Sabbath: Jesus, the Perfect Sacrifice
Image © Pacific Press
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Hebrews 9:15, Genesis 15:6–21, Jeremiah 34:8–22, Ephesians 3:14–19, Heb.7:27, Hebrews 10:10, Hebrews 9:22–28.
Memory Text: “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14, NKJV).
The idea that a man found guilty and executed on a cross should be worshiped as God was offensive to the ancient mind. Sparse reference to the cross in Roman literature shows their aversion to the idea. For the Jews, the law declared that a man impaled on a tree was cursed by God (Deuteronomy 21:23).
Thus, the first motifs that we find in the Christian paintings of the catacombs were the peacock (supposedly symbolizing immortality), a dove, the athlete’s victory palm, and the fish. Later, other themes appeared: Noah’s ark; Abraham sacrificing the ram instead of Isaac; Daniel in the lions’ den; Jonah being spit out by the fish; a shepherd carrying a lamb; or depictions of miracles like the healing of the paralytic and the raising of Lazarus. These were symbols of salvation, victory, and care. The cross, on the other hand, conveyed a sense of defeat and shame. Yet, it was the cross that became the emblem of Christianity. In fact, Paul simply called the gospel “the word of the cross” (1 Corinthians 1:18, ESV).
This week we will look at the cross as it appears in the book of Hebrews.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, February 26.
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In battle, strategy is everything. Sun Tzu a 5th century BC Chinese general is often credited with writing, "The Art of War”. He lists a whole series of strategies for winning wars and it was so highly regarded that its principles are still studied today by military strategists. One thing that is clear is that battles are seldom won by a full frontal attack. Most battles are won be subterfuge and deceit. Perhaps, somewhat surprisingly he does mention the strategy of winning by losing.
Perhaps, we can look at the battle between good and evil as a "winning by losing" situation. Good overcomes evil be losing to evil, showing up evil as a self-destructive force rather than an overcoming force.
It is possibly informative to look at Christ's death on the cross as the ultimate victory in defeat battle. Just something to think about this week.
You may recall me previously mentioning that each of us has a mental map in our mind that has been assembled across our life. Some have suggested that most of that map is assembled by age 5-7 years. It has been assembled by our subconscious, typically with very little if any critical thinking about the map that is being assembled. On top of that, your mind has a default bias towards retaining rather than modifying your map. Your mental map is so vital to your in-the-moment life and living that nothing about your daily (and nighttime) experience by-passes it. From a functional perspective, it is your 'filter' through which you both perceive and interpret every single aspect of everything you encounter or consider. Consequently, your mental map shapes your perceptions, assumptions, interpretations, beliefs, thoughts, feelings, attitutudes and, in turn, your reactions or responses. I hope you get the idea of how significant your mental map is to your daily life and living - and mostly without your awareness*.
Because your mental map started being formed so early in life, it gets a 'head start' in laying the foundation to how you integrate later experiences - such as your subsequent learnings about God. This is why quite a few people have a difficulty with God as father, for example, because their prior, non-positive experiences with their earthly father shaped their subsequent perceptions about God as a Heavenly Father. And it also explains why there is so much emphasis in scripture on the need to renew your mind (eg 2 Corinthians 10:5; Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:23; Proverbs 23:7; Proverbs 4:23, etc).
What has this got to do with this week's lesson? This week's lesson goes to the heart of the nature and character of both God and the reality of His Kingdom - what is the nature of the 'sacrifice' that is necessary for provision of salvation and therefore what actually is salvation and what does it actually involve and why? And Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us clearly that the nature of God and His ways - the ways of His Kingdom and therefore of true reality - are significantly "higher than", or different to, our ways.
You don't have to, but I would invite those who are interested to pause and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you (as per Psalm 139:23-24 and John 16:13-15 principles) this week as you consider a specific aspect of your mental map related to the lesson. And the question I would invite you to consider is this: "When I look at what I understand and believe about God and His Ways - including His ways of salvation - what aspects of these ways are substantially different to the ways of this world, and in what ways are they essentially similar?"
