The Sacrifice

The Sacrifice

3/15/15

There have been some people that have called into question the authoritative position of Christ and what He means to our salvation.  These overall groups of people have increased exponentially over the past few millennia and have increased their worldly acceptance at the same time.  While the majority of these people have great personalities, behavior and are usually upright standing within society, they have become a sticker in the Word of God and the authority of the blood of Jesus.  There are many aspects of this progressive thinking that need to be addressed but I am sticking to one topic here and that is the authority of Christ and the meaning of the Cross.  It is not my intentions to upset anyone, but most likely I shall because it will disprove their beliefs, but it is necessary because times are going to change real soon and we need to know and to understand the truth.

It is of human nature for one to believe that there are more ways than one to achieve a goal.  This is such a true human statement and can be accepted as the rule in almost every aspect of human life.  That is why there are ranges in our justice system which are handed down which include harsh sentences or leniency depending upon the circumstances and the reasons that said rules were broken.  However, there are some laws and crimes which have only one system of justice and even then justice is never always achieved.  While these rules, laws, and justice provides us with a formidable guide for our society, they all represent a flawed mind and will from their creators; which sometimes those flaws are evident.

A common term that many of us use goes like this: don’t judge me, only God can judge me, or unless you walk in my shoes don’t judge me.  There are numerous variations of this statement that we hear each day, but do we really understand what we are saying when we use those phrases?  I have to be honest here and point out that I have used those phrases for the decisions that I have made in the past and I understand why people use them but do we really understand what we are saying?  We are implying that only God can judge us and in the end that is true, but the question remains is this, do we mean it?

If we mean it then we understand that one day God will judge us for the wrong doings of our lives, which raises another question: How do we know what we are going to be judged on?  The only way we can understand that process is if we read AND understand the Word of God and what it means literally!  If we do not believe that the Word of God is literal how can we honestly say that we accept God as our eternal judge?  There is no way possible.  Which brings up another condition and question: if you have been forgiven, by God, for these wrong doings, then why is it so complicated for you to talk about them and address them to others so that they can see what God has done for you?  You are being questioned by your peers, so why hide what God has done for you?  Unless you are just using those words as a cop-out and a way to escape from the moment, either way you are not providing those people or yourself the truth.

It is an honor to use God as a backup defense when it comes to judgment, for He sees what is in my heart and He understands that I am human and most of all because He has provided a way that I can make mistakes, learn from them, tell others about them and still be forgiven into eternity.  It may seem like a complicated process, but it really is not and to make things this easy God has provided a single way in which we can have this eternal forgiveness.  It stems from the Old Testament Scriptures, carries itself right through the time of Jesus and leads us in today’s society and it all has to do with Jesus as the centerpiece. 

I am blessed to have godly parents who raised me in church and according to God’s Word.  My father was not always going to be a minister; engineering was his specialty and as long as he could remember this field of study was his everything.  He tells of his calling into the ministry by a vision that God gave him.  I am not going into many details, but it was short and sweet.  There was a hill with multitudes of people running up to the top.  At the top of the hill was a cross and as soon as people reached the cross and ran by it, they fell off of a cliff forever to be lost.  Dad cried out to God and asked Him, why doesn’t somebody tell them about the cross and to stop at it for it is their salvation, and God spoke to my dad and said that is what I want you to do. 

There is no way possible that I can argue with a testimony and calling from God such as that.  There was no other way that God showed my dad for their salvation and there were no second chances for those people who fell off the cliff after they had ignored the cross.  They did not even stop to ask why there was a cross there to begin with, but they continued to run, making the choice to go their own way.  This is where Matthew 1:1-18 comes into play and defines the only way that Jesus can be our salvation, but first we must take a step back and begin in Genesis and to the time of Cain and Abel.

How important is the sacrifice?  I would have to stand on the Word of God and proclaim that it is a matter of eternal life or eternal death and nothing short of such an existence.  How often do I wish that I would have known the purity of life as mankind was once created, but as I spend time wandering in this blissful state, I have to be honest with everyone and say that I too probably would have been tempted and have fallen just as Adam and Eve did that fateful day.  A true sacrifice cannot be presented in any ordinary fashion with ordinary entitlements, only pure hearts and pure offerings can be presented that comply with the rules of sacrifice can be presented.  How can one be expected to bring mediocre offerings and except pure forgiveness?

Let us look at the beauty of the sacrifice and what it sets as the standard for our eternal lives.  God is not a parent who thinks that our lives are just garbage and that we can be replaced at any time.  Our enemy does a good enough job of telling us that we are not good enough to complete life and that we need to continually adjust ourselves in order to fit in properly.  God NEVER placed us into the world for us to be like the world, He placed us into a perfect setting and we chose to alter that setting, thus creating our physical need to be accepted by our surroundings.  Our eternal lives were paid for by a furious love and a love that conquers all obstacles through the power of the blood and of the sacrificial lamb.  There is no higher calling within our bodies than that of blood, and it is through this element that our lives are measured by and nothing less.  So, if there is a way to atone for our grotesque and disgusting lives in a pure and holy Creator, blood is the answer.  And this blood must be pure and presented in holy terms in order for it to be accepted, no less, no fewer and no alternatives.  THAT is how important our lives are to God.

