“…we have been made holy through the sacrifice
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Hebrews 10:10
The sacrifice of Jesus allows us to be declared righteous in God’s sight.
The sacrifice of Jesus makes our relationship with God possible.
The sacrifice of Jesus is “once for all.”
As we prepare our hearts to celebrate this extraordinary sacrifice during the Easter season, may we “draw near to God with a sincere heart” (Hebrews 10:22) like never before.
Perhaps it is impossible to fully appreciate the sacrifice of Jesus in the New Testament without first understanding the sacrificial prerequisites to holiness in the Old Testament.
God created a perfect world. Man and woman, Adam, and Eve, were given a perfect place to live. In God’s Holy Book, it lasted until page 3 (errr…Chapter 3).
Genesis 3 is subtitled, The Fall of Man, in most Bibles. We know the sad story. We know the temptation, the first no, the second look, the giving in, the shame, and the ensuing blame game.
Oh, yes, we know the story. And even if we were not in the Garden ourselves, we know it because it is also our story.
I am not going to do it…maybe just one taste…one look…what can it hurt…shame…guilt…blame…regret.
If you and I were playing a game of Bible Trivia and the question was, First sin?, we’d automatically think of Genesis 3. But that same passage is also the answer to the question, First sacrifice?
Genesis 3:21 says:
The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
He gave them one rule. They broke it. Their true sin was failing to believe God – pride overruled belief. And what did God do? Destroy them? Go to Plan B? Create a new and improved Man 2.0 version? He could have done any of those, but instead He chose to do none of them.
Instead, He loved them.
His love prompted Him to provide for them. An animal had to die to cover their shame. And so the first sacrifice happened on page 3, and it ushered in a complex sacrificial system that was practiced for hundreds of years.
All those rules. Bloody, brutal rules. The cycle was never ending: Sin. Repentance. Sacrifice. Restoration. Sin again…
Until Jesus came. And then the sacrifice was once and for all.
Our word from the WORD this month is: sacrifice.
As we read, write, and reflect on sacrifice — first in the Old and then the New Testament — may it prepare our hearts to celebrate our risen, living Jesus this Easter!
The sin of Adam and Eve may have brought about the first sacrifice, but the Cross of Christ gave us the last.
It is finished.
Once for all.
He is risen.
Hallelujah!
I invite you to join us for this month’s installment in the Write The WORD series. Please visit our Downloads page for your free printable bookmark and optional S.O.A.P. study pages.
