The Foundations of the Faith

Studies in Genesis 1-11

Sermon Number Twenty-five: The Doctrine of Sacrifice (part 5)

Jim Bordwine, Th.D.

Introduction

After studying the basic principle behind the obligation to honor God, which is found in Gen. 4, we began examining the ways in which this teaching is seen in the rest of Scripture. I mentioned that there are four avenues of development. Each one has at its core, the basic doctrine of acknowledging God because He alone is God. The first line of development, which we have examined, had to do with thanksgiving. We saw that the giving of thanks to God is one way in which the creature acknowledges the Creator’s authority and benevolence and, at the same time, indicates his submission.

The second line of development had to do with tithing. In Gen. 14, we read of Abraham’s rescue of Lot from certain enemies who had taken him captive during a raid on Sodom. As Abraham was returning to his home following the battle, he was met by the king of Sodom and Melchizedek, a man designated as a priest of God Most High. In his capacity as a representative of God, Melchizedek blessed Abraham and declared that Abraham’s recent victory was a result of God’s blessing. Abraham had experienced a wonderful triumph over his enemies and had returned with an abundance of spoils. Melchizedek indicated that Abraham’s conquest, which was evidenced in the possessions he now controlled, was a result of God’s favor; the spoils of battle were testimony to God’s goodness and provision. It is from that bounty that Abraham then paid a tenth, or tithe, to Melchizedek.

This passage, coupled with Gen. 4, implies that it is part of human nature to honor the Creator in this fashion; it is a natural act for the creature, man, to express his beliefs in and about God by giving to God a token portion of his possessions. Long before God gave any specific legislation concerning tithing, people were tithing and they were tithing because this gives expression to a fundamental need of the human soul which is to recognize the existence of the Creator. This is why we find the practice of tithing in existence so early in human history and it is why we find the practice of tithing before God gave any particular law regarding tithing. Paying tribute to God is an act which arises from the inherent awareness of the soul.

Now we are ready to continue with the third way in which the principle of Gen. 4 develops in Scripture. This third avenue of development has to do with the doctrine of atonement.

02. Development of the Doctrine (continued)

At this point, I need to emphasize that the subject of atonement is far too involved to be treated in this one sermon. I do not plan to cover every aspect of this particular Biblical doctrine. What I intend to do is show how the necessity of atonement or the provision of atonement, specifically as it is related to the work of Jesus Christ, grows out of the basic principle which we see in Gen. 4. When we think of atonement, what concept or idea comes to mind? What is atonement all about? Although we might supply several answers to this last question, one of our responses would have to be “obedience.” On a fundamental level, atonement is about obedience. It is about failed obedience being rectified by full and willing obedience; it is about those who do not give to the LORD a due obedience having Another provide that necessary obedience for them. Atonement is about giving to God something which must be given, something which His very nature demands and this is, once again, the principle illustrated in Gen. 4.

In our study of that chapter, I stated that, among other things, the actions of Cain and Abel illustrated the necessity of acknowledging the authority of God and, by bringing a sacrifice to Him, they indicated their submission to that authority. Due to the nature of the Creator-creature relationship, obedience is an essential element. To be a creature of God is to be subject to His authority; and, under proper circumstances, recognition of this subjection leads to attitudes, words and actions which reflect God’s holy will as it has been revealed to us. The principle of Gen. 4 says that God must be acknowledged; His will must be recognized as the supreme expression of morality because He is the Creator. Even human being, therefore, owes to God not only thanksgiving and the representative tithe, both of which are grounded in Gen. 4, but also full and eager obedience to His revealed will.

The fall, of course, which we already have studied in this sermon series, makes it impossible for man to meet this particular obligation. In the state of sin, fallen man cannot obey God because his nature is contrary to the will of God and bent toward disobedience. Whatever God’s will dictates as the norm, fallen man, by nature, must reject. He simply cannot conform to the law of God and has no desire to do so. However, the obligation remains. It is necessary that man, the creature, obey God, the Creator. This is one of the unalterable facts of their relationship. The answer to fallen man’s dilemma is atonement. In the doctrine of atonement, fallen man has his debt of obedience paid and is thereafter free from the condemnation of being a law-breaker.

Obedience is nothing more than submission to the authority of another. As we study the Biblical record, we learn that submission is one of the leading characteristics of the Savior’s life. For example, in John 6, Jesus makes a statement regarding the entire scope of the incarnation:

37 “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.”

