Sacrifice is
the offering of something valuable to God
as an act of worship, thanksgiving, or atonement.
In the Old Testament,
God established a sacrificial system
that pointed forward to
the perfect and final sacrifice of
Jesus Christ on the cross.
In the New Testament,
Christ Himself is
the once-for-all sacrifice
that takes away sin.
In the Old Testament, God commanded various sacrifices under the Mosaic Law:
These sacrifices involved the shedding of blood, teaching that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22). Yet the repeated nature of the sacrifices showed that they could not fully and finally remove sin (Hebrews 10:1-4, 11).
The New Testament presents Jesus Christ as the fulfillment and end of the entire sacrificial system:
“But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.” (Hebrews 10:12)
“He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (Hebrews 9:26)
Jesus is both the perfect High Priest and the perfect sacrifice. His death was:
Because of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice, believers no longer offer animal sacrifices. Instead, they are called to present themselves as living sacrifices:
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12:1)
The New Testament also speaks of the sacrifice of praise and of doing good and sharing with others (Hebrews 13:15-16).
The entire sacrificial system of the Old Testament finds its meaning and fulfillment in the cross of Christ. Animal sacrifices could only point forward to the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice of the Son of God. Because that sacrifice has been offered, believers stand fully forgiven and are now called to live lives of grateful, sacrificial devotion to the One who gave Himself for them.
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.