The Reason for His Sacrifice

I believe the earthquake I mentioned in yesterday's blog was over 10 years ago. It feels like it was just a few years ago but after writing yesterday I got to thinking about it and it was quite some time back. Also, the Bible verse I gave yesterday was really Saturday's verse. Just wanted to keep things accurate here. Don't want to confuse anyone.

I have a 2:00 meeting today at church regarding the Prayer Team for our 40 Days of Purpose Campaign. Rita gave me a packet of copied pages to read last Sunday and I guess now we'll discuss what and how we're going to conduct the prayer part of the campaign. There was an entire section in those pages about fasting. I don't know how I feel about fasting. I know it was a given that people would fast and pray because Scripture says, "When you fast..." (Mt 6:16) but I've always thought of it as, well, silly. I'm showing my ignorance, I'm sure, but I'm just being truthful. Regardless of how I feel, I've decided that I will fast and pray during this campaign. I can't see that I have much choice. It really is a discipline that was carried over into the first century church so no matter what it may "feel" like, it has a place in worship. And it wouldn't hurt me a bit to go a day without eating! Maybe I'll ask Rita if she's ever fasted. Maybe she'll have some insight into it. I am determined and hesitant at the same time. But I will fast when we have the day of fasting. And if it goes well, who knows, I may fast on my own throughout the campaign. It might even become a discipline I end up incorporating into my regular prayer life. I will do it because I think I should and not because I'm expecting to get anything out of it. I won't expect a mountain-top experience. I will simply be submissive about this discipline.

As long as I'm going out today I'll go by the Post Office and Kelly's. There should be a few refills for me to pick up and I need to mail off an invoice. I need to buy stamps too because we're completely out and it won't be long before the bills start coming in and I'll need some. I have disciplined myself to pay our bills as soon as they come in, which is a good thing because otherwise I'm sure I'd probably forget all about them and end up running late on some. We have so few it's just easier to get them taken care of immediately and get them out of the way. That way I can file away our portion of the statement and not have it lying around adding clutter to things. I like this more disciplined person I am becoming. I actually have routines and systems for doing things. I don't think we were meant to live without discipline in our lives. I can't help but think of all the disciplines they had in Old Testament times. Of course their disciplines pertained mostly to their worship but their worship was their way of life and I think it shows that we need structure in our lives. At least that's what I'm discovering in my own life. I function much better now that I've got a few routines down. I wasn't happy with myself without structure. I needed discipline in my life.

You know the Jews were actively and eagerly awaiting the arrival of their Messiah but they weren't looking for Jesus. Their problem was that they were expecting someone who would alleviate the burdensome weight of Roman rule. God, however, was not interested in temporary relief from an oppressive government; He wanted to offer the entire world freedom from the tyranny of bondage to sin.

The Messiah's role on earth was understood by John the Baptist who, when he saw Jesus approaching, called out, "Behold, the lamb of God who takes aways the sin of the world." (Jn 1:29) The title John gave for the Savior described the way in which the Lord would carry out God's plan of redemption.

Sacrifice was an integral part of God's plan in the Old Testament. In Genesis chapter 4, blood was shed for the individual as Abel offered God an animal sacrifice on his own behalf. Exodus 12 describes blood shed for the family: Moses told every household to sprinkle lamb's blood on the doorposts of their homes in Egypt to protect that family from the plague of misery and death. The Mosaic Law later would institute an annual Day of Atonement, when the high priest would offer a blood sacrifice for the entire nation. (Lev 16)

In the New Testament, God made Jesus Christ ... the Lamb of God ... a blood sacrifice for the whole world. The sacrificial lamb had to be perfect, spotless, and without blemish. Therefore the One who would redeem the world was required to be perfect and sinless. Only Jesus, who was divinity draped in humanity, could free humankind from the oppression of sin. Take time to think about this. God stepped down into humanity to redeem us. We were lost. Totally, completely, and forever lost. We, of ourselves, could not provide the sacrifice needed to reestablish the relationship between God and Man that was lost in Eden. We had a God-sized problem that only God could satisfy. Only God himself could make us acceptable to holy God.

That's why Jesus made His sacrifice. To redeem us all from the burden of sin. A burden that we had no way of alleviating on our own. We were broken, battered, and bruised by sin and it's terrible consequences and only a pure blood sacrifice could ease the stress on humanity. We had no way to take care of the offense ourselves so God stepped in and provided us with everything we needed to be set right with Himself. God required a perfect sacrifice and only Jesus could supply it. We were steeped in sin and absolutely useless. But Christ, being perfect, could lay down His life and free us from sin's horrible grasp. Being perfect, He satisfied all the requirements for us to be able to come to the Father and be lovingly accepted. Jesus died in our place; He died so that we wouldn't have to. And now, because of His sacrifice, we can approach the Father knowing that He's already taken care of everything. He reconciled the world to Himself (2Cor 5:18) by providing the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He did it. He did it all.

And so, understanding the reason why Jesus had to be the sacrificial Lamb, what is required of me? What am I to do? Say Thank You. It's that simple. Recognize that Jesus paid the price for my sins and say Thank You, come and live Your life through me. I will be Your hands, and Your feet, come and live through me. Glorify Yourself in and through me. I am humbled at the thought that I can be of any use to the Lord. Humbled at the thought that the sacrifice has been paid. Humbled that He has done it all and that all that's required of me is to say "Thank You, come and live through me." You see, it's a kind of "active" thanking. It's not that I take the value of the sacrifice, say Thank You, and walk away untouched. No, it's that I say Thank You, now live Your life through me. I am forever different, forever changed. In that instant that I accept His offer and say Thank You I become a totally new creation (2Co 5:17). I am forever different, forever changed. It is "Christ in [me] the hope of glory (Co 1:27). It is surrendering myself to His complete control. His will becomes my will and a new longing is created in me. A longing that only He can satisfy. It's recognizing that I am incomplete without Him and that only in Him can I now live my life. He becomes my all in all. I am no longer free to live my life the way I want to live it. No, it's now, saying Thank You, that I allow Him to live through me. My hands, my feet, my mouth, my mind become totally His (1Co 6:15). And it's not that I dedicate my life to Him, but that He uses my life for His purposes and I merely say, Thank You (Ph 2:13). It is Christ doing everything through me and not me doing things for Christ. It's not my efforts. No, it's my complete surrender unto His efforts. It's that I no longer live, but that Christ lives through me.