August 25, 2025, Monday Message:
Hebrews 9:22b AMP: “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness [neither release from sin and its guilt, nor cancellation of the merited punishment].”
If we violate a law in our land, there is always a penalty. Sometimes it’s a fine we must pay. More severe crimes require incarceration, e.g. time spent in prison. A judge may require both if he is so inclined. A capital crime like first-degree murder may require capital punishment, the life of the one who committed that crime.
Capital punishment stirs up a perpetual debate. Some people believe that killing another human is wrong, regardless of their crime. Others believe that punishment fits the nature of the most severe crimes. If the crime was extremely vicious, the thought is that the criminal is unredeemable.
In Moses’ day, people practiced substitutionary atonement. Livestock were valuable, and the offender could offer up a sheep or a goat to square things up for their sin. In a way, it doesn’t make sense for an animal to lose it’s life to cover the owner’s sin, but that’s how it was done. If the sinner was not prosperous enough to own livestock, they could sacrifice a couple of birds.
Jesus changed everything! On the cross, he took the sins of the world to the place of the dead, and consequently mankind was freed from its sin problem. There were no longer animal sacrifices. Jesus dying for our sins is the highest example of substitutionary atonement. Anything else would be redundant and unnecessary, as if we didn’t trust Jesus to be the ultimate sacrifice.
It’s as if Jesus was saying, “Count my blood as the sacrifice for the sins of the world. Forgive these sinners! Let’s make a forever place for them in the Kingdom.” Because without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness!
Pastor Norton Lawellin
Jesus In the City Fellowship
No comments:
Post a Comment