Listen here: “What He Did! Who He Is!“
Leviticus 16:3, 6, 11, 14, 16;John 1:14-18
Aaron, the original High Priest of Israel, was to offer a sacrifice as an atonement for himself, his family, and ultimately for all Israel.
Aaron’s authorized sacrifice of a bull then served as an atonement for the sin of idolatry, according to Deuteronomy. A bull served as a substitute for the punishment or consequence of the sin of idolatry. The bull would die, rather than Aaron. The bull would die, rather than Aaron’s family. The bull would die rather than the people of Israel.
When Jesus died on the cross, He also died as a substitute. Jesus died or paid the ultimate price for human sin. Jesus died as a substitute for us, as a substitute for our sin.
- Jesus Christ fulfilled the requirements for the Old Testament atonement, which freed Israel from the debt of her sin.
- In the sacrifice of Christ on the cross as the substitutionary lamb of God, all of the historic debt for Israel’s sin was paid.
- Which meant that the Old Testament sacrificial system was no longer needed. It came to an end.
- Israel was free from the burden of the Old Testament sacrificial system because Christ fulfilled it.
- And the primary symbol of that end was the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
- for Gentile Christians, the symbol of the atonement was not simply Jesus’ death on cross, but was His resurrection.
- Gentile Christians had not been burdened with the Old Testament sacrificial system.
- Aaron’s sacrifice was not for the sin of the Gentiles; it was for the sin of Israel.
- But Jesus’ sacrifice was for the sin of Israel and for the sin of Gentiles. Jesus’ substitutionary atonement was for both Jews and Gentiles, for the whole world.
- And the symbol of Jesus’s substitutionary atonement for the world was the resurrection or the cross alone. After His resurrection Jesus was no longer on the cross.
(This is just a teaser. If you want to know more, listen to the sermon.)
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