Let's begin this study in prayer...
Isaiah 53:1-6Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
In our previous study we saw that God Almighty physically visited us
upon this earth, as a man, in Christ Jesus.
QUESTION: Why? Why did He do this? What was His primary motivation?
Well, we find our answer by reading what the angel of the Lord
said to Joseph after Joseph discovered that his wife to be, Mary,
was with child.
Matthew 1:18-21
QUESTION: How did Jesus Christ do this? How did He save us from our
sins?
Well, as it turns out He:
1. Made atonement for the forgiveness of our sins.
NOTE: Atone means to make amends.
and,
2. Redeemed us from the power of sin.
NOTE: Redeem means to buy back.
In order to get a clearer understanding of these things, let us begin
with atonement and go back into the Old Testament and see how God
foretold mankind of what was to come. In order to do this, let us begin
at the beginning and read about the fall of mankind, i.e. Paradise
lost.
I. THE FALL OF MANKIND
A. GOD'S COMMAND
Genesis 2:16-17
B. MAN'S SIN
Genesis 3:1-7
C. RESULTANT CURSES UPON MANKIND
Genesis 3:16-19
and then,
D. BANISHED FROM EDEN
Genesis 3:22-24
As we reflect upon these consequences of Adam & Eve's sin, we find
these curses to be existing to this day.
Now from this point on in the Old Testament we begin to read how man
tried to please God through the offering of sacrifices. In fact, let
us go and read about,
II. THE FIRST RECORDED OFFERINGS UNTO GOD
The first recorded offering was that of,
A. CAIN & ABLE
We find this given to us in,
Genesis 4:3-5
QUESTION: Why was God pleased with Able's offering and not with
Cain's?
Well, it really goes back to the punishment. Notice that in
Genesis 3:17-18 the ground was cursed and so Cain's offering
was from a cursed foundation ... not acceptable to God.
As a side note, this is another illustration of why we are not
saved by our good works.
Able on the other hand offered a life. Namely a life in exchange
for his life and this found favor with God.
Genesis 4:4(a)
QUESTION: How did Able know that the sacrifice of an animal
would be pleasing to God?
Well, the Lord had given him a foreshadowing of this when He
clothed Adam & Eve with animal skins.
Genesis 3:21
Notice: He God clothed them. Before this time they
covered themselves with fig leaves.
We also find that after the waters of the big flood subsided,
Noah offered to God some of the animals that were with him in
the ark. In fact let us go and read about it,
B. NOAH
1. THE SACRIFICE
Genesis 8:13-20
2. GOD'S REACTION
Genesis 8:21-22
As we continue through the Old Testament we finally find that
God through Moses prescribed various blood sacrifices that were
to be carried out throughout the remainder of the Old Testament.
In fact let us review some of them,
III. SOME OF THE SACRIFICES INSTITUTED THROUGH MOSES
The first sacrifice was the,
A. BLOOD COVERING
Prior to the exodus from Egypt, we find that God used a covering
of blood as a sign for the destroyer to pass over or skip a
particular household.
Exodus 12:21-23
The second was the,
B. BLOOD COVENANT
We also find that blood was used to seal the Covenant that God
had made with the people through the hand of Moses.
Exodus 24:3-8
Finally, when God gave Moses the Moral Law (i.e. the 10 commandments)
He also instituted a whole sacrificial system, i.e. the ceremonial
law, to be used for atonement when the Law was broken (i.e. when sin
was committed). To see this, let us read about the,
C. SIN OFFERING
Leviticus 4:27-31
Notice vs 28 When he made aware, then...
29a He is to lay his hand on the head,
i.e. transfer guilt to the animal.
29b He is to slaughter the animal.
30 The priest takes some blood and ...
QUESTION: Why the blood? What is so special about blood?
ANSWER:
Leviticus 17:11
and
Leviticus 17:14
Namely, the life is in the blood and the value of the life is
in the blood.
QUESTION: What was God doing? What was He saying or teaching the
people then and now with all these sacrifices?
Well, there are at least three truths being illustrated.
1. THE PENALTY FOR SIN IS DEATH
In addition to the illustration given to us through the
sacrificial system of the Old Testament, we also find it
very clearly stated in,
Romans 6:23(a)
2. ATONEMENT(RECONCILIATION) FOR US WITH GOD CAN ONLY BE
ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH A DEATH
To see this, let us again read,
Leviticus 17:11
Finally, but most importantly,
3. ALL THESE SACRIFICES WERE TO TEACH US ABOUT WHAT JESUS, THE
COMING MESSIAH, WOULD DO FOR US
This is explained to us in the New Testament in,
Hebrews 10:1-10
Given all this, what did Jesus do for us? Well in order to
find out let us now go to the New Testament and read about
the,
IV. THE SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST
In order to see how Jesus Christ has provided us the perfect
atonement, the perfect reconciliation, let us first look at the
lineage of our Lord Jesus Christ.
A. THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST
Luke 1:26-35
QUESTION: Since Jesus Christ was begotten by God, and since the
value of a life is in it's blood (or) represented by the blood,
what do you think the Blood of Jesus is worth? What is it's value?
ANSWER: You are right! It's value is God Himself!
Can we fathom that? Can we really grab a hold of who Jesus is?
Can we respond as Peter when Jesus asked him who he thought He
(Jesus) was?
Matthew 16: 13-16
OK Let us go on,
B. JESUS SHED'S HIS BLOOD FOR OUR ATONEMENT (OR) FORGIVENESS OF SINS
John 19:16-37
Now let us just stop here a minute and think about what had just
happened, who Jesus is and what was just accomplished ... Right
C. WE HAVE BEEN RECONCILED, i.e. OUR SINS ATONED FOR
In order to drive this point home, let us now go back and re-read
a portion of what we read before as to the mission of Jesus
Christ.
Hebrews 10:1-18
Notice vs 12 After His crucifixion and death, Jesus
rose from the dead and is now back in
heaven waiting for the time of His
second coming.
What a precious, precious gift that our Lord Jesus Christ has
given us.
V. THE TEACHING
With all this in mind, let us now close with the message of this whole
study. We find it given to us in,
Romans 5:6-11
Let's end this study in prayer...
Ephesians 2:13-18But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two [Jew & Gentile] one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in His flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which He put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Read the book by John Sweet, Jr.
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