We pray that God give you the eyes to see what he has done through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah. His believers live on in submission to him throughout the world. As Jesus commanded, they bring God’s message of love and hope to everyone, everywhere.
THINKING ABOUT THE MESSAGE
There are those who push away the message that Jesus Christ is Lord. They do not believe that the greatness and power of God are in Jesus. They wish to walk away from the story of the Holy Bible. The Bible shows who Jesus Christ is, and the truth of his message. The power of the name of Jesus is so great that the evil spirits tremble before it. We should be very careful about shutting our ears to the Word of God. What if the Bible tells us the truth?
THE MEANING OF SACRIFICE
We must ask ourselves why Jews and other people offered animal sacrifices to God. Surely we know that God does not eat flesh and blood. So why would God tell Abraham (Ibrahim), Ishmael (Ismail), Isaac (Ishaq), Moses (Musa), and other prophets to make sacrifices to him? What would be the purpose?
It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.… We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all…. Because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.… And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. Letter to the Hebrews 10.4-18
A lamb was one of the most common animal sacrifices Jewish people made in ancient times. All sacrifices offered to God have their final meaning in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His death was the greatest offering, for it was followed by his resurrection. He did not just die. He died to rise again. He went into death for the purpose of defeating death. All sacrifices before Jesus lived showed that sin results in death. The only way to take away sin is by offering a living sacrifice. Yet we know that by ourselves we could never truly offer enough. With his resurrection, Jesus conquered death and sin for us. This is how John the Baptizer (Yahaya) explained it:
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.” The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. John 1.29-37