What I am inviting you to do is not some intellectual, 'naval-gazing' exercise - it is actually about reflecting upon the very thing that shapes everything that you say and do as a Christian believer - including how you treat others. And incase you are nervous about what I am inviting you to do, I will leave you with a thought from one of the pioneers of the Adventist church. I have kept the quote meaningfully brief to conserve words, but please feel free to read the wider article for yourself:
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* Part of the process of developmental maturity is learning to develop more conscious awareness of that which is otherwise subconscious and therefore below your conscious awareness. However, people vary according to the degree to which they actually develop this awareness. Most have very little awareness of the existence of their mental map or its usage and implications for their life and living and therefore of how that also impacts those around them.
Thank you, Phil. I was blessed by your discussion.
Hi Sharen
I praise God for any blessing you received.
The subconscious mind is a database that houses all the information we put into it. The conscious mind activates the subconscious mind. What we do with the output makes a difference. The output should express the fruits of the Holy Spirit in righteousness. But because our moral conscience is not always chosen, we often do the opposite. That is called sinning, and that is why Jesus died for us sinners. Studying the Bible is good for reprogramming our minds because we get new information that can be chosen to activate. For instance, how many alcoholics do you know that completely got rid of their alcohol addiction because they learned how to do it by learning the right and wrong of the harmful habit and chose to follow God’s laws that forbid the drinking of alcohol. Today, I taught a New Believers’ class that emphasized programming your mind with God’s laws and used alcoholism and sex addictions as examples of how God’s Word can change (reprogram) and enhance our lives when we apply the Biblical concepts, principles, and laws.
Thanks Bette for your contribution. May God bless your teaching of your New Believer's class that lives may be enhanced (John 10:10).
Hi Brother Phil,
I appreciate your comment. It reminded me of John the Baptist in the wilderness telling people to prepare to meet a different kind of Messiah than Who they may have been raised to expect. I think you're reminding us to "prepare the way for the Lord" this week in our study. To be prepared for the Holy Spirit trying to show us God's character and kingdom in a new way. When I looked this reference up in the gospel I see that in fact John the Baptist also used the word "salvation" - he said "All mankind will see God's salvation" (Luke 3:6).
John the Baptist was quoting Isaiah so I flipped back to the Old Testament. There I found that Isaiah also echoes you when he asks "Who believes this" salvation story about a Messiah? (Is. 53:1) Then he asks another question "Who gets this? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Who really gets the life-changing power of this redeeming work of Jesus Christ?" Isaiah is asking this of the people of God, the people who bear His name. Just as you are asking us.
I'll have a go at answering your questions. I believe these things I'm about to say, however the Spirit continues to assist me in wrapping myself around absorbing them.
What is salvation? Scripture is showing me - through how Jesus treated people while on Earth - that salvation is "being rescued". Salvation is being rescued from a sinful heart and from the sorrow and infirmity and lack of peace associated with that. (Is. 53:4) All of Jesus' rescue missions in Galilee were about forgiving sins and cleaning up the consequences of sin - fixing broken bodies, quieting fearful hearts, restoring hope through a vision of God's kingdom. The Holy Spirit shows me that I have a need for rescue and points me to Jesus. Salvation is God showing me that I am sick and then offering me healing.
What is the sacrifice that was necessary for the provision of salvation? Is. 53:5 tells us that we are healed by Jesus' wounds. How do Jesus' wounds heal me? I found one answer as I read on. Is. 53:11 tells me that Jesus counts His own joy in having a relationship with me, right now and forever, as greater than all of His suffering. Jesus dying on the Cross saw "the light of life" - the resurrection - procured through His sacrifice. Under the crushing weight on the Cross (Is. 53:5), Jesus knew He would rather die and be fully separated from Himself (from God the Father) than to exist without me for an eternity. He endured every pain as, by faith, He could see into the future in heaven, looking out over a vast company of redeemed people from every nation, tribe, language and culture of this world, and He was "satisfied" (Is. 53:11). Jesus lives to bring every human who receives Him into everlasting joy. To be loved that much is what heals us. Only God's love is this deep to lay down His life - not just His physical body but His eternal life - for us (John 15:13). Only God's love is big enough to be the "equal and opposite reaction" to the virus of selfishness/sin (Using Newton's Third Law of Physics as a metaphor here...accordingly, it's interesting to note that this Law is very important to space flight).
