Sacrifice Is Still Relevant
After Jesus Sacrificed Himself
On The Calvary

...

By
The Man Who Saw God Face To Face
Raphael Okechukwu Nweze


Is Sacrifice Still Relevant?
         Yes, sacrifice is still relevant after the death of Jesus on the Calvary, for the following reasons:
  1. There are different types of sacrifice, which include:
  2. The sacrifice made by Jesus on the Calvary was sin offering, the use of His blood to restore all things to perfection. His blood, which is the blood of God, was used to lay the foundation of creation. For example, when God said let there be light, there was light. The light was from God and the light was God. People usually say that God created the world out of nothing. This is not true, because God created the world out of Himself. When God said let their light, the light came out of Himself. In the same way that the sunlight comes out of the sun, and as a torchlight comes out from the torch.

  3. Jesus Himself said He did not come to abolish the laws and the prophets.

    17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” Matthew 5:17-19

  4. And He warned all humanity to continue to keep the laws of God, saying,

    19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:19-20

  5. Sacrifice was offered on His behalf by Joseph and Mary at the birth of Jesus.

    22 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23(as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD"), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons." Luke 2:22-24

    The laws given to Moses by God concerning new born babies states:

    Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'If a woman has conceived, and borne a male child , then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her customary impurity she shall be unclean. 3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 4 She shall then continue in the blood of her purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled.

    5'But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her customary impurity, and she shall continue in the blood of her purification sixty-six days.
    6 'When the days of her purification are fulfilled, whether for a son or a daughter, she shall bring to the priest a lamb of the first year as a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 7 Then he shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement for her. And she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who has borne a male or a female. Leviticus 12:1-7

    8 'And if she is not able to bring a lamb, then she may bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons — one as a burnt offering and the other as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.'" Leviticus 12:8

  6. He gave directives concerning sacrifice of offering at the altar to everyone.

    23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-25

    Your gift is an offering, a sacrifice to God.

  7. He instructed the lepers to go and present offerings to God.

    12 And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."

    13 Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded." Luke 5:12-14

    Below is the commandment given to Moses by God concerning a leper when the leper is healed:

    10 "And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and one log of oil. 11 Then the priest who makes him clean shall present the man who is to be made clean, and those things, before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 12 And the priest shall take one male lamb and offer it as a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. 13 Then he shall kill the lamb in the place where he kills the sin offering and the burnt offering, in a holy place; for as the sin offering is the priest's, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy.

    14 The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 15 And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. 16 Then the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD. 17 And of the rest of the oil in his hand, the priest shall put some on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the trespass offering. 18 The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD. Leviticus 14:10-18

    19 "Then the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. Afterward he shall kill the burnt offering. 20 And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. So the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean. Leviticus 14:19-20

    21 "But if he is poor and cannot afford it, then he shall take one male lamb as a trespass offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, a log of oil, 22 and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford: one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. 23 He shall bring them to the priest on the eighth day for his cleansing, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, before the LORD. 24 And the priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. 25 Then he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 26 And the priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand. 27 Then the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the LORD. 28 And the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the trespass offering.

    29 The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD. 30 And he shall offer one of the turtledoves or young pigeons, such as he can afford — 31 such as he is able to afford, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, with the grain offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before the LORD. 32 This is the law for one who had a leprous sore, who cannot afford the usual cleansing." Leviticus 14:21-32

    Before presenting the offerings, the person shall first fulfill the following instructions:

    Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest. 3 And the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him; and indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper, 4 then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living and clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop. 5 And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water.

    6 As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. 7 And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose in the open field. 8 He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, and shall stay outside his tent seven days. 9 But on the seventh day he shall shave all the hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows — all his hair he shall shave off. He shall wash his clothes and wash his body in water, and he shall be clean. Leviticus 14:1-9

  8. He participated in the feast of Passover several times. The ram killed at Passover is a sacrifice to God, because it was done in obedience to God. The same feast of Passover remains true today.

  9. Both Jesus and Abraham warn the world to return to the Old Testament teachings of God, in the case between Lazarus and the rich man.

    27 "Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' 29 Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' 30 And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 31 But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.' " Luke 16:27-31

  10. In everyday life, people are always making one type of investment or another. These investments and payments are sacrifices made in order to get some other things bigger and needful in life. Even the sowing of seeds or planting crops is sacrifice. 23 But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies , it remains alone; but if it dies , it produces much grain. John 12:23-25

    Again, He said,

    38 Give , and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." Luke 6:38

  11. In everyday business, the medium for exchange of goods is money, called legal tender. But in general real life, the one medium of exchange of values is sacrifice. That is the means of getting something bigger and better

  12. Sowing of seed has become common today. This sowing of seed is sacrifice, because a sacrifice is something offered to get some other things and benefits.

  13. One of the duties of the messiah is to purify the priest and make them worthy to present offerings to God, as written in the book of Malachi.

    2 "But who can endure the day of His coming?
    And who can stand when He appears?
    For He is like a refiner's fire
    And like launderers' soap.
    3 He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;
    He will purify the sons of Levi ,
    And purge them as gold and silver,
    That they may offer to the LORD
    An offering in righteousness.
    Malachi 3:2-3

Comparison Of The Crucifixion And Sin Offering
         The crucifixion of Jesus and sin offering satisfied the following conditions:
  1. Both involve the shedding of blood.

  2. In each case, two living things with blood in them were considered. In the Old Testament, two rams; and in the New Testament, two persons – Jesus and Lazarus.

    6 "Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 He shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 8 Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the LORD's lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering. 10 But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness. Leviticus 16:6-10

    Jesus was offered as a sin offering, while Lazarus was set free.

  3. In either case, the offering was made to God. Leviticus 16:14

  4. 14 He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

  5. Both are used in the atonement for sins committed by humanity.