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"Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."
(Hebrews 9:25-26)
This week we have been looking at the ways the book of Hebrews reveals Jesus as greater and better. Yesterday, we explored how Jesus is better than Aaron and the other high priests of the past. He is a better high priest because He is perfect and does not need to atone for His own sin before He can atone for ours. What makes Jesus even more amazing, though, is that He isn't just the High Priest who offers the sacrifice for us: He Himself is the offered sacrifice. Jesus Christ offered Himself as the sacrifice for our sins.
Hebrews 9:22 clearly shows us that, "Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." There must, therefore, be a blood sacrifice for our sin to be forgiven. Before Christ, the high priests would offer the blood of animals to make atonement for the people. However, this was an inadequate sacrifice. The blood of an animal could not forgive human sin. It was a temporary solution to be a symbol to the people of their need for a greater, perfect, and permanent sacrifice. After all, Hebrews 10:4 is clear, "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." It leaves all of creation longing for a true and better sacrifice. "So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith." (Galatians 3:24)
So enters Jesus of Nazareth. The God-man who takes on the sin of the world by giving Himself as a sacrifice for sin. His blood was spilled as the perfect payment for all of our imperfection. This satisfied the wrath of God toward all sin for all time. As our verses of the day reveal, the sacrifice of Christ was fully sufficient to atone for all sin once and for all. While animal sacrifices had to be made regularly, the blood of Jesus is fully sufficient for all people and all sins in all time. Nothing could be greater or purer than the blood of Jesus Christ.
"Just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him."
(Hebrews 9:27-28)
Praise be to Jesus Whose blood could accomplish what the blood of animals could never do. Even though they tried to choose the most blemish-free lambs for sacrifice, they all pale in comparison to the Lamb of God, our perfect Savior.
Praise Jesus! He is greater than the prophets, angels, Moses, Aaron, the sacrificial system, and much, much more! If you want to continue exploring this theme, study the book of Hebrews. It reveals so much to us about our great and worthy Jesus!
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