Better Sacrifice
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Tell us about an item you recently purchased that you consider a good deal.ย
โข When was the last time someone did you a favor? How did you show your appreciation?
โข Have you ever completed a payment for an expense you initially thought you couldnโt afford? How did you feel?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต (๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ) ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ.ย ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐ต:๐ญ๐ญโ๐ญ๐ฎ
(Read also ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐ต:๐ญ๐ฏโ๐ฎ๐ด.)
Leviticus details the sacrificial system God instituted so His people could live out their relationship with Him. Various kinds of offerings and sacrifices were to be made, some to atone for sin and others for cleansing and purification. The high priest acted as the mediator between man and Godโproviding a sacrificial offering first for his cleansing, before facilitating the sacrifice on behalf of Godโs people. This was a foreshadowing of what Jesus would do. But Jesus, our high priest and mediator forever, also served as the sacrifice for sin so people could draw near to God. Why is Jesusโ sacrifice better than any other?
๐ญ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐โ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด.ย
. . .๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. . . . ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ญ๐บ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง. ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐ต:๐ญ๐ฎ, ๐ฎ๐ฒ
Unlike the sacrifices made in the Old Testament that had to be repeated each year and could only cover certain kinds of sin of the Israelites, Jesusโ sacrifice on the cross is once and for all time, all kinds of sin, and all kinds of people. This points us to the reality that ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ดย (Hebrews 10:4). When our Savior died on the cross, further sacrifices were no longer necessary. Jesusโ sacrifice is better than the sacrifices under the old covenant. He wasnโt just our high priest; He became the sacrifice. On the cross, Jesus took the weight of our sins and died the death we deserved. How does knowing Christโs sacrifice is sufficient affect your identity as someone who has full trust in His finished work?ย
๐ฎ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐โ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ ๐ณ๐๐น๐น ๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด.ย
. . . ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ง๐บ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐ต:๐ญ๐ฐ
Animal sacrifices could never totally cleanse man from sin. Only the sacrifice of Jesus once for all could do this. Godโs will is for us to be sanctifiedโset apart from sin and set apart for Himself. What Jesus did on the cross meant not only our external purification but included our inner being. Now, we are free to live for Him without guilt and shame. How does this influence your perspective as you serve Him?ย ย
๐ฏ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐โ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฐ๐ค๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต. ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐ต:๐ญ๐ฑ
Jesusโ sacrifice also seals the promise to every believer who has placed their trust in His finished work. It guarantees eternal life with God and hope for resurrection. Because of Christโs sacrifice, we can look forward to eternity with God. In light of this, how can you view your present circumstances?ย
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Jesusโ sacrifice never needs to be repeated. How does this truth affect your relationship with God? How will it change the way you live and respond to Him?
โข How does our future reality in Christ and His Second Coming affect your perspective and the way you live? What can you do this week to reflect the hope you have in Jesus and His finished work?
โข We donโt need to earn our salvation because Jesusโ sacrifice is sufficient for all people, all sins, and all time. Present the gospel to someone who needs to hear this truth this week.
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for the saving work of Christ, whose sacrifice on the cross brought us back, by faith, to a right relationship with God.ย
โข Ask the Holy Spirit to help you live life in light of eternityโthat your priorities, choices, and relationships would reflect a heart anchored in Jesusโ finished work and victory.
โข Pray for those going through trials to find hope in the truth that Jesusโ sacrifice is sufficient, and He will return to save those who eagerly wait for Him.ย