By Dr. Michael Weis
“And the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21).
“But the LORD desired To crush Him, causing Him grief; If He renders Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand” (Isaiah 53:10).
A Covering
God created all things perfect in six days, but Adam and Eve sinned soon after that, and God Himself – a holy God – slew animals of His own creation to cover the sin of His creation.
Most Christians do not realize God was the One who not only killed first, but by doing so, was sacrificing animals on behalf of His creation to cover them. Perhaps with the warm blood still dripping from the skins, God clothed Adam and Eve when their own efforts of sewing fig leaves together failed to forgive their sin (Genesis 3:7).
The Example of Israel
This shows the faulty efforts of humanity and religion to forgive and cleanse our sin. Fast forward a few thousand years to when God brought the nation of Israel out of Egypt and gave them the Mosaic Law and the sacrificial system – where animals were offered day and night, without ceasing.
The Israelites continued to sin, rebel, and turn to idols, leading God to send prophets to call them back to the Covenant. Some did, but many did not, and God sent the prophet Isaiah between 740-700 B.C. to proclaim to them not only judgment, but also of One who would be the last sacrifice.
In one of his “Suffering Servant” passages, Isaiah spoke of One whom the Lord would “bruise,” or sacrifice, as an offering for sin. Not only that, but he told of the blessings the sacrifice would have because Jesus would offer Himself willingly (John 10:18) as the Lamb of God (John 1:29, 36). His seed (worshipers) would be seen, and His days would be prolonged because He would not remain dead, but physically come back from the dead three days later (Matthew 28, 1 Corinthians 15).
God’s Work
Who did all of this? God did! This was not man’s invention, man’s creation, man’s idea, or man’s purpose, but God’s! Scripture says that the sacrifice of the Son pleased the Father. This does not mean God was sadistically looking forward to it, but was pleased with the Son’s obedience and willingness to offer Himself out of love (John 3:16) and to fulfill the demands of a holy God (Matthew 5:18, Luke 24:44).
This has tremendous theological implications:
First, the Father did not turn His face away from the Son at the crucifixion (Psalm 22:24). God cannot be separated from God.
Second, there are no more sacrifices needed once Jesus gave His life on the cross. The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin, but the final sacrifice did (Hebrews 10:7-10). Thus, the Roman Catholic view of Communion is heresy, which repeatedly sacrifices Christ (Hebrews 10:11-14).
Third, man-made religion, whether it literally offers sacrifices or not, are an offense to the God who provided the only way to salvation (John 14:6).
A Greater Understanding
Understanding the two simple truths that God offered the First and Last Sacrifice will help you have a greater understanding of the Bible. It will help you see that salvation is entirely by grace, and that living the Christian life is completely by grace as well.
We can do nothing to achieve salvation, and we can do nothing to hold to our salvation by our own efforts. Only Jesus, the Last Sacrifice, and God the Father, who provided the Last Sacrifice, can guarantee eternal salvation – a true salvation which cannot be lost or rescinded!
Dr. Michael Weis is a pastor and a videographer, editor, and social media manager at Zion’s Hope.
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