Sacrifice
@sweetybeard
Unsplash
Last month, one of my kids came home with a set of ANZAC Day flash cards he made at school. As at most Australian schools around April, they’d been learning about the sacrifice the ANZACS made in World War One.
When most Australian youth and kids think of sacrifice, I reckon they think of ANZAC Day. The ANZACs endured extreme hardship, facing brutal conditions, disease, and heavy casualties, especially in the battles at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. Their sacrifices helped forge a sense of national identity.
The theme of sacrifice would also become a key part of Israel’s national identity, Jesus’ mission, and should be key to how we think about our own lives as Christians.
In this article, we’ll have a look at the theme of sacrifice in Exodus—what it was and why it was needed—and then turn to consider how this points to Jesus and what it means for us.
Sacrifice and Exodus
In the previous article, we saw that God appointed priests to serve him in the tabernacle. A key way they served was through presenting sacrifices. In Exodus 29:36–46 in particular, we see that temporary atonement for sin came through the regular sacrificial offering of an animal (and grain). Let’s unpack that,
In Exodus 29:36, the priests were instructed to “Sacrifice a bull each day as a sin offering to make atonement.” There’s a lot packed into that sentence.
Atonement. Firstly, it shows us that atonement is needed. What’s atonement? When Tyndale translated the Bible into English in the early 16th century (500 years ago this year!), he needed a word to express the idea of reconciliation between God and humans—he didn’t have many options back then. So, he coined (or perhaps adapted) the word “atonement” from the words “at-one-ment”, literally meaning the state of being “at one” or reconciled. Why do we need atonement?
Sin. We need atonement because of the problem of sin, where we reject the God who created us and live our own way. This required a “sin offering.”
Offerings. The problem of sin meant that various sacrificial offerings were required. In verse 36 above, we see that God called for a “sin offering”—this was to deal with the problem of sin (in this case, unintentional sins). Later in Exodus 29, we also read of the “drink offering” (29:40), the “grain offering“ (29:41), the “food offering” (29:41) and the “burnt offering” (29:42). These offerings, in various ways, displayed the need for a restored relationship with God.
In Leviticus, we learn more about the various offerings:
The burnt offering was a whole animal sacrifice, entirely consumed by fire, expressing total dedication to God and accompanying prayers of petition or praise (Leviticus 1; 6:8–13).
The grain offering consisted of flour, oil, and incense, given to honour God’s provision and often accompanying other offerings to reflect thankfulness and dependence (Leviticus 2; 6:14–23).
The peace offering was a celebratory sacrifice that included a shared meal, symbolising restored fellowship and peace with God (Leviticus 3; 7:11–36).
The sin offering atoned for unintentional sin and cleansed impurity, using the metaphor of purification to restore the sinner’s relationship with God (Leviticus 4:1–5:13; 6:24–30).
The guilt offering made atonement for specific offences requiring restitution, portraying compensation for wrongdoing and the seriousness of sin (Leviticus 5:14–6:7; 7:1–10).
The drink offering was wine poured out before the Lord, often alongside other sacrifices, like the grain offering (Leviticus 23:12-13) or burnt offering (Numbers 15:5–10).
A food offering is a broad category of sacrifices made by fire to God, including burnt, grain, peace, sin, and guilt offerings, and is meant to be a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
Regular. Each of these offerings was to be given regularly. Most of them were offered up daily, sometimes twice daily (e.g., the burnt offering, Exodus 29:38–42). They weren’t powerful enough to deal with the problem of sin for all time.
Without defect. The animals sacrificed had to be without defect or blemish (Exodus 29:1). They had to be perfect.
An aroma pleasing to the LORD. And they had to smell good to God. They were to delight his nostrils. They were to be “an aroma pleasing to the LORD” (see Exodus 29:18, 29:25, 29:41).
2. Sacrifice and Jesus
Humanity needed someone to shed their blood for us, since “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22).
But, as we read in Hebrews 10:4, “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
In the New Testament, we discover that the sacrificial system ultimately points us to Jesus, the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). The sacrificial system was a “shadow of the good things” to come (Hebrews 10:1). In other words:
Permanent atonement for sin came through Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice.
In Hebrews 10:10, we discover that “we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” We’re no longer under sin. We’re “holy”, set apart. We no longer need sacrifices offered daily and on special occasions—Jesus’ death was once-for-all. That means that it was permanent and has dealt with sin forever. “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect for ever those who are being made holy” (Hebrews 10:14). This is how Jesus was able to “make atonement for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17).
Jesus is “a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:19). He never sinned. He lived a perfect life in full obedience to God.
Jesus was the pleasing aroma to God. In Ephesians 5:2, we read that he was a “fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God”.
3. Sacrifice and Me
So, how do we respond to all of this? It involves more than just not sacrificing bulls and lambs any more.
Let’s offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.
In Romans 12:1–2, we read:
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Since Christ offered up his body for us as a sacrifice, it only makes sense that we offer ourselves up as sacrifices as well, living sacrifices.
How do we do this? We pursue holiness and we aim to live lives that please God.
How do we do this? We seek to be transformed rather than conformed. Being conformed means living the way the world lives. Being transformed means allowing the Holy Spirit to do his thing in our minds (and hearts; see 2 Corinthians 3:18), making us more like Jesus. It means handing over every part of your life to God.
There’s an apocryphal story about Ivan the Great that does the rounds on preaching websites. Unfortunately, historians tell us that most of the details are made up. But it’s still a good illustration. Here’s the basic gist of the story.
Ivan the Great, Tsar of Russia, converted to Christianity. Because he was a Christian, he arranged for 500 of his elite soldiers to be baptised with him. But there was a problem: the church said Christian soldiers must renounce violence.
To get around this, the soldiers entered the water fully clothed in armour, but each one held one arm above the water, still gripping their sword. Their bodies were baptised, but not their weapon-arms.
They were saying, “God, you can have everything. Except this.”
And we do the same. We hold back areas of our lives: our habits, phones, relationships, pride. Whatever we don’t want to give up.
If we’re living sacrifices, we seek to give up anything and everything for Jesus, even if it costs us. We’re seeking not to be conformed but transformed.
This theme of sacrifice was key to Israelite identity and has become part of the ANZAC identity. It needs to become part of our identity as well.
Do you have the kind of sacrificial mindset God calls you to? What would it look like for you to grow in this kind of mindset?
Disclaimer: I used Grammarly and ChatGPT to detect typos in this article. Let me know if I missed any!
