(Ex 30:10 NLT) ”Once a year Aaron must purify the altar by placing on its horns the blood from the offering made for the atonement of sin. This will be a regular, annual event from generation to generation, for this is the LORD’s supremely holy altar.”
Today we continue down The Road to the Resurrection. On Easter Sunday (or Resurrection Sunday), as far as I am concerned, we celebrate the singular most important event in history: the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus the Christ. The messages I will provide this week and next are designed to help you get a better understand what happened with the death, burial, and subsequent resurrection of Jesus.
Let’s start in the Old Testament. Exodus 30 opens with God detailing to Moses the altar of incense. The Lord went into great detail about the dimensions, the type of wood, the placement of the altar, and etc. This would be the first thing you encountered when entering the Tabernacle. Aaron was to burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning and then again every evening. While this was a ritual of worship, the true purpose of any altar is always death. Our text outlines the death connected to this altar.
An animal was killed (or sacrificed) every year for the “Atonement” of sin. The “Day of Atonement” (or Yom Kippur) was the day set apart every year when the High Priest would offer a sacrifice for the sins of the people. The word atonement means ‘to cover’. It is further explained in Leviticus 23:26-32. I will summarize it by simply saying that the blood of the animal was offered as a “covering” for sin. The blood of the animal could never really eradicate the sin problem created by Adam, but it serves as a temporary fix, until the ultimate sacrifice would be offered – Jesus Himself.
The Hebrew writer explained it this way: “For Christ has entered into heaven itself to appear now before God as our Advocate. He did not go into the earthly place of worship, for that was merely a copy of the real Temple in heaven. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the earthly high priest who enters the Most Holy Place year after year to offer the blood of an animal. If that had been necessary, he would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But no! He came once for all time, at the end of the age, to remove the power of sin forever by his sacrificial death for us” (Heb 9:24-26 NLT).
So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
1. Because of Adam’s disobedience two problems were introduced into the world. I call these two problem satan’s dynamic duo. They are: sin and death. Jesus came to deal with both.
2. The blood of the PASSOVER lamb (sacrifice) was a symbol of God’s deliverance from death. I did not have time to explain this today, but I have explained this in the past. A lamb was killed every year as a covering for protection from the power of death.
3. The blood of the Atonement lamb (sacrifice) was a symbol of God’s deliverance from sins. Every year the blood of an innocent lamb was shed for the sins of guilty man. This was a temporary solution to a permanent problem.
4. The Father used the Blood of Jesus to cleanse us from sin and deliver us from death once and for all. Jesus took us from temporary solutions to a permanent one. He died once and for all. He was the ultimate sacrifice.
5. Jesus was both the PASSOVER lamb and the Atonement lamb. The sacrifice of the Lamb of God (Jesus) ended the need for any further animal sacrifices. Jesus delivered us from both sin and death in one fell swoop. Jesus redeemed us from everything that Adam got us into.
6. In Jesus we graduate from temporary to permanent, from ritual to relationship, from depiction to definite, and from covering to cleansing! The Blood of Jesus delivers us from sin and from the power of death. Because of Jesus we are free from sin by God’s amazing grace. This does not mean that you are free TO sin. No, the Bible is clear that we are free FROM sin. Now that you are free, you should walk in the newness of the life Christ Jesus provided for you. Further, you are free from the bondage of the fear of death. Once you are dead in Christ you have done all the dying you are going to do. You have nothing to fear. Death has no sting for you. The day you die physically, you will not die spiritually. That day for you will simply be MOVING DAY. You will move from earth to glory, from time to eternity and from mortal to immortality. Because Jesus took the sting out of death and He robbed the grave of its victory. You have been delivered from SIN and DEATH by Jesus’ finished work on the cross. Walk now in freedom from both!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I do not walk in ritual, routine or religion. I thank You for helping me to foster a true and intimate relationship with You. Jesus died so I could live. He paid my debt on the cross. My sins are not covered. No, my sin (all of it) has been cleansed by the Blood of Jesus! I walk in perfect peace, power, protection and might. Jesus delivered me from the power of sin and the fear of death. I enter this day with a clear conscience and a rested spirit. I have the confidence that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And my confidence is not disturbed. I have peace in my heart, because I know that Jesus’ finished work on the cross was a permanent act of Your will. I don’t have to put my trust in annual sacrifices. I place my trust in the Blood of Jesus, which has washed me once and for all. Sin has no power of me. I am not afraid of dying because I already dead in Christ. I live my life in honor of Jesus’ death, ready to change the world by Your grace! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
