VBCC - "The Sacrifice of Jesus"

Here's a teaching I did on Holy Thursday - the week before Easter - traditionally on the night before He was crucified, I taught and then we talked about the sacrifice of Jesus and what it accomplished for us.

+ Alan

It was a completion, a fulfillment.

Mark 15:22-39

"Save yourself"
"Why have you forsaken me?"
"Sanctuary veil was torn in two"

These are very significant parts of the story. They were telling him to save himself. He actually could have bu then his job would have remained incomplete. There is nothing wrong inherently with not dying on a cross and perhaps going on to live a normal life (Last Temptation of Christ) - BUT this was not Jesus' lot. It would have been wrong for him - and a pretty bad deal for us.

And was Jesus just play-acting when he cried out "Father, why have you forsaken me?" I don't think so. This is very significant as well. He actually was temporarily forsaken for our sake. Remember, he "became sin.Ó He took upon himself our separated state - something he had never felt before suddenly overwhelmed him - our brokenness.

The significance of the sanctuary veil was so for the Jews who understood such things - and for us who have studied it. The veil separated God and man - it stood between the holy and unapproachable God and man who was not worthy to enter His presence. The sacrificial act of Jesus crucifixion and death - the spilling of eternal blood in the heavenly sanctuary, tore down the separating wall between God and man. There is no longer that veil of separation - we can now be one in and through Jesus.

Luke 22:39-44
Romans 6:4-5

"Immersed into His death"

We have been, as it says, "immersed into his death." We have mystically, through our faith in Him, died with and in him. It is further written that our old self was crucified with Christ that we might, just like Jesus, consider ourselves alive to God.

Hebrews 9:11-14
Hebrews 10:11-18

"Obtained eternal redemptionÓ

He died because he was doing the will of his Father. He died because of his great love for us. He died to make things right. He died to take your place - to satisfy justice and to overwhelmingly make forgiveness available. He took death undeservedly. We take his life in the same way (undeservedly).

It's not just his death but his whole life. He didn't just "lay his life down" when he went to Golgotha. He layed his life down starting at conception. He lived a whole human life for us and not for himself'

He became us so that we could become Him.

He became the man we were created to be:

- a man born with the nature of God.
- a man who walks in perfect, constant union with the Father in the Holy Spirit.

He is called the second Adam because he starts is all over again. He brings it all back to the beginning again. He is now the first born of many brothers. That means us! We are the many brothers and sisters - born like Him, of Spirit.

This is mystical reality, not merely external events which we recount to stimulate our minds. We're talking about the recreation of mankind - a new creation! And as we become partakers of Jesus, we become a part of that new creation. This is what our life is about - regaining access to the original created order, and that happens through Christ.