Sacrificial Lambs

 
Sacrificial Lambs A Brief Review of Redemptive Sacrifice throughout the Biblical Text By Pastor Dan Kennedy © September 30, 2012 www.pastorkennedy.com The Two Trees  The cause and effect of Redemption for the human race is directly associated with the two Trees planted in the Garden of Eden. God planted them there for the express purpose of giving those He created in His Image a choice: • A choice for eternal life, or • A choice for disobedience to God’s divine will. Without the planting of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, humankind would have been blissfully ignorant of any other life…unless they became prideful and rebellious, as Satan had become before them, and had fallen. Instead, God placed before them the obvious opportunity to reject His commands. When tempted by the devil, Eve was deceived and determined that the fruit was beautiful and the outcome brilliantly wise…to become knowledgeable of good and evil like God, so she ate and gave the fruit of this tree to her husband and they chose their own way, over God’s way. Adam fell, without deception. He knew that he was blatantly sinning against God’s Will. The choice plummeted mankind into the dark ages of perpetual sin and death, from which they could never recover, without a Messiah…a Redeemer (Rom. 5:12). This curse of spiritual and physical death would attach itself to the personal DNA of every offspring to follow – to all humanity…throughout the history of the world. This curse has attached itself to everyone in past generations and future generations. We too, begin life spiritually dead, and you and I will die physically. If we are ever going to recover spiritually, we must have a sinless Redeemer, totally acceptable to God, to purge our sins with His own blood. He must have the power to defeat the curse of death and give us the hope of eternal life. The moment Adam and Eve broke God’s command to them, the spiritual covering of God’s glory was removed from Adam and Eve – and instead of feeling a rush of self-assurance in the knowledge of good and evil, they sensed an overwhelming and profound nakedness. Previous to their disobedience they had been clothed in the Light and glory of God’s Presence (Ps. 104:2; Matt. 17:2), now they were devoid of it. Because of their shame they created for themselves a covering of fig leaves, lest they feel exposed in God’s Presence. Something terrible had happened – the curse of sin and death had begun. Genesis 3:21 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. Death – Garments of Skin God made garments of skins to cover the shame of Adam and Eve’s nakedness. This meant that death and the shedding the blood of animals was initiated to cover the loss of mankind’s spiritual covering. Clothing to cover the shame of our nakedness has been replicated ever since. A Lamb for a Man  Genesis 4:1–5 4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The first child born into the fallen world was named Cain. Cain chose to follow in his father’s footsteps to be a gardener. His dad taught him well, since Adam had tended the Garden of Eden, and Cain was excellent horticulturalist himself, in spite of the curse – with the persistency of weeds and intensive “sweat” and labor, and God blessed his efforts (Gen. 4:12). Adam and Eve must have taught Cain to honor God and bring offerings to Him. So when Cain was old enough to be responsible for his own garden, he chose to honor God with a sacrifice of the beautiful produce that he had so skillfully grown. His offering was from the labor of his own hands. In a real sense, Cain expected God to be greatly pleased and satisfied with his own good works. He expected the works of his own hands to bring glory to God and to make him acceptable before God. In doing so Cain revealed his crucial misunderstanding of the profound gravity of sin and the absolute holiness of God. God does not accept the good works of our own hands to make us acceptable to Him. The Scripture makes this crystal clear. Leviticus 17:11 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. Hebrews 9:22 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Genesis 4:1–5 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering… Titus 3:5–6 5 he (God) saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, In Cain’s sullen bitterness, since God had rejected his “good works” and bloodless offering from his own hands, Cain deceitfully invited Abel out into the field to talk with him and spitefully murdered his own brother (Gen. 4:5-8). In the Old Testament, God only honored those sacrifices, which were pictures of the Ultimate Redemptive Blood Sacrifice that would be offered by the Messiah – in the fullness of time! This is an Old Testament Messianic picture given through “a lamb for a man”. A Lamb for a Family  Many of us know the story of the Ten Plagues, which culminated in the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. The death of all the Egyptian’s firstborn was the final, most devastating plague to the spirit of the Egyptians. It compelled Pharaoh to let Israel go. The Israelite families escaped their firstborn being slain because of the blood of a lamb. The Passover: “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” Exodus 12:3–13 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. 