Troublesome Topic: Jesus is the Only True Sacrifice
Lesson 1 of 4God asked the people of the Old Testament to paint pictures, every day, for over 1400 years. So they were constantly painting pictures, painting pictures and painting more pictures.
When God sent Jesus as the fulfillment of all those pictures, the Jews whose hearts were hungry for God said, “Hey, I recognize that set of pictures. This is what God has been trying to tell us all this time. Jesus must be the one we have been waiting for.”
While they walked with Jesus, the disciples had many unanswered questions. Some things Jesus said left them confused. But after Jesus’ death and resurrection (and Pentecost) everything made sense.
The book of Hebrews was written precisely because the early Jewish Christians struggled to know how to be spiritual without the sacrifices. The sacrificial system was so full of meaning, it felt wrong to just abandon all that. They didn’t know right away how to transfer all that richness to their new way of worshiping God.
Hebrews 11 is known as the hall of faith; at the very end of that recitation of heroes it says,
Hebrews 11:39
Translation
All these, having received an honorable testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,
Paraphrase
All these received a good report because of their faith, yet none received what was promised,
Hebrews 11:40
Translation
since God had planned something better for us, so that apart from us, they could not be made complete.
Paraphrase
since God had planned for us to receive a better, fuller package than what they received; therefore their situation could not be made full without the part that we have.
These men and women who were commended for their faith drew the pictures but never saw the fulfillment of them. They never experienced the pictures in their fullness. Because we live after the coming of Jesus, we have what they lacked.
Jesus was the real deal. The sacrifices of old were not fully capable of satisfying God but He accepted them as precursors of the true sacrifice what would come. Jesus was the only true efficacious sacrifice, therefore He was given the very special title of The Lamb Of God.
The next lesson in the Full Series on Covenants is: The Actions of Adam and Jesus Affect All of Us
The next lesson in the Medium Series on Covenants is: A Summary of How Jesus Fulfilled Five of the Sacrifices
The next lesson in the Short Series on Covenants is: Jesus Is Our Sacrifice for Defiant Sins