An Offering for Sin

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Atonement, Bible, Cross, Crucifixion, Expiation, God, God's Will, Isaiah, Jesus Christ, Prophets, Propitiation, Sacrifice, Salvation, Soteriology, Theology

Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
    and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
    and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

(Isaiah 53:10, NIV)

In this one verse we see the wonderful mystery of the cross expressed.  What a marvelous gift that God gave this word to the prophet Isaiah, and how it must have moved and mystified that holy man and so many others, to ponder what all this could mean.  Yet in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the mystery is made plain, and we are left with adoration and awe.

The cross was not an accident of history, the tragic death of one more good man at the hands of the wicked.  It was the will of God, the divine act of redemption for the lost human race.  Here the Son of God suffered for us, perfect obedient Servant, pure Substitute, Holy Savior of mankind.

Christ was made an offering for our sins.  By His sacrifice, the wrath of God is satisfied and our guilt is washed away.  What we could never accomplish for ourselves, Christ did on our behalf.  And for all His wonderful miracles, His greatest act was offering Himself up to make atonement for us.

And yet He lives.  He sees offspring–the children of God, who through faith may be saved because of what He has done.  His days are prolonged, for He defies death and is raised to life eternal.  And He accomplishes the redeeming purpose of God, securing a people for the Lord redeemed and renewed by His blood.

Praise to God for His wonderful work, for the saving death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

And She Even Has the Hat

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Abortion, Faith, Forgiveness, Occult, Sacrifice, Sorcery, Truth, Witchcraft

It would be far too easy to laugh off the First Annual Christian Witches Convention.  Their syncretism of Christianity with paganism is absurd, their justifications for their understanding of Scripture are farcical, they’ve chosen to maximize irony by meeting in Salem, MA, and the ‘Reverend’ Valerie Love even has the hat.  It’s as though they’re trying not to be taken seriously.

But I think they are serious.  The evil they represent is serious.  The seriousness with which God regards it is shown in His words to the Israelites: “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.  Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD” (Deut. 18:10-12, NIV).

We live in a culture where the pagan practice of sacrificing sons and daughters is widespread; it should be no surprise that other elements of pagan spirituality show increasing acceptance and popularity.  The farce of this vaudevillian episode is the basic absurdity of idolatry, the grotesque folly of worshipping a statue made of wood (Isa. 44:14-16).  Such foolish beliefs seem plausible to the mind darkened by rejecting God (see Rom. 1:21-23).

But let no Christian be deceived.  The new heavens and new earth belong to the faithful in Christ; “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars–they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.  This is the second death” (Rev. 21:8).

Now is the day of repentance.  The cross of mercy still stands.  For those who have followed the way of paganism, who have sacrificed their sons or daughters, who have practiced sorcery, there is yet one hope: repent, believe the gospel, and be saved.  The Savior’s arm are still outstretched to you.  There is no hope in sorcery; there is forgiveness and life in Jesus Christ.  But you must choose one.

Without Defect

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Christ, Leviticus, Sacrifice

Over and again in the early chapters of Leviticus as the prescriptions for offerings are laid out, we’re reminded that a sacrifice to God must be perfect.  A burnt offering from the herd or flock must be “without defect” (1:3, 10); the sin offering for a priest must be “a young bull without defect” (4:3), for a leader “a male goat without defect” (v.23), for an ordinary person “a female goat without defect” (v.28) or a female lamb “without defect” (v.32), and so also for the guilt offerings (chs. 5-6).

Certainly God deserves the best, and whatever is to be given to God must be from the best.  But I think also there is a symbolism at work here, the sacrifice of purity to cleanse away impurity.  A beast already blemished would be a poor offering to cleanse the blemish from a human heart; and since these offerings are ineffective in themselves but only point forward to Christ, the ultimate message is how He was qualified as the sin bearer because He was “without defect” morally.

“The blood of goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.  How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” (Heb. 9:13-14)

It’s remarkable to think on the life of Christ, that He committed no sin, and that while it would be reductionistic to make this the whole of it, to some extent we may say that He resisted temptation all His life for us.  Only in so doing could He bear our sins on the cross.  Only a pure sacrifice can wash away the stain of sin.

Christians, called to holiness, are only asked to live out proper gratitude for what the Holy One has done for us.  The world thinks righteous living a terrible burden; we must think rightly, and see righteous living as a joyous response, to Jesus Christ our Lord.