VIII.

The Theme of Sacrifice

A. Sacrifice is a crucial concept in the Bible.

Sacrifice is mentioned at the very beginning in Genesis, was codified for Israel in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, and is the central religious and national obligation throughout Israel's history as contained in the Old Testament. Israel as a nation and as individuals lived by the truth concerning blood sacrifice that "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." (Hebrews 9:22, NIV). God spoke of this to Moses as recorded in the Torah, "For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life." (Leviticus 17:11, NIV)

The sacrifices of the Old Testament pointed forward to a perfect sacrifice by the Messiah that would atone for the sins of mankind. God inspired the prophet Isaiah to write 700 years before Jesus' birth concerning the Messiah:

  1. "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not." (Isaiah 53:5,  NIV)
     
  2. "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5,  NIV)
     
  3. "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53: 6, NIV)
     
  4. "Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, Because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." (Isaiah 53:12, NIV)

Jesus fulfilled this perfectly in his life, his death on the cross, and his resurrection. It is the unanimous message of the New Testament, the Gospels and all the other books, that Jesus, as the Messiah, died on the cross and rose from the dead to pay for the sins of mankind. Jesus, as a true prophet of God, predicted his own death on the cross at least 16 times. He also predicted his resurrection. This message of forgiveness of sins in Christ's atoning death is the message that Jesus gave his disciples to preach to the world.

B. Conclusion

The books of the New Testament have been regarded as the Holy Scriptures since the days of the Apostles. They have always been regarded as the authoritative record of Jesus' life and teaching. There is no evidence that Jesus ever wrote a book Himself that was lost or changed into the existing New Testament. All available manuscript and historical evidence supports this view.