Hebrews 10:1-39
Christ's Sacrifice is Once and for All
1 The 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. 2 Otherwise, 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. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, my God.’”
8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
16 “This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”
17 Then he adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”
18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For,
“In just a little while,
he who is coming will come
and will not delay.”
38 And,
“But my righteous one will live by faith.
And I take no pleasure
in the one who shrinks back.”
39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
Leviticus 17:11
On Atonement
11 For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
A New Covenant is Coming
31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them,”
declares the Lord.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
Matthew 26:17-30
The Last Supper
17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
18 He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21 And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”
23 Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
25 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”
Jesus answered, “You have said so.”
26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
1 John 4:8
God is LOVE
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 2:1-2
Jesus Atones for Ours Sins
1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Job 19:25
Job Knows that His Redeemer Lives
25 I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
2 Corinthians 5:21
God Sent Jesus to Take Away Our Sins
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Matthew 5:17-19
Jesus Came to Fulfill the Law of Moses
17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
John 3:16-18
God So LOVES the World and Sent His Son to Us and For Us
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
Romans 4:25
Jesus Was Delivered Over to Death for Our Sins
25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
1 Corinthians 15:17
Jesus Died for Our Sins
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
John 14:6-7
Jesus is the Way to God
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
John 17:3
Now this is Eternal Life
3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Atonement can be defined as the reconciliation of God and mankind...Atonement is the reparation of a wrongdoing, or a mistake, or a sin or sins...Atonement for mankind is when Jesus Christ took on the sins of the world...Not His sins, but each and everyone of our sins...This is called Vicarious Atonement...Vicarious because Jesus substituted Himself for each of us and our sins...And in our place He died on the cross for our sins...When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, justice was done that day for the sins we have committed and will commit...He substituted Himself to pay the debts of our sins...Jesus makes the payment of our sins against God legal and just Judge...He fixes our sins and makes us righteous, through His death on the cross...Atonement might also be defined as the ultimate way of LOVE, it is a Divine LOVE that comes from God...Atonement was the sacrifice of Jesus -God's Son, and was an end to all the Old Testament sacrifices for the sins of man, and for man...Jesus sacrificing Himself on the cross, was the last sacrifice necessary for our sins...Atonement is the Ultimate Type of LOVE...And God allowed this Atonement out of LOVE for this world...So through God's Son's death we see both God's justice and we see God's LOVE for us...Neither His justice or His LOVE for the world was comprised, when Jesus died on the cross for us...Atonement is a Divine Justice...
So atonement is characterized by a reconciliation of God with mankind, a Son's death for our sins, an only Son redeeming mankind, justice and justification for our sins, the Perfect Sacrifice of Jesus, a show of Unconditional LOVE, and death on the cross...
This atonement was part of God's Plan...His Son would die for each of us...And this sacrifice is the ultimate sacrifice to God...And this sacrifice, since it was His Plan is for God and to God...Because God is our Creator and the Creator of all things, He is the starting point of all things...Therefore, we must look at the atonement from God's point of view...When we look at God's point of view, the cross and Jesus' suffering can be looked at differently, because our thoughts are not God's thoughts...We look at the earthly things, while God looks at and can control everything in the universe...Jesus' atonement in repairing our sins, shows the world His righteousness...Jesus has paid for our sins and He reconciles us through His death, when we have faith in Him...And that reconcilement is with His Father...The only Way to heaven and to God is through Jesus...He is the Way...No one comes to the Father except through Him...
This Ultimate LOVE of God caused Someone to die...God allowed His Son to die for us, and for our sins...So God allowed His Son to die for us...And I think many can see the LOVE in this type of sacrifice and this type of suffering and death...Yet, we cannot completely understand death...This is because we cannot completely understand God, and maybe cannot understand unconditional and complete unfettered LOVE...But when we really think about the story of God sending His Son for us, and to die for us, we can see LOVE, and better understand LOVE...If we could completely know and comprehend love, then we can better understand God...We can almost see the LOVE God has for us in the sacrificing of His Son and understand it...Yet, we do not completely understand this atonement and His LOVE...Complete Understanding is LOVE...
But there still is this mystery in the atonement...And to further this mystery between atonement and LOVE, suffering comes in to play...And suffering seems to be a part of life...Suffering and evil make believers, as well as non-believers challenged by why God allows any suffering and evil in the world and in our lives...If Atonement is the Ultimate LOVE One can have, why make someone like Job or anyone for that matter suffer...After all, we read that Job is blameless...God could have made the Story of Job different...But we have the Book of Job as it is, and Job is allowed to suffer...And in the first chapter of Job we see that God allows this suffering of Job...And in the mystery of love and suffering in the Book of Job, we see that Job knew that a Redeemer lived, and one day He would stand on the earth...Job had the faith that a Savior, a Redeemer would come...We see by Job's persistence and endurance, that Jesus justifies through His atonement those that have faith in Him...
Before Jesus died on the cross, the sacrifices for our sins were animals...The animal sacrifices were not a completed sacrifice...But the Law of Moses showed us that we do sin and need redemption...And if one needs redemption, we need a Redeemer...The Law of Moses was a foreshadowing of the good news and the good things to come...The law foreshadowed the Messiah to come, especially when He filled the prophecies of the Old Testament...The Law of Moses were not quite complete...They needed to be fulfilled...There were only completed, when the Messiah would fulfill them....The author of Hebrews says that those sacrifices were just an annual reminder of our sinning...It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins...God was not happy with the sacrifice of animals, but it was in the Law of Moses...For He said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire, nor were You pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law...Then He said, “Here I AM, I have come to do Your will.”...He sets aside the first way of sacrifice that we had to forgive our sins to God, to an new way -His death on the cross for our sins...And by that way, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all...
So this New Covenant was to come to Israel, and Jeremiah wrote about it...The first covenant was set aside to establish the second covenant...Jesus now completes the Laws of Moses and the first one that Jeremiah wrote about...The New Covenant would not be quite like the Old Covenant...The New Covenant would come in the form of a Man...The law showed our sinful nature and by breaking these Laws of Moses we can better see our sins...But this Man never once broke any of the Laws of Moses...Jesus fulfilled the Law of Moses with complete obedience to God and He did the will of God...
Jesus knew He would be sacrificed for our sins...While eating His Last Supper, Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is My body.”...Then He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you...This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins...I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”...He was preparing Himself for His death, as He prepared His Disciples for His death on the cross...His blood would be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins...He would be sacrificed for our sins...
Jesus came to serve us, and it is very, very much shown on the cross...He gave His life for our sins and for us...He was forsaken by His Disciples and God...And Jesus asks God, why has He forsaken Him...On the cross Jesus became abandoned and alone...Being the Forgiver of All Sins of Mankind, He felt this aloneness on the cross as He died...And He felt this being forsaken by both friends and His Father...And so He died a tortuous, painful, slow death...He died for our sins, so that He could and would be our Mediator, our Savior...We could now approach Him and be closer to God...Jesus is the Way to God...
No animal could take away our sins, a Man, a Divine Man, the Son of the Living God would be the Only One who could take away mankind's sins...God gave up His Son, who never sinned, for us...So that in Him we might become righteous before our God and Father...So Jesus took away our sins and what we have done wrong in life...On judgment day our sins are satisfied for His Atonement...The sting of death is gone because we believe in God and the One He sent...And because of His death and this Atonement for us, we can have eternal life with Him and His Father...
Atonement is a sign of God's LOVE, His forgiveness, His mercy, and His justice...