Jesus as Perfect Sacrifice
Christology • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 25:41
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· 565 viewsHow was Jesus the perfect sacrifice? Did Jesus become a sinner? What did the sacrifice of Jesus cost?
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Jesus Was a Perfect Man
Jesus Was a Perfect Man
When God created everything it was perfect.
Genesis 1:31
And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
This included man and woman.
Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
However, when man sinned, God had lost the perfect man that had been created.
Even though God commanded man to make animal sacrifices that were pure and without spot or blemish...
Exodus 12:5
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
an animal was no substitution for a man.
Hebrews 10:4
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
Man’s rebellion against God’s laws meant that he had sinned and was separated from God. His imperfections did not allow him to remain in the Holy presence of God.
Now that man is imperfect, he was incapable of restoring back to God the perfect man that God had lost.
Jesus is God.
John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He came from Heaven to dwell among us as a man.
John 1:14
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
By living as a perfect man, only He could offer back to God what had been lost.
Hebrews 4:15
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Jesus Was Sinless
Jesus Was Sinless
Just like the animal sacrifices were to be without spot or blemish, the human sacrifice needed to be without sin.
There would be multiple reasons for this:
a sinless man was lost, so only a sinless man would replace Him
sacrifices to God were supposed to be giving God the best, not the leftovers
And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it now unto thy governor; Will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts.
Malachi 1:8
God demanded and deserves the best.
Jesus became the sin offering for us. Since He did no sin, He did not deserve the punishment that was given to Him. Instead, He took the punishment for us and offered the perfect sacrifice back to God.
There is a false view of the sacrifice of Jesus that states Jesus became sin, or a sinner, while on the cross. The idea is that all the sins of the world were place upon, or imputed, to His account. This is false!
The idea may come from a misinterpretation of a verse in 2 Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 5:21
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Jesus being made to “be sin” for us does not mean He literally became sin. Instead, it is a figure of speech known as “Metonymy of the Cause.” This is where the cause is stated, but what is really meant is the effect.
Hosea 4:8
They eat up the sin of my people, And they set their heart on their iniquity.
People were not really eating sin, but they were eating the animals that were part of the sin offering. Hosea said the people were eating the sin (cause), but what he really meant was the people were eating the sin offering (effect).
Similarly, Paul is writing that Jesus is made “to be sin for us.” While Paul states the cause (sin), what he really says is that Jesus is made to be the effect (our sin offering). Jesus was not sin and had no sin, but He was made to be a sin offering.
The Bible makes it clear that at the time Jesus was offered to God, He was sinless.
Hebrews 9:14
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Only a sinless man offered as a sacrifice would be equivalent to the sinless man who was lost. Only a sinless man would be a sacrifice without spot or blemish that God deserves.
If Jesus became sin or a sinner by having our sins placed onto His account, then He is no longer a sinless, perfect sacrifice without spot or blemish. Without a perfect sacrifice, our salvation is lost.
The Sacrifice Came at a Cost
The Sacrifice Came at a Cost
A sacrifice is only a sacrifice if we have to sacrifice something. In other words, if it costs us something.
David would not sacrifice to God that which cost him nothing.
2 Samuel 24:21-25
And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people.
And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood.
All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The Lord thy God accept thee.
And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.
The sacrifice of Jesus cost God His Son.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
It cost Jesus His life.
Luke 22:19-20
Galatians 2:20
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Conclusion
Conclusion
A perfect man was lost. Only a perfect man would be able to restore what God had lost. Jesus lived as a perfect man and offered Himself as a sacrifice on our behalf to restore to God what He had lost.
A sinless man was lost. Only a sinless man would be able to restore what God had lost. Jesus lives as a sinless man and offered Himself without spot on our behalf to restore to God what He had lost. A sinless sacrifice also is a sacrifice without spot or blemish, which is what God demands and deserves.
A sacrifice is not a sacrifice without a cost. The sacrifice of Jesus came at a high cost. It cost God His only Son. It cost Jesus His life.
Jesus was the only man able to restore back to God what He had lost and be a perfect sacrifice. It cost both God and Jesus to do it. It is a huge gift to mankind. What will we do with it?