The Last Sacrifice

It’s a hot day in Jerusalem as you stand in line with other sweaty Jews. In your right hand is a rope attached to a ring in the snout of the best bull you have ever seen. He is your prize. Your not taking him to show off at the county fair, you are taking him to an alter to be sacrificed for your sins.
You could sell him for several hundred dollars. You could butcher him and feed your family for months. But instead you are going to give him to the priest, to be killed and offered up to God. The blood of this bull will be mixed with millions of gallons of animal blood flowing through one of the most advanced drainage systems in the world of 30 A.D. As you marvel once again at the architectural masterpiece of Herod’s temple, you take a step forward and feel a squish as your sandaled foot sinks into the warm droppings of the bull in front of you.
The stench of fresh cow dung is so strong it makes you dizzy and reminds you of the stench of your own sin in the nostrils of the Almighty God. As you pass through the gates of the temple with your mooing sacrifice, you realize you are coming closer and closer to the presence of God. Your sin and the guilt-pain that comes with memory fresh on your mind you can’t help but marvel at God’s mercy. “Why me, Lord. Why offer mercy to me?”

You stand in line all day and finally make it to the priests who help you tie up and slaughter this innocent animal whose trust you have won over the years. It reminds you of how many times you have betrayed God’s trust with your own life. The priest makes his cut and you watch the life slowly ebb from your prized bull. You can’t help but remember your own sin and how that life should have been yours. You deserve this death, but God has allowed you to use this unwitting creature to postpone the punishment of your own wrongdoing. It is a part of God’s Law. You’ll have to do this again. Maybe you can use a goat next year. But for now a sigh of temporary relief. It’s time to go home and get ready for next year’s sacrifice for the sins your family will commit this year.

Heb. 10:1-14
1The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
6with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
7Then I said, 'Here I am--it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, O God.'"
8First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made) 9Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

If you have been clothed with Christ, you have been made perfect. Paul says in Galatians that we are clothed with Christ when we are baptized into Christ. Like the blood through the ancient temple drainage system, Christ’s blood cleans out your sin and carries it away. The result is that we are heirs according to the promise; able to approach the throne of grace with confidence!

When you woke up today you were pure, and when you wake up tomorrow, no sacrifice has to be made for the mistakes of today. If you are a Christian, you wake up a holy child of God. No more holding on to the sins of yesterday, they are gone. No more worrying about the mistakes of tomorrow, they are taken care of. And so when you wake up the first thing you should do as a Christian is hit the floor and cry out a prayer of thankfulness to him who took your guilt away – forever.

The sacrifices of bulls and goats under the law reminded the Jews of their sin and God’s mercy. But they were only a shadow of the true reality. The true reality is that in Christ, there are no more sacrifices, no more guilt, no more remorse about the past; only a hopeful longing for the future (How are you going to live for God today? What is God preparing for you tomorrow?).

If you have not yet been clothed with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, you are missing out on the greatest hope you can have, the greatest peace known to man. Your life will never be complete and your guilty conscience can never be cleared without Christ.

If you come to Christ and make that commitment to him, the angels in heaven will rejoice at your acceptance of the most precious gift in all eternity. Don’t delay, put the old life down. Put the old ways behind you and embrace a hope that will live forever. Whoever you are, don’t stand in the guilty line of those under the Law waiting to sacrifice. Instead, give your life to the one true, Once-and-for-all.

He Won't Let Go

Helping me grab a few things on a short errand to Target the other day, my three-year-old son, Corban carried an armload of merchandise. I noticed him struggling to get all items he was holding under one arm. So I helped him get things situated and secure. Then, I found out why he wanted the free hand. “Daddy, I want to hold your hand.” I was elated that my three-year-old son wanted to be close to me, feel that connection with his father, bond for a few moments as we made our way to the checkout. “I’d love to hold your hand, buddy.” He grabbed two of my fingers and held tight. Enveloping his hand in mine I asked, “Why do you want to hold daddy’s hand, Corban?” He promptly replied, “Because I don’t want anybody to take me.” “Neither do I, son. Don’t worry, I won’t let go.”

My son offered evidence that he had learned a lesson we have striven to teach: “There are people out there who want to take you away from mommy and daddy, so stay close.” Rachael and I don’t want our children to grow up afraid of people they don’t know, people who will one day be the objects of their love, service and evangelism. Instead, we want them to have a healthy fear of the ability of people with evil intentions to snatch them up and carry them off. I can assure you, as cautious as Corban may become, his fear of being taken pales compared to my fear of losing him.

So with our heavenly Father who uses Luke 15 to articulate this personal fear. A shepherd loses one sheep from a flock of a hundred. His love for that sheep compels him to take drastic measures to find her and bring her home. A poor woman loses one of her 10 silver coins. She turns the house over to look for it and gathers friends when it is found. A father loses a son who wanders into the cruel distant country. Hungry reality gnaws on the boy’s heart and he returns to find his father’s open arms running to greet him weeping, rejoicing.

You are that important to God. His fear of losing you dwarfs your fear of being lost. Hold tightly to our Father’s hand so nobody will take you away. He swears he won’t let go.

Big Steps

This weekend I built the main structure for our children's swingset. I started from scratch, with a plan in my head. It's turning out okay, except one thing. I made the ladder rather hastely Sunday afternoon only to realize that the steps are too far apart for my almost two-year-old daughter to climb. The slide remains out of her reach. How did that happen? I think this afternoon I'll be working on another ladder.

I'm reminded of a quote I read in high school. "Set your castle in the clouds. Then, build steps to reach it." Fortunately, God is the contractor on my castle in the clouds. Unfortunatly, there is no way I can build steps to reach it. Heaven is to far.

So God sent his son to make human-sized steps to a heaven-sized castle.

"To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps." (1 Pet 2:21 NIV)

"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" (John 14:6 NIV)

May God bless your journey as you follow him to your castle in the clouds!