- Sacrificial Atonement
Exodus 4:20, 26, 31, 35; 5:10, 13, 16, 18; 6:7 The priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them..
The first several chapters of Leviticus prescribe the various kinds of sacrifices the priests are to make for the people. The same refrain recurs for each kind of sacrifice: atonement made and sins forgiven. Sacrifices were to be offered daily for different purposes, but each one involved the forgiveness of sins. God is pleased with the sacrifice and forgives the sins of the sacrificer. The priest makes the sacrifice of the animal in a certain prescribed ritual way. The priest would make a sacrifice for himself and the priests. He would make a sacrifice for all the people. He would make a sacrifice for anyone who brought a sacrificial animal.
The promise clearly given with the sacrificial system is that the Lord will forgive the sins of the believer and worshiper. The priest atones for the worshipper, that is, the priest’s work is to bring the believer to the Lord and reunite them after sin had broken the relationship. The sins he has committed will be forgiven him; the forgiveness comes from God through the priest, who offers the victim in place of the worshiper. All of this elaborate description of sacrifices is clearly to point the way to the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the Priest, who makes the sacrifice and through whom the forgiveness comes from the Lord. As priest, He also brings our sins and prayers to God. Jesus is, at the same time, the Victim, whose blood is shed in the place of the sinner for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus is the once for all sacrifice, for all people and for all time. There is no longer a need or a use for any further sacrifices to be made for us or by us. It is finished; it is completed.
We note that the animal (and human) sacrifices made in all the pagan religions were for the purposes of getting some favor, benefit or request from the god or goddess. The purpose of Moses’ sacrifices (and Jesus’ sacrifice) is that God may forgive us as He desires to do. It is receiving something from God rather than giving something to God. This principle still holds for us today. For example, we go to church to receive some something from God, forgiveness and life; we do not go to church to do something good for God so that He might bless us better. In this way Sacrifice is a Promise, not a good work. The Sacrifice of Christ promises Forgiveness of Sins.