IN TOUCH DAILY DEVOTIONAL 28 MAY 2024 BY DR. CHARLES STANLEY, TUESDAY MESSAGE
TOPIC: The Sacrificial Lamb
SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 10:1-14
1 For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.
2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?
3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year.
4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME;
6 IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE.
7 “THEN I SAID, `BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.'”
8 After saying above, “SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS AND WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, NOR HAVE YOU TAKEN PLEASURE in them ” (which are offered according to the Law),
9 then He said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second.
10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins;
12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD,
13 waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET.
14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
In Touch Daily Devotional 28 May 2024 – MESSAGE
God’s grace has no limits. His mercy can reach the darkest part of our heart. Christ not only erased our past, present, and future sin; He also paid for the wrongs of every generation. When the ancient Israelites brought a goat or a lamb to the temple for a sacrifice, they placed their hands on its head and confessed their sins. The priest then killed the animal and sprinkled some of its blood on the altar of atonement. The ritual symbolized a confessor’s payment for sin.
But the lamb could not actually take on the sin and die in place of the Israelite (Heb. 10:4). If an animal’s blood could actually erase a sin debt, then Jesus’ death would have been unnecessary. The ritual of sacrificing a lamb was the Father’s idea (Leviticus 4:1-35), though the act itself was symbolic. God established such offerings as an illustration of the seriousness of sin. The practice also pointed to Christ’s perfect sacrificial death on our behalf and the salvation He brings.
Like the Israelites, we must also look to a lamb—the Lamb of God (John 1:29). When we receive Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins, we are forgiven forever.
Bible in One Year: Nehemiah 8-10
Thought for Today: All of our wrongs—past, present, and future—are forgiven when we accept the gift Jesus died to give us.
For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit www.intouch.org.