by
Moana Finch
First published in "Thy Kingdom Come"
A publication of
The Association of the Covenant People
Burnaby, BC, Canada
Our Lord, by the sacrifice of Himself, has covered many
things and fulfilled many purposes. Hebrews 9:22 tells us that
there is no remission for sins without the shedding of blood. In
this short piece let us consider some of the things accomplished
by His sacrifice.
1. Firstly, we have our Lord's office as Saviour. By giving
Himself He freed the entire world from sin, for everyone who will
accept Him. In John 1:29 and 3:16, we find this aspect of His
sacrifice and ministry. In His own statement this is clearly
indicated, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance." This is an individual matter, one that we must all
be concerned about and make sure that we are included in this
Salvation.
2. Our Lord came to fulfil the Law. "Think not that I am come
to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but
to fulfil." (Matt.5:17). The law as regards sin is laid down in
Ezek.18:4, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Our Lord
fulfilled this fundamental Law. There is a deep spiritual aspect
to this. Divine justice was required, outraged Deity must be
appeased. Our Lord took upon Himself all the sin of the world,
past, present, and future. Our Lord endured a spiritual suffering
such as no human will ever be called upon to endure. Only a
sinless One could fill the requirements of the Law, in our stead.
His Heavenly Father turned His back upon the Suffering One, which
caused our Lord to cry out in His terrible distress, "My God, My
God, why host Thou forsaken Me?" (Matt.27:46). Isaiah several
times speaks of this spiritual aspect of the Sacrifice. "He shall
see the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied." (Isa.
53:11). Here is depicted the awful spiritual suffering that our
Lord endured, in order to fill every requirement of the Law. It
makes one shudder to think upon, though our finite minds cannot
fully grasp the depth of the degradation and spiritual anguish
that our Lord endured. His suffering was so extreme that His face
was changed. "His visage was so marred ..." (Isa.52:14). Ferrar
Fenton says, "And was branded with crime." His heart ruptured
with the ordeal and caused the water to flow out along with the
blood when the soldiers pierced His side.
3. Our Lord was the Sacrificial Lamb, the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. (Rev.13:8). John the Baptist recognized
Him in this aspect of His ministry. "Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1:29). Here we
also see Him in His priestly office, offering the one necessary
sacrifice for sin. (Heb.10:12). In Revelation we read of the Lamb
"as it had been slain" (Rev.5:6) and in chapter 14 we have
further evidence of this Lamb. The blood of this Lamb took the
place of the earlier sacrifices (Heb.9:7-15).
4. Then we have our Lord's sacrifice in His office of Shepherd.
"I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth His life for
the sheep." (John 10:11). And again in verse 15, "and I lay down
my life for the sheep." In order to save the sheep, the Good
Shepherd gave His own life. It is by the life-blood of the
Shepherd that our sins are washed away. (Rev.1:5). This is the
National aspect, for the sheep have always been Israel. "Woe be
unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of My
pasture! saith the LORD." (Jer.23:1. Also Ezek. 34:30-31, John
10:9). It is remarkable that our Lord is both the Sacrificial
Lamb and also the Good Shepherd.
5. Our Lord's sacrifice makes it possible for us to stand
sinless before our Heavenly Father. We can stand before Him with
no sense of gilt or shame. All who believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ can now come before the Father. (I John 4:17 and Heb.
10:19-20). Our Lord rent the veil separating us from God. You
remember that at the moment of His death the veil of the Temple
was rent, (Matt.27:51). Thus there is now no separation between
God and man, for Jesus Christ has removed this separation. (Heb.
9:7-8). Jesus Christ has become the Advocate, (I John, 2:1)
turning the judgment Seat into the Mercy Seat.
6. The Redemption of Israel was also accomplished by His
Sacrifice. According to Israel Law, only a near kinsman could
bring about redemption of a person or redemption of lands or
goods. (Lev.26:48-49). This fact was brought out very clearly in
the Book of Ruth. Our Lord was Israel's kinsman, a blood relative
upon His mother's side and heir to the Davidic Throne. Isaiah has
much to say about our Redeemer, (Isa.41:14), Job foresaw the day
of Redemption and said, "I know that my Redeemer liveth..." (Job
19.25). In Rev.5:9 we read further of what He accomplished by
this wonderful Redemption. This is a National phase of the
Sacrifice, one our nation has not recognized as yet. See Isa.
40:2, Jer. 50:20.
7. Another phase is that our Lord overcame Death and Hell.
(Rev.1:18). By His death He gained all power and authority,
(Matt.28:18). This being so, we can claim victory in His Name,
victory over all our weaknesses and faults, and the Holy Spirit
will assist us in this. Christ "led captivity captive" and all
who follow Him are freed from sin and its curse.
8. The Curse was overcome for us. It is written, "Cursed is
every one that hangeth on a tree." (Gal.3:13). You will find this
curse recorded in the Israel Law in Deut.21:23. By taking our
guilt upon Himself our sinless Lord became a curse - cursed in
the eyes of God. the Father, which was a further reason for His
terrible spiritual suffering. To be hung upon a tree was the
lowest type of death, given only to the worst type of criminal.
The Sinless One suffered this ordeal in place of each one of us.
We are told that a time will come when there will be no more
curse, (Rev.22:3). This will be when the Lord has cleansed Israel
and the world.
9. We now come to a very interesting point that Dr.Kenyon
mentions in one of his books. He says that our Lord took up
Adam's challenge. If you will turn to Genesis 3:12 and read the
verse very carefully, you will discover that Adam practically
accused God of being responsible for his sin, by giving him the
woman who caused him to sin. He said in effect that if God had
not given him the woman, he would not have sinned. At the time,
God passed over this statement, but about four thousand years
later our Lord took up this challenge. By the sacrifice of
Himself (in place of Adam and all other sinners) He accepted the
blame for that particular sin. As Adam accused God of making it
possible for him to sin, God the Son paid the full price of that
sin. Never again can any man challenge God and accuse Him of
making it possible for any man to sin. Our Lord met this
impertinent challenge and gave Himself as the Atonement for it.
God not only gave man the right of free choice, so that he could
choose to sin, but He also gave the Blood Sacrifice to cover such
sin. This is a very wonderful phase of our Lord's sacrifice when
we realize how much it covers.
As we ponder the various aspects of our Lord's Sacrifice,
both from the national and personal aspects, we realize more and
more how many things were accomplished and covered by it.
Probably you can add many more to this list that is given.
As we consider this matter we are forced to exclaim WHAT A
SAVIOUR! We can never be grateful enough for what has been done
for us. We belong to Him, for He has purchased us and paid the
price.
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