The key phrase, of course, is found in v. 38, but notice how Jesus introduces this declaration regarding the purpose of the incarnation: “all that the Father gives Me shall come to Me...” He indicates, in the place of first importance, the fact that His mission is bound directly to the desires and actions of the Father—“all that the Father gives Me shall come to Me.” Immediately, therefore, we are notified by Jesus that His purpose in coming is dependent upon the designs and actions of the Father. He is not coming as an independent operator or as One with His own agenda. Christ came to receive what the Father gave and in this case, we are talking about the elect.

But, as I said, the definitive statement for our purposes is found in v. 38: “I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” Here, the Savior characterizes His entire aim, the goal of the incarnation, as subordinate to the will of the Father. This is obedience rendered to God in the most perfect and absolute form. The whole purpose for the Son becoming flesh is here defined as “to do the will of Him who sent Me.” This is an enlightening contrast to fallen man who lives, literally, to do his own will and to ignore or defy the will of God. This is what he does and must do because of his depravity.

Yet, as I said earlier, the obligation to rendered to God obedience remains because it is a fundamental necessity of our composition as creatures. As Scripture teaches, then, Jesus becomes the One who obeys for fallen man. The importance of this obedience is underscored, as I just indicated, by the fact that the Savior chooses submission to the will of God as the defining characteristic of the incarnation.

As He continues, Jesus further explains His intention among men by saying that it is God’s will—the will which He came to accomplish—that He lose none of those given to Him but that He persevere in their rescue so that they might be raised up on the last day. This is a way of saying that the work of Christ was to redeem the elect and, as a result of His efforts, keep the elect forever. This is what God willed and this is what Jesus came to accomplish. The Savior came with an assignment, with a specific goal in mind and it was defined by the will of the Father.

Of interest to us, given our present emphasis, is the word translated “sent” in vv. 38 and 39. It is a Greek word (pempo) which refers to persons dispatched or appointed and has particular reference to those designated as God’s representatives. In such usage, the stress is upon the commissioning behind the sending so that it is understood that the one sent comes not in his own name and not by his own authority, but in the name and with the authority of the sender, which is God. Jesus leaves no doubt regarding His role. He came in the name of the Father, with the authority of the Father to do the will of the Father. Particularly in respect to this last matter, Jesus came to do what man failed to do, which is give to the LORD proper obedience. Adam failed initially to give this expression of the fact that he was a creature of God and every human being since then has inherited the inability to do what God demands.

If we were to be rescued from the fate of God’s wrathful response to rebellion, the coming of Christ was absolutely necessary. The duty to obey coupled with fallen man’s inability to perform the duty is what makes Jesus, and Jesus alone, our Redeemer and our Substitute. He provided what we were obligated to provide, but could not provide due to our corrupted natures. The fundamental duty of acknowledging and submitting to the will of our Maker remained on our account, but we had no way of satisfying that obligation. Without this ministry of Christ, that prime duty of giving to God the obedience due from us as creatures would never have been met and we would have been doomed for eternity. In Christ, we have a Man, the God-Man, who, simply put, comes to obey.

This same truth is expressed by the writer of Hebrews in the tenth chapter:

1 For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never by the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “SACRIFICE AND OFFERING THOU HAST NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY THOU HAST PREPARED FOR ME; 6 IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN THOU HAST TAKEN NO PLEASURE. 7 THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE ROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO THY WILL, O GOD.’” 8 After saying above, “SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS AND WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN THOU HAST NOT DESIRED, NOR HAST THOU TAKEN PLEASURE in them” (which are offered according to the Law), 9 then He said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO THY WILL.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. 10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

The context of this passage is the writer’s contrast of the Levitical system of redemption with the redemption provided by Christ. One important fact which he notes is that the Levitical system of sacrifices and rituals was “only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things” meaning that the religious order inaugurated during the ministry of Moses was not able, nor was it intended, to provide salvation. That system was a picture of what was wrong with man (sinful guilt before God) and what remedy man needed (blood atonement).

As the writer continues, he states that those sacrifices which were offered “year by year” could never “make perfect those who draw near.” (v. 1) There was an inherent flaw, we might say, in the Levitical system, one which was there because of the very nature of that system. It’s not that the system could have worked if implemented differently. The problem was not the system, but the sin which was the focus of the system. If the sacrifices and rituals of the Levitical priesthood had been capable of providing atonement, then, as the writer states, “they would have ceased to be offered because the worshipers, having been once cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins.” (v. 2)

