A note from Meghan: For those of you following along in the Garden to Garden study, currently, we are in the Intermission, so you may have noticed that this email is from Act: 4 Rescue, Week 5. I fell behind in getting the summaries out and was going to only post this on the website. Instead, I am sending it to your inbox as well. This is a question that we do NOT want to skip over. I don't want you to miss.
God is faithful and good. God is sovereign. God is our redeemer.
How have we been rescued?
Act four: Rescue, Week 5
Last week, we examined the times (when) God rescued His people, including you and me. At this point, I think we would all agree that we are sinners, who are separated from a Holy God, and desperately in need of rescue. Without the Rescue part of the story, there is no climax or conclusion. There is no hope-nothing. And since this is God's story, and our story is intertwined with His, it is perfect and intentional. Then, we better understand the 'how' behind the Rescue. It is of utmost importance, a fact that should not come as a surprise to us. If we do not understand the how behind our rescue, then we can not begin to fully comprehend the extent of God's love and His desire to have a right relationship with us. As a result, our understanding of the Gospel falls short.
In Psalm 91:14-15 I hear what our Faithful and Sovereign Lord says when my heart wonders about this week's and next week's questions: How and Why have I been rescued? I can almost hear Jesus lovingly answering me as I ask Him my 'hows and whys'. "Because you hold fast to me in love, I will deliver you; I will protect you because you know my name. When you call to me, I will answer you, daughter; I will be with you in trouble; I will rescue you and honor you." (Emphasis mine)
In our teaching on Rescue, Amy reminded us that Jesus didn't run from death; in fact, he ran toward it for the purpose of our rescue—for the purpose of Love.
He rescues us from our sins but doesn’t stop there. Let's examine how He ran toward death for our sake.
Earlier in the Story (Genesis 3), we have the first sin and, therefore, the first consequence. Adam and Eve disobey God, and God makes it clear that because of sin, there must be a sacrifice made. The consequence of sinning against a Holy God is death. While Adam and Eve were sinners, hiding in shame, God made the sacrifice; it wasn't just any sacrifice; the payment needed to be an animal sacrifice, a blood sacrifice, one where life was taken, and death resulted. The consequence of sin is death. God is allowing this animal's life to be a substitute. Instead of the consequence of death that Adam and Eve deserved due to their disobedience, God, in His grace and mercy, accepts this animal sacrifice. The animal is symbolically dying for them in their place. The animal is an atonement for Adam and Eve's sin. It covered and canceled their debt.
Blood is a symbol of life. It may sound peculiar us, but it was not to Adam and Eve or the Israelites. The priests cleansed the people's sins by sprinkling animal blood. God was cleansing the nation and forgiving them for their evil ways. Over and over again, they made sacrifices—lots of animals and a lot of blood. A lot needed to be cleansed. Offering an animal sacrifice for sin was the ONLY way to be forgiven; however, this peculiarity was very intentional.
In the Exodus readings this week, we see a good picture of the process of atonement and how God demonstrates His love to the Israelites. The land of Egypt was evil and unwilling to follow God. As a final consequence, God sent a plague, striking down every firstborn son in every household. Except for those Israeli households who sacrificed a spotless lamb and painted the blood on the door frame. "The blood will be a sign for you, and when I see the blood I will pass over you and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:13)
The blood was a symbol of forgiveness. A visible sign of the debt that humans owe God for choosing disobedience and contributing to the evil and death in the world. In Leviticus, we read even more about the role of the high priest and the requirements for blood sacrifices. The people kept sinning; they constantly broke the commandments of the Lord and needed unending forgiveness, unending animals and unending sacrifices. The whole world needed a blood sacrifice —a rescue. But God. Our faithful and sovereign God, knew what He would do. And again, this is not an "oops, man has messed up; I gotta fix this fast!" kind of plan. This was always 'before the foundations of the world" (Ephesians 1:4-7)
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son (John 3:16). . . the world needed a Savior, the world needed a way, and just like in Exodus and Leviticus, it needed to be a perfect, sinless, spotless lamb whose life blood would be taken, poured out for forgiveness, of not just one person's sin, but for all of mankind.
And in obedience to His Father, Jesus ran towards death for you and I.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16)
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)
And at just the right time, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29)
This is why He came; this was His purpose. To glorify His Father's name, to rescue the world, He ran towards death.
That's right, the sacrifice made in the Garden to cover the sin of Adam and Eve pointed to the lamb sacrifices made in the temple and gave clarity to the greatest need. The world's need. Jesus, the Lamb God sacrificed, the blood shed, the debt paid-payment made, the death taken, the atonement for every sin. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)
That is a great love and an amazing gift from our Father, but there is more.
His death paid the needed price for the forgiveness of sins, but His resurrection gave us eternal life, and we can't miss that part! Not one of the sacrifices that the Jews offered was resurrected. Nothing and nobody else defeated the power of death! We have been forgiven and given eternal life. This is what it means to be resurrected with Him. (Romans 6:5) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance (the gift) that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. . . (1 Peter 1:3-4)
If you don't know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you must know that when you believe by faith that He is Lord and surrender your life to serving Him, He ran toward death to be the payment for all your sins, past, present, and future, intentional and unintentional. Thankfully, we don't need to sacrifice animals anymore. His life was the ultimate sacrifice, His blood, the ultimate payment for our sins. He offered it as a free gift to you. You didn't earn it, you are not even "good enough" for it, but you do have to believe and accept it. It is how we have been rescued.
Meghan