A book called A Gospel Primer for Christians: Learning to See the Glories of God's Love by Pastor Milton Vincent says, "The gospel is so foolish according to my natural wisdom, it is so scandalous according to my conscience, and so incredible and hard to believe according to my timid heart, that it is for me a daily battle to believe the full scope of this gospel as I should." As Christians we need to live on all that Jesus Christ has done for us freshly every day - or as Pastor Vincent says, "You must preach the gospel to yourself every day. You must tell yourself who you are in Christ, you must tell yourself what Christ has done for you, because it is a daily battle to believe it as we should." God's salvation and sacrifice is a reality so vast, so great, that our mind typically defaults to not really laying hold of it.
Hi Esther
Thanks for sharing your Spirit-led learnings. Please keep following the Holy Spirit's leading as you seek to know God and His Ways more and more.
Praise the LORD He has revealed everything we need to know about His Everlasting Covenant in His Word.
I have been truly blessed to have my conscience and sub conscious trained by the Word of the LORD since birth, like Deut 6:4-8.
I trust the gospel preached by Jesus, Paul, John, Peter, and affirmed by Ellen White, that Jesus Christ took our sins on himself as the atoning sacrifice so that His righteousness could be imputed to us and then imparted to us to transform us into His likeness.
Matt 26:28; 1Cor 15:1-4; 1John 2:2 NIV; 1John 4:10 NIV; 1Peter 2:24; 2Peter 1:1-4
Deut 29:29 NLT
The LORD our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of His iinstructions
I find nothing in the Book of Hebrews that mentions "The Cross" of Jesus. None of the OT sacrifices were sacrificed on crosses. None of the scriptures of this lesson given to us to read and study mentions a cross for Jesus. The Book of Hebrews does mention Jesus death and spilled blood and sacrifice a whole lot, but leaves out the idea of a cross being needed for the purpose of atonement for sin. It is very interesting to me as to how a Gentile Gospel writer (Luke) mentions Jesus starting to bleed for sin at the Garden of Gethsemane and then when the spear pierced His Heart at Calvary, He was already dead, this part is in the Gospel of John. Even EGW says that it was not the cross that killed Jesus, it was Sin that killed Him, Not the cross. And that is why I think that Paul left out the cross in the Book of Hebrews but not His bleeding for sin; this Jesus had to do as "The Lamb of God," from the foundation of this earth. The Lamb of God did not need a cross to accomplish His bleeding and dying for sin. The cross happened because He was not accepted by the spiritual leadership of His day as being who He was and is: King of Kings and Lord of Lords, High Priest, Lamb of God, and Ultimate Sacrifice for sin.
Hebrews9:15 is the reason that I believe that if Paul were alive today, he would be considered a great legal mind.
In English common law a covenant is a contract that has been sealed. A will is then by definition a type of covenant.And in our case, Sealed by the Blood of the Lamb. We understand that there must be a will somewhere, because there is an "eternal inheritance"
(That original inheritance,eternal life in the garden of Eden that God designed was lost. Gen.4:22-24)
mentioned at the end of Heb.9:15. And if there is an inheritance, there must be a will.
So if we ask ourselves,"did Jesus leave us a will?" The answer is yes, John 17:1-26. The entire chapter is is will before His sacrifice on the cross.
And we know that wills are contested in court all the time, and mediation is used to resolve these disputes.
If we ask, What part of Jesus's will is being contested, it's the last part of John 17:15"that you should keep them from the evil one." NKJV.That part is why we need a mediator.
John17:20 includes us in his will, and not only His disciples.
I think the idea of Christ's dying on the cross is not that He needed a cross to show His love, but, to show how FAR He was willing to go to save us, because being crucified on a cross was for criminals which He most definitely was not.
Sabrina - I share your thoughts that with the cross He showed "how FAR He was willing to go to save us."
The Son of God demonstrated His Love when He decided to come and share our humanity in the form of Jesus, the Son of man; His Life shows His love throughout.