Our Sacrifice for Sin

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 10th of November, 2024.  A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

With tomorrow being Veterans Day, we should truly be thankful for all those who have served, are serving, and will serve in our nation’s armed forces, giving of their time and efforts, and for some their lives, to keep our nation free and to ensure our liberties.  And as we’re coming up on Thanksgiving, we should be most thankful for our Lord Jesus, who gave up His life so that we might be freed from our sin, freed from the bonds of eternal death.

Jesus allowed Himself to be sacrificed; His blood was shed for the forgiveness of our sin. This is God’s love: that we might not die in our sin, but be washed clean by the blood of the Spotless Lamb.

Throughout the Old Testament of our Holy Bible, we can see where the blood of certain animals was used to purify and sanctify objects to make them holy.  Very specific sacrifices are described for the forgiveness of all manner of sins.  But why was a blood sacrifice necessary?  In the Book of Leviticus, God spoke through Moses when He explained, “This is because the life of the body is in the blood.  I have told you that you must pour the blood on the altar to purify yourselves.  It is the blood that makes a person pure.”

All this speaks to the first agreement God made with His people, the first covenant through Abraham.  But then Jesus came along and brought with Him a new agreement, a new covenant with God.

Please listen and follow along to what the unknown author of the letter to the Hebrew believers wrote in the 9th chapter of the Book of Hebrews, verses 15 through 28, and I’ll be reading from the Easy-to-Read Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

15 Christ brings a new agreement from God to His people. He brings this agreement so that those who are chosen by God can have the blessings God promised, blessings that last forever. This can happen only because Christ died to free people from sins committed against the commands of the first agreement.

16 When someone dies and leaves a will, there must be proof that the one who wrote the will is dead. 17 A will means nothing while the one who wrote it is still living. It can be used only after that person’s death. 18 That is why blood was needed to begin the first agreement between God and His people. 19 First, Moses told the people every command in the law. Then he took the blood of young bulls and mixed it with water. He used red wool and a branch of hyssop to sprinkle the blood and water on the book of the law and on all the people. 20 Then he said, “This is the blood that makes the agreement good — the agreement that God commanded you to follow.” 21 In the same way, Moses sprinkled the blood on the Holy Tent. He sprinkled the blood over everything used in worship. 22 The law says that almost everything must be made clean by blood. Sins cannot be forgiven without a blood sacrifice.

23 These things are copies of the real things that are in heaven. These copies had to be made clean by animal sacrifices. But the real things in heaven must have much better sacrifices. 24 Christ went into the Most Holy Place. But it was not the man-made one, which is only a copy of the real one. He went into heaven, and He is there now before God to help us.

25 The high priest enters the Most Holy Place once every year. He takes with him blood to offer. But he does not offer his own blood like Christ did. Christ went into heaven, but not to offer Himself many times like the high priest offers blood again and again. 26 If Christ had offered Himself many times, He would have needed to suffer many times since the time the world was made. But He came to offer Himself only once. And that once is enough for all time. He came at a time when the world is nearing an end. He came to take away all sin by offering Himself as a sacrifice.

27 Everyone must die once. Then they are judged. 28 So Christ was offered as a sacrifice one time to take away the sins of many people. And He will come a second time, but not to offer Himself for sin. He will come the second time to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.

--Hebrews 9:15-28 (ERV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, we thank You for loving us so much that You would send Your only Son to be the last blood sacrifice needed for the forgiveness of our sin.  He died once, for all time, that we might be freed from sin.  And now, Father, we no longer need to make blood sacrifices.  Sadly though, too many of us have stopped making any kind of sacrifice.  We follow the ways of the world and let it have too great an influence in our daily life.  We are just too often beaten down and wearied by all the lies and evilness filling our days and our views that it robs us of our desire to serve.  Forgive us these times, Father.  Please help us give of ourselves in Your service.  Help us be more obedient to You and Your Son’s command to spread Your word and the Good News it bears.  Give us the courage and the will to step out into the world witnessing to the non-believers, sharing the Gospel and showing Your love.  Please forgive us when we hesitate to speak and act on behalf of You and our Lord Jesus.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand Your message today.  Help us share the Good News of forgiveness and everlasting life in our daily walk.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Dr. David Livingstone, the great missionary who is most famous for his work in Africa, once wrote, “People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa.  Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply acknowledging a great debt we owe to our God, which we can never repay?  Is that a sacrifice which brings its own reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny?  It is emphatically no sacrifice.  Rather it is a privilege.  Anxiety, sickness, suffering, danger, foregoing the common conveniences of this life - these may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment.  All these are nothing compared with the glory which shall later be revealed in and through us.  I never made a sacrifice.  Of this we ought not to talk, when we remember the great sacrifice which He made who left His Father's throne on high to give Himself for us.”

How many celebrities do you know of that are this humble?  Yes, there are some who will give God the glory, but they still accept and welcome the accolades of the people, the praise of their peers.  Dr. Livingstone scoffs at the praise from others who speak of his accomplishments and sacrifice.

