to be purified by the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices than the blood of animals.
24 For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf.
25 And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal.
26 If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice.
27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment,
28 so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people . . .
That’s it right there. Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many… meaning ALL who would put their faith in him. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of all of God’s plan to deal with Man’s sin through an atoning sacrifice, and that’s not quite the end of the story. The remainder of Hebrews 9, verse 28 says,
Hebrews 9:28 (NLT)
. . . He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.
Jesus came to deal with sin once – that’s it. THAT is finished – TELELESTAI!!! But Jesus is coming back again, not to atone for our sins again, but to usher all who’ve put their faith in him into eternal salvation!
Guys, all of the sacrifice and atonement that surrounded the Nation of Israel in blood… all of those sacrifices pointed to the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Every single act of atonement in the Old Testament pointed to the one and only eternal atonement offered to any person who will by faith receive the salvation from sin offered through Jesus Christ.
God’s plan of redemption has never changed. It’s been building since the day sin entered the world. And through the Law and through the Life of Israel we see… God’s plan of redemption centers around a substitutionary sacrifice that atones for our sin.
Ultimately God has only one way for you to be made right with him.
That is through faith in the final and ultimate substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ – in your place. Jesus died as the innocent, substitutionary sacrifice. He died in your place so you wouldn’t have to, and the only way you can be cleansed of your sin and be made right with God… is to put your full faith and trust in God’s plan of redemption that was fulfilled in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross. And if you’ve never put your faith in God’s plan to save you, I invite you to do that right now.
Creation – God made it all, the way it was supposed to be
The Fall – Sin entered the world and Mankind, but God had a plan
Abraham – God’s plan starts with a Covenant of Faith with one man
Moses – God lays out WHO he is and WHAT he requires
Connect the dots in your mind
Created the way it was supposed to be
Then The Fall
Then God’s Plan in a Covenant of Faith with Abraham
Then, The Revelation of God’s Holiness in the Law
God had made a Covenant of Relationship with Abraham, but then God revealed his holiness in the Law. And the question is, how can a holy God have a covenant relationship with sinful Mankind… How can God’s holiness and man’s sin ever be reconciled? Once you see God’s holiness on Mt. Sinai (our last message), it seems impossible for sin-full Mankind to be in a right relationship with a sin-less God? But today, we see how God’s plan deals with our sin so that we can be in a right relationship with him.
God’s solution for the problem of sin is sacrifice and atonement. But, when Christians talk about sacrifice and atonement, where do they start? Jesus, right?
When Christians comment to me about this series, seldom do they make reference to God’s Plan of Redemption in the Old Testament. Most often, they just say, “Yeah, Jesus Christ. What more is there?” And while ultimately and finally true… if we will grasp the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in light of the Old Testament, it will give us a much greater understanding of Jesus Christ fulfilling God’s plan on the Cross!
The Old Testament and New Testament are one message from God, and it’s so important we see how they perfectly dovetail together. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross was no whim of a decision by God just for the New Testament. God’s plan to deal with sin by sacrifice and atonement started all the way back in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve tried to cover the shame of their sin with leaves, right? But right after, the curse came from their sin, what did God do for Adam and Eve? Genesis 3:21 says the Lord made garments from animal skin to cover Adam and Ever – meaning an innocent life sacrificed.
In Genesis Chapter 4, we know the concept of sacrifice had been instilled in God’s people because that was the issue that led to Cain killing Able. Able’s sacrifice was accepted by God – Cain’s was not, and Cain’s jealousy and anger caused the first murder in the Bible.
Which brings up an important point.
It was the condition of Cain’s heart that God rejected. Cain went through the right motions, but God saw through his motions into his heart, and because Cain’s heart was not right, God rejected the offering he brought. And if you will make a note to read through the Book of Malachi, you’ll see that God has always been only interested in the condition of our heart, not the religious routine of sacrifice. God has never accepted the religious ceremony alone. God is always looking at our heart condition.
So, still in Genesis, we have to look at one of the greatest pictures of substitutionary sacrifice in the Old Testament. Substitutionary sacrifice is simply the sacrifice of one in place of another. Turn to Genesis Chapter 22.
We don’t see the details of God’s sacrificial system to atone for sin until the Law and the Book of Leviticus. But the concept of a sacrificial death to substitute for another had been made very real long before that. Remember, God had promised to make a great nation out of Abraham’s son Isaac – his only true son with Sarah.
