June 10
“We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,” Hebrews 10:10-12.
Sacrificing to God was instituted by God in Old Testament times. Sacrifices were prescribed by God as to place, time and manner in great detail. The Ceremonial Law of the Jews prescribed the sacrifices for every day, for the Sabbath Days, and the various festivals.
One of the major sacrifices was the sacrifice in connection with the annual Passover Festival. It was first instituted by God in the land of Egypt, through which the children of Israel were delivered from slavery under the Pharaoh of Egypt. The children of Israel slaughtered a yearling lamb without blemish and splashed the blood of the lamb above the door and on the doorposts of their homes. On the given night that the Lord passed throughout the land of Egypt and killed the firstborn child in every home, He passed over the homes of the Israelites which were marked with the blood of the lamb. Pharaoh urged the children of Israel to leave Egypt in a hurry. By the blood of the lamb, the Israelites were rescued from slavery and death. Annually, the Israelites celebrated the Passover Festival remembering God’s mighty deliverance from bondage.
However, all of the sacrifices were a symbol of the one great sacrifice that would be made by the Son of God to save sinners. When Jesus began His ministry, John the Baptist pointed to Him and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” John 1:29.
The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews repeatedly speaks of the sacrifices that were made in Old Testament times and what they symbolized. The sacrifices did not remove any sins, but they kept before the eyes of the people God’s promise to send the sin-removing Savior. “Every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.”
Today, there is no more offering for sins. We are brought into God’s family by faith in the Lord Jesus who sacrificed Himself on the altar of the cross at Calvary “once for all!” “Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin,” Hebrews 10:18. Jesus is our High Priest who made the supreme sacrifice: “Such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself,” Hebrews 7:26-27.
“This Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.” The Savior who sacrificed Himself, suffered, died and rose again to conquer sin, death and the devil. Now He is at the right hand of God; He is in the position of power, ruling the world in the interest of His Church comprised of all and only believers in Him as God’s Son and our Savior.
Jesus, Lover of my soul, Let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, While the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Savior, hide, Till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide, Oh, receive my soul at last!
Other refuge have I none; Hangs my helpless soul on Thee.
Leave, ah, leave me not alone, Still support and comfort me!
All my trust on Thee is stayed, All my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head, With the shadow of Thy wing. Amen.