It is not a sacrifice, he asserts, when we acknowledge by our labors the debt we owe God, a debt we can never repay.  A sacrifice does not bring its own rewards, or peace of mind, or even a bright hope for a glorious future.  No, this is a privilege, not a sacrifice.  We have the privilege to serve our God and His Son Jesus, who made the greatest sacrifice to leave His Father’s throne in heaven to give Himself for us.

Still, from a worldview, we do see Dr. Livingstone’s actions as a sacrifice, since he gave up so much to serve God’s people, and thus to serve God.  I say “from a worldview” because what he gave up are things important to the world, important to this life.  What he did, though - his actions, his service – are things important to the next life, important to God.

But it does beg the question…  Do we need to make sacrifices now?  Since Jesus sacrificed Himself for our sin, once for all time, do we still need to make sacrifices too?  In the 6th verse of his 40th Psalm, King David sees a subtle truth…

6 Lord, you made me understand this:

    You don’t really want sacrifices and grain offerings.

    You don’t want burnt offerings and sin offerings.

--Psalm 40:6 (ERV)

All those sacrifices Moses enumerated for the people, all the different offerings of grain and flesh and blood, are not really what God desires of us.  But earlier, in the 5th verse of his 4th Psalm, David proclaims that we should still make sacrifices when he says…

5 Give the right sacrifices to the Lord,

and put your trust in Him!

--Psalm 4:5 (ERV)

Give the right sacrifices, the correct sacrifices, the sacrifices God really wants us to give.  So if it’s not the blood sacrifices or the grain or burnt offerings, just what is it that will please God?  The prophet Micah answered this question for us in verses 6 through 8 of the 6th chapter of his Book…

6 What must I bring when I come to meet with the Lord?

What must I do when I bow down to God above?

Should I come to Him with burnt offerings

and a year-old calf?

7 Will the Lord be pleased with a thousand rams

or with ten thousand rivers of oil?

Should I offer Him my first child to pay for my wrongs?

Should I sacrifice my very own child for my sins?

8 Human, the Lord has told you what goodness is.

This is what He wants from you:

Be fair to other people.

Love kindness and loyalty,

and humbly obey your God.

--Micah 6:6-8 (ERV)

God just wants us to be fair to others, to treat everyone fairly.  He wants us to love kindness and loyalty – not just to be kind but to love being kind, not just to be loyal but to love being loyal.  And God want us to obey Him, being humble in our obedience, not making a big show of it.  He wants us to be more like Dr. Livingstone.

Now I know I’ve thrown a lot of scripture at you this morning, and it’s because I truly think that the Bible speaks far better than I can.  But I have one more passage for you, one that should clarify this whole issue of sacrifices.  This comes from the Apostle Paul, who tells us what our sacrifice should be when he wrote to the church in Rome.  Hear what Paul told the believers living there, in the 1st verse of the 12th chapter of his Letter to the Romans…

1 I beg you, brothers and sisters, because of the great mercy God has shown us, offer your lives as a living sacrifice to Him — an offering that is only for God and pleasing to Him. Considering what He has done, it is only right that you should worship Him in this way.

--Romans 12:1 (ERV)

We are to make of ourselves a living sacrifice to God.  Jesus gave of His life as a blood sacrifice to atone for our sin.  We’re asked to give of our life as a living sacrifice, to acknowledge our debt to God.  This is our duty, our acceptable service.  This is pleasing to God, to give of ourselves in service to Him by serving others.  Nothing would please Him more than if we could bring just one lost soul to Jesus.

Our sacrifice should be of our time, of our resources.  We must give up our pride and what the world considers important to do the work God sees as important.  And family, it’s not a sacrifice if it doesn’t hurt.  So let’s give our lives to God as a sacrifice for our sin.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for loving us all so much that You sent Your only Son into this world for the forgiveness of our sin.  You could have stopped the brutality we showed Him at any time, yet You knew that only the greatest sacrifice, the blood of the Spotless Lamb, could redeem us.  Thank You for having mercy upon us.  Sadly, too many people just refuse to accept this truth.  Sometimes even we struggle with the worldview.  Sometimes we just have trouble letting go of the world and worldly things.  Please forgive us these times, Father.  Forgive us when we let the world tell us what to do and how to act.  Please help us reach out more into the world, serving You by serving others, loving You by loving others.  Help us be more like Your Son Jesus, being more forgiving and merciful in our dealings with others.  Please strengthen our spirits to do Your will and help us do a better job of sharing Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and His sacrifice.  

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You came into this world knowing full well the cruel fate You would suffer, yet You came anyway.  You came to allow Your blood to be shed on our behalf, as a sacrifice to redeem us of our sin.  Now, Lord, please help us give of our lives in service to You and our Father God.  Please help us sacrifice what the world see as important that we might save souls and broaden God’s kingdom, maybe even make a difference in this world.  Help us be more like You, more considerate and caring of others, more understanding, more merciful, more giving and forgiving.  And heal the hurts that still separate and divide us one from another.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.