But guilt cannot be atoned for by such things. In fact, the day to day functioning of the Levitical priesthood only served as a reminder of sins (v. 3). Far from delivering the soul from the guilt of disobedience and the threatened wrath of a holy and offended God, the priesthood prior to Christ only underscored man’s alienation from God! However, that was the design of the system; that is what is was supposed to do, in part, so that the attention of the pious would be directed toward that perfect sacrifice which would take away sin. It is impossible, the writer stresses, “for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” (v. 5) But then he adds—and this is where his attention turns back to the Savior: “when He comes into the world, He says, ‘Sacrifice and offering Thou hast not desired, but a body Thou hast prepared for Me; in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast taken no pleasure. Then I said, “Behold, I have come (in the roll of the book it is written of Me), to do Thy will, O God.”’” (vv. 5, 6)

The writer puts the words of Psa. 40 in the mouth of the Savior. He indicates that Christ came knowing that God did not want, nor would He be appeased with, yet another ordinary sacrifice or burnt offering. Something else was needed; that something else is spelled out in the last phrase of v. 7: “I have come to do Thy will, O God.” Here again, as in John 6, these prophetic words of the Messianic Psa. 40 tell us why Jesus came and, once again, His purpose in coming is summed up in relation to the will of God.

In these and other passages, obedience emerges as an essential theme in the doctrine of atonement. It stems from that universal duty man has to acknowledge and submit to the authority of his Creator. Fallen man cannot meet this obligation, so the Savior of man comes and His role is defined in regard to this most basic of requirements in the Creator-creature relationship. Adam’s sin was disobedience; every sin ever committed from the time of Adam is, in the most fundamental sense, a matter of disobeying the revealed will of God. This is why, when the Savior of mankind appeared, His mission is defined by Scripture and by Himself as one of doing the will of God.

Obedience is what God required of Adam and obedience is what Adam failed to give. By his disobedience, Adam led the whole race into rebellion and alienation from God. But, by His obedience, the Second Adam comes and leads our race to reconciliation and restoration. In both instances, in the Garden of Eden and at Calvary, the central issue was obedience—in the first case, obedience lacking and in the second, obedience supplied. The writer makes this very point when, in v. 8, he repeats what the Messiah says in Psa. 40 and then repeats, as well, the Savior’s conclusion: “Behold, I have come to do Thy will.” (v. 9) The contrast, once again, is between the Levitical system which offered sacrifices and burnt offerings as prescribed in the Law of Moses and Christ’s offering of Himself in complete obedience to the Father’s will.

Jesus, the writer continues, “takes away the first in order to establish the second.” (v. 9b) He means that obedience is what God desired, not another sacrifice or burnt offering. God wanted One who would totally give Himself to God’s will, even to the point of death, which is the writer’s final point in this passage: “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (v. 10) The ultimate expression of obedience was the surrender of His life in our place. That was the final act of submission to God and, because it culminated a life of obedience and because it was the maximum which He could render, that obedience saved us. It atoned for all of our acts of disobedience. And, of course, the perfect life which Jesus lived prior to His death on the cross was credited to us so that we have our sins paid for and we have a righteousness which allows us to enjoy communion with God; and all of this is due to Christ’s obedience.

In keeping with this thought, I want to call attention to one more passage in which the results of Christ’s obedience for us are declared. In Col. 2, Paul

13 And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

The context for these remarks is Paul’s insistence that in the Person and work of Jesus Christ, we have a full sufficiency; there is nothing which needs to be added to Him or His work—nothing to be added, nothing which needs modification, nothing which in any way is less than perfect or less than what is necessary. “For in Him,” the apostles declares, “all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete...” (vv. 9, 10) The occasion for these remarks was a contrary teaching which was troubling the Colossian church. It appears that they were being told that Christ and His work were insufficient and, therefore, that more had to be done by the sinner.

Notice the end of v. 13: “having forgiven us all our transgressions.” A transgression is an act of disobedience to the will of God. Paul characterizes the experience of redemption as having been forgiven our failure to obey God—all of our transgressions have been forgiven by God. The atonement provided by the Savior is the reason for this marvelous statement. It is as if, he goes on to say, a certificate of accusation was issued against us, one which incorporated God’s righteous commandments and, by way of implication, our failure to obey those commandments. This is a way of describing the unfulfilled duty of perfect obedience to God which appeared on fallen man’s account. This certificate identifies us as sinners, it marks us as unfit and unacceptable, it means that we will never know the joy of God’s presence, but face only the heat of His anger.

The “debt” is the submission to the LORD which sinners, as God’s creatures owe, but are incapable of paying. As I said earlier, atonement is about obedience. God demands obedience of us; obedience on our part is a natural consequence of the Creator-creature relationship. When that obedience is not forth-coming, as has been the case for all men since the fall, then we have an unsettled account, as it were, with God. This is the account which Jesus came to pay and it involved Him obeying in our place so that the charge of disobedience—and the accompanying condemnation—could no longer be brought against us. In Christ, obedience is given and the matter between us and God is forever rectified. This is Paul’s wonderful and encouraging word to the Colossians who were being told that they still had something to settle with God, that they had not yet achieved freedom from condemnation.

