One Perfect Sacrifice for Sinners
The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was completed at the cross
when He shouted, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). It was finished and as a result
it is forever done. “It stands finished.” Nothing else needed to be done from
the moment Christ died. It was a once-and-for-all completed sacrifice for sin.
It was in the shedding of His blood on the cross that
Christ both ratified the New Testament and purchased the believer’s redemption
The prominent term used in reference to the atonement in the New Testament is
the “blood.” The blood of Christ indicates the all-encompassing redemptive work
of Christ on the cross.
Since the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was completed on the
cross at Calvary it is not correct to say that Christ offered His blood upon the
heavenly mercy seat. Christ ascended into heaven because His work of atonement
was finished, not in order to compete it. He did not need to present His blood
in heaven because our redemption was already an accomplished fact (Hebrews
9:7-12, 24-25; 10:19; 13:12, 20; 1 John 2:2, etc). Christ did not have to make
an offering for Himself like the Old Testament high priest did year after year
on the Day of Atonement. He was already perfect in His relationship with the
LORD God. There was no need for Christ to present blood in heaven for anything.
He needed only to present Himself in heaven because He is the perfect High
Priest.
Christ entered heaven after securing our eternal redemption
at the cross—His ascension was the enthronement in heaven as the High Priest who
had completed the work of redemption.
The implications of this great transaction are great. Our
salvation is all by the grace of God through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus
Christ for the sinner. The work of atonement was completed on the cross, and
nothing else needed to be accomplished. It was not a partially completed work.
He did not leave things half-done. Our salvation does not depend upon something
we need to do to complete it. Christ did not have to do some atoning act in
heaven like an earthly high priest, and neither do we. “It is finished!”
“Done!” “Complete.”
The sacrifice of Christ was made once for all by Christ on
the cross the moment He died. Any theory of atonement that suggests that Jesus
Christ needed to take His blood with Him into heaven denies the finished work of
Christ on the cross.
Because the sacrifice of the Lamb of God was completed on
the cross the subsequent benefits of His sacrifice extends to every believer and
heaven itself (Hebrews 9:23).
The shed blood of Jesus on the cross is the only righteous
basis for God to forgive every sinner who puts his faith in Christ for
salvation. The atoning death of Christ is all-sufficient to save every sinner
who calls upon His name for salvation.
You do not need the “divine sacrifice which is celebrated
in the Mass” to be made right with God. The one historical fact that Christ died
for your sins is all-sufficient to save the greatest of sinners. You do not need
another sacrifice. The one will do for all sins. There is no further need for
“an unbloody” sacrifice.
Jesus Christ in obedience to the Father offered Himself in
the place of the condemned sinner by shedding His blood as the price of our
redemption (Matt. 20:28). The sinner is in bondage to sin and under the sentence
of death (Romans 7:14; 5:12; 6:23). Jesus died in the sinner’s place. The
purchase price to redeem the slave of sin is the blood of Jesus Christ (Rev.
5:9). The Lamb of God alone is worthy because He was slain, “and did purchase
for God with Thy blood men from very tribe and tongue and people and nation.”
Every person who believes on Jesus Christ for salvation is
eternally secure in Him (John 10:28-29). We have been redeemed out of slavery
forever (Galatians 3:13; 4:4-5). He purchased us and took us out of the market
place. We are no longer available; we are off the market. We are now owned by
Someone else—God. He refuses to sell His precious possessions. Those who have
been redeemed have been set free forever.
Another great benefit of the finished atonement of Christ
is that we have been made right with God. We now have fellowship with Him
because the believer has been reconciled to God by the blood of Christ (Heb.
10:19; Ephesians 2:16; Colossians 1:20-22). Jesus satisfied the righteous and
holy demands of God, and reconciled us to Him.
The sacrificial death of Christ turns away the wrath of God
from everyone who believes on Christ as their Savior. He is our propitiation; He
is our mercy seat; His death alone is all-sufficient to save. Christ is the
mercy seat who was sprinkled with His own blood.
Jesus Christ was the priest who offered up the perfect
sacrifice of Himself on the cross for our sins. He died in our place (2 Cor.
5:21; Gal. 1:4; 3:13; Eph. 5:2, 25; Matt. 20:28; Rom. 5:6, 8).
Jesus Christ has obtained eternal redemption for everyone
trusting in Him alone for salvation. He pleads with you this day to trust in His
death to make you right with God. The one offering of Christ on the cross is the
perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction, for all the sins of all who
will call upon His name and be saved. There is none other satisfaction for sin,
but His death alone. Believe on Him and you will have eternal life.
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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