By Steve Wilhite

Lake Tapps Christian Church

What’s the deal with Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross? The Bible tells us that God is holy—which is saying that he hates sin; it cannot remain in his presence.

If God was simply holy he could have let us suffer for our sins, but the Bible also tells us that God is love. It’s an amazing combination —holiness hates the sin, love offers a solution. God’s solution for sin is called a sacrifice, that’s when a life is given so a life can be lived.

The process is set in motion when Adam and Eve sin, a life is given as God offers an animal skin to hide their shame. Soon we read of Abraham and Noah offering sacrifices to God. It’s a sign of their faith and obedience. When Moses comes on the scene, God offers ten guidelines for living and adds more details for sacrificing.

Instead of the freedom expressed by Abraham and Noah, now there are priests to oversee the process. There’s a place called a tabernacle, kind of like a church on wheels, where God’s Spirit dwells. There are specific ways to sacrifice specific animals. When God’s people receive a king, the king builds a Temple or permanent home for God. Now worship is in a central location. God’s people travel to the Temple three times each year to sacrifice, showing their obedience, faithfulness and confessing their sin.

When Jesus comes on the scene, the religious leaders are great at offering sacrifices, but their hearts are far from God. Jesus compares them to useless dishes that are clean on the outside, but filthy on the inside.

It’s only a few years later that their anger escalates bringing Jesus’ death on the cross. The Bible describes his death as a sacrifice for all the sins of the world.

If we had the animal sacrifices, why did we need Jesus to die on the cross? With the constant rebellion of man, God developed a more intricate system for sacrifices. Yet, like the leaders, we can obey and still remain far from God. God offered a holy sacrifice so that once and for all, upon confession of our sin and receiving Jesus as our savior we could have a personal relationship with God.

After Jesus’ sacrifice many things changed. The Bible tells us that we no longer need priests to go to God for us, in fact followers of Jesus are described as a ‘royal priesthood belonging to God’. As a result of Jesus’ sacrifice we no longer must be in a Temple to unite with God’s Spirit.

Instead our bodies are described as temples: ‘God’s Spirit lives in you’. And we no longer need to offer the blood of animals in sacrifice. Now we are to ‘offer our bodies as living sacrifices’.

Can you see how personal God is making this? Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, you are the priesthood, your body is a temple, your life is a sacrifice.

God wants to be close to you! He wants a personal relationship with you. Jesus’ life has been given so your life can be lived.

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