Have you ever wondered why God in the Bible required a sacrifice to forgive sins? How is it today without a sacrifice He can forgive our sins?
Have you ever thought about that?
We are all called to forgive people aren't we? If you sin against me, I'm called to forgive you. And if I sin against you hopefully you’ll forgive me also. So does that also mean God will simply forgive us too when we sin?
That's the first question we need to consider.
I want to show you a verse in Proverbs 17:15.
Now look what it says...
"He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike, are an abomination to the Lord."
Now let us just consider this one phrase:
"He who justifies the wicked is an abomination to the Lord".
Now we have a big problem...Do you see what it is?
God says that anyone who declares the wicked to be right, when they are not right, they are an abomination before Him.
So, it would be right to say that if God simply forgives you He’s not just.
If God declared you to be right when you were not right, it's seen as an abomination. He would be making Himself an abomination. In the same way if a judge forgives a law breaker and lets him or her go free, he's no longer a Just Judge. If God were to simply forgive you of your sin, there is a huge problem with what God has done, and the problem is this…
If God is a just God He cannot forgive! He must punish the law breaker. That is the thrust of the whole Bible.
If a person sins, according to scripture that person must be punished and die. Read Deuteronomy 17 as one example.
Now I hope that you are beginning to see why it was necessary for a sacrifice. Read Leviticus 17:11 which shows us this.
God can not simply forgive you. You don’t get off the hook that easy.
The righteous Holy law of God when broken, demands that the sinner be judged. God’s law demands it! You just can't sweep that under the carpet.
You see the problem? And has God’s law changed? No — and if you break it, you come under its curse and will be judged accordingly by it.
Read Deuteronomy 28:15-68 to show this.
Now ultimately the only way that God can forgive sinful people is if God who gave the law and God who demands satisfaction and justice for sin, if He Himself is the redeemer. Psalm 79:9, Isaiah 44:6, Isaiah 59:12-16 and Isaiah 59:20...
The blood of bulls and goats was only a temporary covering for sin until God Himself would be the substitute and pay the penalty.
The scriptures teach that the only way ultimately the law of God can be satisfied is by God Himself. Only God can satisfy God's law. God in order to forgive the wicked, and still be Just, He must die and shed His own blood as a perfect sinless sacrifice in our place. Isaiah 52:13—53:12.
The only way He can forgive sins, is to die in the place of the wicked.
Now here comes the important point...
How does God die for our sin & how does His death pay for our sin?
The scriptures teach that God becomes a man – He takes upon Himself human flesh, being fully God and fully man.
Why did God have to become a man?
The simple answer is that man has sinned and man must die, a son of Adam must lay down his life.
For God to satisfy His own Justice and pay the penalty for man’s sin He had to be both fully God and fully Man, this is how He did it. Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 53 and Jeremiah 31:31-34 fulfilled in the New Covenant Scriptures tells us how this unfolds when God the Son Psalm 2:7-12 comes to planet earth through the virgin birth as a sinless man in the person of Jesus as a suffering servant and freely gives of Himself as the perfect sacrifice for God the Fathers satisfaction for sin and His Glory.
Isaiah 53:10 says… But the Lord was pleased to crush Him.
Because of God’s love for you, the curse of the law and our sin that evokes His Holy wrath and judgement was placed on the suffering servant Messiah Jesus. Everything that should be poured out on us was placed on Messiah Jesus to crush Him under the weight of His own justice, because only God could withstand God’s wrath. God was pleased and totally satisfied by that one perfect and righteous act.
Messiah Jesus shed His blood and bore our sin on Himself and redeemed us from God’s Judgement by becoming a curse and an abomination for us, dieing and rising again on the third day.
This is the Good News of the Bible and the power of God for salvation called the Gospel message, for both Jew and gentile, that if you repent and turn from your sin and place your faith and trust in Jesus' sacrifice alone, God will never pour out his wrath on you, because Jesus paid the price of God’s wrath in full for you, so you don’t have to bear it or experience it.
Because of Jesus' righteous act to justify and glorify God on the cross, God has justified and glorified Jesus by raising Him from the grave and seating Him at His right side (Psalm 110:1-7), and by this God will do a supernatural work in your life and declare you justified and forgiven to enter into His Kingdom and eternal Glory forever.
But be forewarned… if you reject Jesus and this message. Oh, dear friend you don't even want to know what awaits you.
Whether you are Jew or gentile you will stand before the Judgement throne of Almighty God and be condemned by your sin and be judged by the Law which you have broken, and the last thing you will hear as you are found guilty and condemned into Hell for all eternity will be worship and applause unto the God who judged you, because He has administered righteous justice.