Genesis 22:1–2 (ESV)
1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
Ecuuuse me? Let’s read verse two again.
In verse 1, God was testing Abraham, but Abraham didn’t know that. And notice in verse 2 God says, “take your only son, whom you love” and offer him on Mt. Moriah. This is very significant language. Mt. Moriah is a ridge that became the City of Jerusalem. On this ridge called Mt. Moriah, Solomon built the Temple, and on the highest point of this ridge is the place we call Golgotha where God offered up his only Son whom he loves. That’s about as significant as it gets.
And so, in the next verse we read,
Genesis 22:3 (ESV)
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning . . .
Abraham set out believing God more than his circumstances and to willingly obey God because he trusted God. God said he was going to make a nation out of Abraham’s son. And Hebrews 11:19 says Abraham had faith that God was able even to raise his son from the dead to accomplish his promise.
And so, after three days, during which time Abraham was considering his son dead, when they came to Mt. Moriah where one day a Cross would stand, Abraham tied his son to the altar and lifted a knife to slay him. And in Genesis 22:11, the Angel of the Lord called out, Abraham, Abraham and stopped him at the last second.
Then we read,
Genesis 22:13 (ESV)
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
Genesis Chapter 22 is overflowing with eternal significance, and it so clearly points to the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross that we wonder how anyone can miss it.
But for our study today, the focus is… At this point, Abraham fully and completely understood God’s plan to use a substitutionary sacrifice in our place. Abraham’s son was required to die, but God allowed an innocent ram to die instead of Abraham’s son – literally in his place. At that point, Abraham was totally on board with the substitutionary sacrifice answer to our problem of sin.
And we remember two messages ago, the Passover where an innocent Lamb was slain so that the Angel of Death would Pass-Over the house of the Israelites. From there, God delivered the Law to Israel, and the concept of a “substitutionary sacrifice” really became part of the daily lives of God’s People. The Book of Leviticus “lays out” the required sacrifices for Israel to be in “right standing” with God, and it is often said there is blood splattered all over Leviticus. There is so much blood running through Leviticus that many people are completely turned off by it. That’s because we don’t understand the seriousness of our sin, and we don’t understand the consequences of our sin. And an overview of Leviticus will definitely help cure you of that.
A key verse in Leviticus is the following.
Leviticus 17:11 (ESV)
11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.
We’ve got to understand this word atonement. Maybe the best way to understand it is AT-ONEMENT. Meaning Atonement makes us AT ONE with God. AT-ONEMENT is God’s method of reconciling us to himself. Our sin violates the holiness of God. and it requires a sentence of separation from God (ultimately death). And that sentence of separation from God can only be averted by a substitutionary death in our place (which brings atonement). By the blood of sacrifice in our place, God’s judgment upon sin is met, and we are restored to a right relationship with him. THIS is the act of atonement, and it is God’s solution to the problem of our sin requiring his judgment.
And (again) we don’t like Leviticus because we don’t like the seriousness of our sin, and we don’t like to see the consequences. But imagine having to regularly bring an innocent animal to die to atone for your sin, time after time, watching the blood of an innocent sacrifice being spilled so you could be made right with God again. It would be a graphic reminder of the seriousness and the consequences of your sin, and you would be grateful that animal died in your place so that you wouldn’t have to.
The most famous picture of this atonement in the Old Testament is a day still celebrated by Jews today… Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement. We’re dealing with three major chapters on atonement and substitutionary sacrifice. Would you write them down for later?
Genesis Chapter 22 – Abraham offering Isaac
Leviticus 16 – The Day of Atonement
Hebrews Chapters 9-10 – Christ’s Once for All sacrifice
Let’s do the beginning of Leviticus Chapter 16, God spells out very detailed instructions for how the High Priests are to come before God, and God does this referring back to Aaron’s own two sons who were killed by God for approaching God “their own way.” And then Leviticus 16 spells out the “Day of Atonement” for Israel. One day a year, the High Priest would enter into the Presence of God to atone for the sins of the People. Sacrifices were being made continually – but the “Day of Atonement” – this is the big day.
According to the Law given of Moses, inside the Tabernacle was a room designated as “The Holy of Holies.” In this room was the Ark of the Covenant, which was a box about four feet long and two feet wide. Inside the Ark was the Ten Commandments representing God’s holy requirements of the Law. The lid of the Ark was solid gold and called “The Mercy Seat.” Above the Mercy Seat were two Cherubim touching wings, and there above the Mercy Seat dwelt the Shekinah Glory of God.
