Sacrifice

It is the blood that makes atonement for one's life (Leviticus 17:11).

What does the word ‘sacrifice’ mean? It means you want something so badly that you are willing to give up something precious in exchange. For example, a man who wants to marry the love of his life must be willing to sacrifice dating other women for the rest of his days. A woman must sacrifice shopping for trendy fashions and eating out with her friends if she wants to save up the money needed to purchase a new car. Making a sacrifice involves some personal discomfort, but that pain is willingly accepted in exchange for something of great value.

In Bible times, people brought sacrifices to God’s temple. God’s house was the place where an important exchange took place—people offered the lives of animals in exchange for God forgiving their sins. God’s forgiveness is the most valuable thing there is—without it, our sins weigh us down in life, and drag us to the depths of hell when we die. God is willing to forgive sins, but He demands something in exchange—a sacrifice of blood. For those living under the Old Covenant, God allowed the blood of selected animals to stand in for the blood of sinners. Naturally, this was a financial sacrifice for the people, giving up an animal that could be sold or eaten. But the real sacrifice wasn’t made by the people; the ultimate sacrifice was made by the animal that lost its life so a human’s sins could be forgiven.

This changed when Jesus came. The Son of God was born into our world in a human body so that He would have blood that could be given as a sacrifice. But Jesus’ blood is the blood of both man and God, infinite in what it can accomplish. When Jesus was nailed to the cross, He sacrificed Himself, gave up the most precious thing in all the universe—the life of God’s own Son! Jesus’ blood was offered as a substitute for our blood, His suffering for our suffering, His life for our life. In exchange, God gives us the priceless gift of His mercy, freeing us from the weight of sin so we can stand upright with joy and rise to heaven when we die.

Why did Jesus do it? He knew that we had nothing that we could give to God in exchange for His forgiveness—that’s why He offered to be our sacrifice. Because of this, we have received God’s offer of mercy; the only sacrifice we are asked to make is to abandon our love for sin and cling to Jesus as the most important Person in our lives. All things considered, that’s not really much of a sacrifice, is it?