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A Perfect Sacrifice, January 11
An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt
offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place
where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.
Exodus 20:24
, RSV.
When Adam, according to God’s special directions, made an offering for sin, it
was to him a most painful ceremony. His hand must be raised to take life, which God
alone could give, and make an offering for sin. It was the first time he had witnessed
death. As he looked upon the bleeding victim, writhing in the agonies of death, he
was to look forward by faith to the Son of God, whom the victim prefigured, who
was to die man’s sacrifice.
This ceremonial offering, ordained of God, was to be a perpetual reminder to
Adam of his guilt, and also a penitential acknowledgment of his sin. This act of
taking life gave Adam a deeper and more perfect sense of his transgression, which
nothing less than the death of God’s dear Son could expiate. He marveled at the
infinite goodness and matchless love which would give such a ransom to save the
guilty.
As Adam was slaying the innocent victim, it seemed to him that he was shedding
the blood of the Son of God by his own hand. He knew that if he had remained
steadfast to God, and true to His holy law, there would have been no death of beast
or of man. Yet in the sacrificial offerings, pointing to the great and perfect offering
of God’s dear Son, there appeared a star of hope to illuminate the dark and terrible
future, and relieve it of its utter hopelessness and ruin.
In the beginning the head of each family was considered ruler and priest of his
own household. Afterward, as the race multiplied upon the earth, men of divine
appointment performed this solemn worship of sacrifice for the people. The blood
of beasts was to be associated in the minds of sinners with the blood of the Son
of God. The death of the victim was to evidence to all that the penalty of sin was
death. By the act of sacrifice the sinner acknowledged his guilt and manifested his
faith, looking forward to the great and perfect sacrifice of the Son of God, which the
offering of beasts prefigured.
Without the atonement of the Son of God there could be no communication of
blessing or salvation from God to man. God was jealous for the honor of His law.
The transgression of that law caused a fearful separation between God and man. To
Adam in his innocency was granted communion, direct, free, and happy, with his
Maker. After his transgression God would communicate to man through Christ and
angels (
The Story of Redemption, 50, 51
).
Such a sacrifice was of sufficient value to save the whole world.... This sacrifice
was of such infinite value as to make a man who should avail himself of it more
precious than fine gold, even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir (
The Story of
Redemption, 48, 49
).
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