In the book of Genesis, there is a story that we all know about and it deals with Cain and his brother Abel.  We really do not know how much time had passed from when Adam and Eve were forced from the Garden of Eden, but we do know that when the story of Cain and Abel took place they were grown men with their own professions established.  The same state of choice is displayed in this story just as it in place within our lives today.  I do not have any doubt that these two men understood what it meant to present a sacrifice for both of them did it willingly.  Wait a minute; I thought that the bloodline began with Abraham?  It did, but God does not leave anything out and the basis and background of this bloodline and its importance beings with Cain and Abel.

The difference was that one obeyed the call for complete sacrifice and gave the one gift of life that God had deemed necessary for the repentant offering.  Abel had no problems with taking the best of what he had and offering it up completely to God and asking for forgiveness for all of his faults.  Abel understood the importance of blood and what it meant for the life of the sacrificial lamb and to his own life; I can guarantee that he also understood that for him to be totally reconciled with God, he would have to offer up his own life if necessary in like manner, or at least be willing to do such.  It was evident when the smoke from Abel’s sacrifice rose straight up into the air that God was pleased and accepted the complete life sacrifice of Abel.  It was not that Abel’s work was deemed better, but it came from his heart and was all around pure in nature.

Cain on the other hand, decides to do things a little different and chose the fruits of his labor instead of a blood sacrifice, an alternative route or idea if you wish to put it in those terms.  Yes, the sacrifice was of good quality and to the person who has labored greatly it would have seemed to be the perfect sacrifice.  Yet, no blood was shed in this sacrifice and with blood being the necessary giver of life for all living matter, the sacrifice of Cain fell short to God’s expectations and law.  This was evident when the smoke of Cain’s sacrifice went sideways and did not rise up into the air, thus providing a key signal that the sacrifice was not deemed acceptable in God’s heart.

This setting proves that there was only one way that God deemed a sacrifice to be acceptable and that was the best of the life of the household and a complete sacrifice with the shedding of blood to be included.  I find this story and setting very interesting in that there are two backdrops that come into play.  The first one, of course, comes into play during the time of Cain and Abel in which the basis of God’s laws had been told to them, probably many times over.  As brothers, they came from the same tent and heard of the many stories that their parents told them about the family’s past and what had occurred as a result of the choices that their parents made.  Adam and Eve, trying their best not to mess things up further, must have told their children of how things must be in order for the relationship between them and God to be restored.  And with the example of the tree of knowledge of good and evil as the remembrance, I am sure that Adam and Eve harped upon the reasons as to why they should do things the way of God and not of their own created doings.

Yet, God allowed both Cain and Abel to make their sacrificial offerings to Him and both did according to what was within their heart.  It was clear that Abel had no problems with his submission to God and to His ways and it was also clear that Cain had a problem with accepting God’s ways and did things according to what suited him instead of God.  At this point, Cain must have known that things were not right between God and him and also at this point he had a chance to make things right with God.  Just as with Judas he had to make a choice and if he would have chosen to make things right with God all would have been well indeed. 

But Cain decided to allow his emotions overcome him and began his revenge upon Abel, the one whose sacrifice was accepted by God.  Both men had the correct knowledge of God and knew what to do, but it is very clear of who wanted his own way and who wanted God’s way in their lives.  I find it very ironic that in the end that Cain chose to shed his brother’s blood instead of a true sacrifice to God.  I also find it interesting that Cain had no remorse for doing such act and how hardened his heart was after the fact even when his own brother’s blood was crying out from the ground.  Cain’s choice had been made and it tells a horrid story about the condition of hearts and who is in control of them.

I have previously stated that God has a set of laws in place for our own protection.  They are not there to inhibit us in any way but to keep us free from the world and all of the sins of its ruler.  I did not like it much when my parents grounded me when I was a kid nor did I like it when I received a spanking for my wrong doings.  But they had rules that I had to follow and when I thought that I was better than their rules they had to remind me that those rules were in place for a reason.  As I continued my growing phase in life I began to understand the reasons why they had rules in place for they saw the many dangers that were around me that I was not noticing.  The same concept is in place with God’s laws and it would behoove us to get to know these laws and understand the reasons as to why they are there, for while my parents’ groundings came to an end, our eternity is just that, eternal.

God could have accepted Cain’s sacrifice as he presented it, but it would have set the stage for Satan to be allowed to return to his heavenly and pure status before his fall.  God would have been deemed unworthy as an eternal Creator and would have thrown away his best example of eternal existence, humanity.  Many do not understand this concept and others just throw it away and do not wish to believe it as truth.  But God asks you to stop and think about this concept and to dive deep within your spirit and to hear the truth that is being told. 

DLB