7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 10 And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. God again reveals to each Israelite family that it is only through the blood sacrifice of a lamb that they will be protected from the Angel of Death – the Destroyers sent at God’s Command to execute judgments on all the gods of Egypt (Ex. 12:12b), and bring deliverance to His People from slavery. This is another Old Testament Messianic picture: “A Lamb for a Family”. A Sacrificial Animal for a Nation  Exodus 30:10 10 Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year. With the blood of the sin offering of atonement he shall make atonement for it once in the year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.” (Lev. 16:29-17:7) Leviticus is a book full of instructions (following Moses instruction in Exodus) regarding the sacrificial sin atonement blood offerings of lambs, bulls, goats, or birds. One day a year, on the tenth day of the seventh month, of the Lunar Jewish Calendar, there was a special sacrifice for the nation of Israel; it was called the “Day of Atonement” – now it is known as Yom Kippur (celebrated by Jewish people all over the world in 2012, on Sept. 26). The Day of Atonement This is the most important of all the festivals described in Leviticus, and is a fast rather than a feast (23:26–32). The Day of Atonement falls on the tenth day of the seventh month. On this day the high priest makes sacrifice for his own sin and the sins of the people. He re-consecrates the entire tent of meeting and its surrounds for the worship and service of God.This is the only day of the year that the high priest is allowed to enter the Most Holy Place and sprinkle blood for the atonement of sin. The ceremony is described in Leviticus 16. God’s repeated instruction to the people is that they are to deny themselves. They must abstain from food and other pleasures, to fast in sorrow for their sins. This is not a time for joyful celebration, but for deep repentance and solemn sacrifice.1 1. Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed.) (76–77). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg. The Need for a Day of Atonement (Lev 16) The greatest act of purification—one involving the entire nation—was that achieved on the Day of Atonement. On this day the high priest first offered up sacrifice for himself (16:1–14). He then slaughtered one goat as a sin offering for all the people (16:15–19) and expelled another goat (the scapegoat) from the camp as a symbol of the removal of sin from the community (16:20–22). Following a whole burnt offering (16:24), the camp was purified of the blood and animal remains by ceremonies of bathing and burning outside the camp (16:27–28). The writer of Hebrews developed images from the Day of Atonement to stress the superiority of Christ’s priesthood (Heb 8:6; 9:7, 11–26). Hebrews 13:11–12 uses the picture of the bull and goat burned outside the camp as an illustration of Christ’s suffering outside the Jerusalem city walls. According to one interpretation of 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul alluded to the ritual of the Day of Atonement by speaking of Christ as a sin offering.2 2. Dockery, D. S., Butler, T. C., Church, C. L., Scott, L. L., Ellis Smith, M. A., White, J. E., & Holman Bible Publishers (Nashville, T. (1992). Holman Bible Handbook (156). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers. A Sacrifice of Blood atoning for the sins of the nation – an Old Testament picture of the Messiah and Sacrificial Redeemer (see Isaiah 53). A Lamb for the World  The final Sacrifice (prophesied in the Old Testament) came “in the fullness of time”, in the Person of Jesus Christ, God, the Son: The Sinless Lamb of God. Galatians 4:4–5 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Ephesians 1:7–10 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. The Lamb of God John 1:29 29 The next day he (John the Baptist – the forerunner of the Messiah – Luke 1:17) saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Throughout Scripture God-honoring atonement for sins was through the offering of a blood sacrifice and a sacrificial lamb. Our own works will not be sufficient to give us acceptability before the Throne of a Holy God. The only Sacrifice sufficient is receiving the “gift of eternal life” (Romans 6:23), through the Sacrificial, Atoning and Redemptive Blood of Jesus Christ. A Lamb for a Man A Lamb for a Family A Sacrificial Animal for a Nation A Lamb for the World For God So Loved the World “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned— every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6 “For everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13 http://www.pastorkennedy.comshapeimage_2_link_0