But Paul thunders in response: “He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross!” The cross, that is where our account was settled; the cross, that is where our debt was paid; the cross, that is where our guilt was atoned for and the justice of God satisfied; the cross, that is where Jesus died, that is where our blessed Savior demonstrated obedience to a degree that staggers our minds. “He humbled Himself,” Paul writes in another place, “by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8). Obedience—that is what God demanded; obedience—that is what we did not give; obedience—that is what our Substitute, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man, did provide.

03. Application of the Doctrine

There are two types of people here this morning. There are those who know that I speak the truth, who know that they are sinners, who know that they owe to God full submission and perfect obedience, who know that they could never have satisfied this debt which the creature has toward the Creator. These folks have turned in faith to God’s provision for their dilemma—they have placed their trust in Jesus Christ who came to provide what they could not provide, they have placed their trust in Him as a Substitute who lived under God’s laws and perfectly obeyed those laws and who, on top of all that, paid for their transgressions by suffering and dying on the cross. These are the folks who have cast aside all pretense of self-reliance, all attempts at self-justification, and have found peace with God in His Son.

These people rejoice to hear a sermon like this because it reminds them of the enormous price which Jesus paid for them; it reminds them of that from which they were delivered by Him; it reminds them that salvation is of grace, it is a gift of God and it reminds them that they cannot boast but can only give thanks and offer praise to the One who loved them so; it reminds them that, apart from the Savior, their fate was too horrible to contemplate. For them, this obligation of submission and obedience is a terror no more, for them it is finished business, for them it is joy instead of mourning and life instead of death and heaven instead of hell; in the case of these folks, the certificate of guilt and judgment and condemnation has been taken by God Himself and fixed to the cross with every blow of the hammer that drove those spikes into the flesh of His own Son. For us it is over; our sin is paid for and our obedience has been rendered by our Brother and Friend.

We don’t worry about the state of our souls any longer; we don’t worry about leaving this world to face God. We have, as I said, peace with Him because His Son took our place. And now, we sing His praises, we pray to Him as our Guardian, we acknowledge Him as our King and we speak His wonderful name with eagerness and in the confidence of those who have been set free, we give thanks.

But there are others here today who do not find joy in a sermon like this, who do not want to shout “Amen!,” who do not know the gladness or the hope or the peace or the confidence which I’ve described. These folks also know that I’m right, by the way, they just don’t like having to deal with the consequences of admitting it. They know that they are something less than perfect, they know that they cannot stand examination in light of the law of God; they know that they owe to God submission and obedience simply because He is God. And, during those times when they are alone and the words I’ve spoken echo in their ears, they think about these matters; they cannot help but think about them because they are human beings and they were created by God and they cannot escape the conscience which He gave them.

Therefore, once in a while, they wrestle with the hard questions of life, they wonder about their sin, about heaven and hell, about right and wrong; they wonder about dying without having the crucial question of their sin settled. They have a fear, though it may be buried deep within the soul; they fear being judged for their works, they fear having their eternal destiny rest on their so-called “good deeds” in this life. They know that they cannot approach the standard worthy of God. In those moments, though they may be rare and known to no one, there is fear—genuine anxiety. But, most of the time, those secret concerns are set aside either in the hope that God will not turn out to be a Righteous Judge after all—because if He is, they know they are doomed—or with the thought that they will make things right at a later time.

I’m here to tell you that you have no guarantee of even one more breath of life. Some of you that you are up in years and you may not be here in a few months. And some of your are fooled by the vigor of youth into thinking that this life is going to go on and on and that you have plenty of time to get right with God. But you should know that God is not mocked; He will withdraw from you and leave you in your stubbornness and pride and conceit. That certificate of debt which has been issued against you will remain valid and it will follow you into the next life and it will be your damnation. You need to deal with this matter right now. You have been told of your sin, you have been told of God’s loving provision of a Substitute to pay your debt and you have been warned of what awaits you if you persist in remaining apart from Christ.

Do not leave here this morning still under condemnation, still heading for a frightful judgment, still thinking that there is some other way. There is no other way, there is no other name given to us by which we can be saved. Jesus Christ is it. He and He alone is the Savior of sinners like you. You will not save yourself from God’s judgment by being a good person; the Church will not save you through Her sacraments or intercession. Christ alone is your hope. I plead with you, then, do not ignore the call of God’s Spirit. Do not shut your heart again to the news that God has provided a Savior for you so that your debt can be paid.

Conclusion