There is so much in the Tabernacle that so clearly points to Jesus Christ, it is truly mind-blowing. I recommend The Tabernacle: Shadows of the Messiah by David Levy. It will blow your mind.
So, on the Day of Atonement, after a lengthy preparation… we read a summary in Leviticus 16.
Leviticus 16:6–10 (ESV)
6 “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house.
‘make atonement’ in HEBREW = Kippur, as in Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel.
Second Goat became known as the Azazel - or “Scapegoat”
9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering,
10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
So, the High Priest would first sacrifice a bull for his own sins, and he would sprinkle that blood onto the Mercy Seat between the presence of God and tablets of God’s Law. Then two goats were chosen. One was slain, and its blood was sprinkled onto the Mercy Seat between the presence of God and tablets of God’s Law. The other goat (Azazel) was called “The Scapegoat.” And Leviticus 16:21 says the High Priest was to lay his hands on the Head of the Scapegoat, symbolically transferring the sins of the people onto a goat, and then the goat would be led away into the wilderness never to return (as in “as far as the East is from the West.”)
So, the Mercy Seat covered the Law, and the blood of the sacrifice literally covered the Mercy Seat, and when God looked down from above the Ark, he saw the blood as a substitutionary sacrifice covering the Mercy Sear and paying the penalty for the people’s sin. And then, so that the people could fully understand… their sins were symbolically placed on the scapegoat, and that goat was permanently sent away from them never to return and carrying their sins with it.
Now, the Day of Atonement was not the only time of sacrifice. Sacrifices were occurring continually, especially at festival times. The blood that flowed for the Atonement of Sin was never “finished” – the penalty of sin was never “satisfied.”
Jewish historians write about so much blood flowing during festival times in Jerusalem that the blood was carried from the altar to the Kidron Valley by two drain channels, and during those times of sacrifice, the Kidron Valley would run red with blood.
And the blood of the substitutionary sacrifices running red all around Israel was a non-stop reminder of what was required by God to atone for sin. However… these sacrifices were only temporary. They only temporarily “covered over” the people’s sin. They were constantly repeated because they were never meant to be permanent or final – nor could they be. Every single one of those sacrifices was looking forward to the ultimate and final sacrifice… to the final Day of Atonement.
Turn over to Hebrews Chapter 9. All of God’s Plan of Redemption culminates, finalizes, and concludes in Jesus Christ. Again, write these verses down. Hebrews 9:11-10:25 and read them, please. And for time’s sake, I have to read these verses from the NLT. Remember, we are talking about sacrifice and atonement and about the Day of Atonement in the Tabernacle. Now, listen to these verses.
Hebrews 9:11–12 (NLT)
11 So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world.
12 With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.
God’s Plan of Redemption based on an atoning sacrifice is eternally fulfilled in the final sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 9:23–28 (NLT)
23 That is why the Tabernacle and everything in it, which were copies of things in heaven, had to be purified by the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices than the blood of animals.
24 For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf.
25 And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal.
26 If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice.
27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment,
28 so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people . . .
That’s it right there. Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many… meaning ALL who would put their faith in him. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of all of God’s plan to deal with Man’s sin through an atoning sacrifice, and that’s not quite the end of the story. The remainder of Hebrews 9, verse 28 says,
Hebrews 9:28 (NLT)
. . . He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.
Jesus came to deal with sin once – that’s it. THAT is finished – TELELESTAI!!! But Jesus is coming back again, not to atone for our sins again, but to usher all who’ve put their faith in him into eternal salvation!
Guys, all of the sacrifice and atonement that surrounded the Nation of Israel in blood… all of those sacrifices pointed to the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Every single act of atonement in the Old Testament pointed to the one and only eternal atonement offered to any person who will by faith receive the salvation from sin offered through Jesus Christ.
God’s plan of redemption has never changed. It’s been building since the day sin entered the world. And through the Law and through the Life of Israel we see… God’s plan of redemption centers around a substitutionary sacrifice that atones for our sin.
Ultimately God has only one way for you to be made right with him.
That is through faith in the final and ultimate substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ – in your place. Jesus died as the innocent, substitutionary sacrifice. He died in your place so you wouldn’t have to, and the only way you can be cleansed of your sin and be made right with God… is to put your full faith and trust in God’s plan of redemption that was fulfilled in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross. And if you’ve never put your faith in God’s plan to save you, I invite you to do that right now.