FROM THE PREACHER"S LENSES

Thursday, April 9, 2020
[email protected]
Lagos, Nigeria
CERTAIN FORETASTES & SHADOWS THAT REVEALED HOW GOD WAS TO PERFECT THE SALVATION OF MAN WITH THE BLOOD OF JESUS (2)

Continued from Part 1

ast time, I started speaking about certain incidents that served as foretastes, Shadows or forerunners, which predicts the way, how and method, by which Jesus would effect our salvation and prevent us from going to hell.

I spoke about the sacrifices made by the first two brothers, Cain and Abel. The Lord favoured the sacrifice of Abel because it was made with blood.

At another time, God instructed Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. God eventually made him to use a ram, which horns were locked in a bush. Blood was again the centre of the sacrifice.

I quoted Leviticus 17:11, where God specifically voiced that blood is the only antidote (remedy) for Him to overlook our sins.

I also narrated the Egypt incident where God decided He would free the children of Israel from the slavery of Pharaoh, king of Egypt but Pharaoh would not until God dealt with Pharaoh very severely.

God instructed each Israelite house to kill a one year old ram or a male goat and mark the two door frames and lintels of their houses with the blood of the animal. The animal must have no defect.

The Angel of the Lord passed through the city in the night and he killed all the firstborn sons and first born males of animals in any house that had no blood marking but spared the houses where there was blood marking for God had said "When I see the blood, I will pass over you" (Ex 12: 13)

God then commanded them to keep the incident as an annual festival, annual celebration. This they did till the arrival of Jesus on earth.

The celebration is referred to as "Passover" And it was during one annual festival that Jesus laid His life, so that anyone who asks for the cleansing of His sins with His blood, hell will pass over him as it happened in Egypt where lives in which house, there was blood marking were spared but all the first born males; humans and animals in the houses, where there were no blood marking, perished.

Jesus blood thereby replaced the blood of thousands of rams, killed annually to fulfill the laws of Moses and the writings of the Prophets, which Jesus said He hadn't come to cancel or rubbish but to fulfill or accomplish.

Today, I want to narrate more forerunners, foretastes, shadows or pointers that Revealed how God was to perfect the salvation of man with the Blood of Jesus.

Let us pray.

Certain Foretastes, Shadows, pointers etc that Revealed how God was to perfect the Salvation of Man with the Blood of Jesus (2).

Another mimic, shadow, forerunner, foretaste or pointer to Jesus as how our sins would be forgiven and reconcile us to God so that we can escape hell is seen on another date of the Jewish calendar "The Day of Atonement" which came up every 25 Sep.

It was one of the seven feasts, which God mandated them to keep annually after their deliverance from Egypt slavery (Lev. 16; Lev. 23:26-32; Num. 29:11). And it was for a purpose as it represents the future work of Jesus to redeem us. Actually, each of the feasts had one significance or the other in the history of the Israelites

This was the only day in the year when Aaron or whoever ascended to the position of High Priest could enter "The Most Holy Place" i.e inside the veil of the Temple in Jerusalem. If the High Priest entered at any other time, the penalty was death.

For the atonement of the sins of the congregation, 2 male goats were required for the sin offering and a ram for the burnt offering. The animals are usually one year old and with no defect.

The High Priest shall bring one of the live goats, lay both hands upon its head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people's sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness. 22 As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people's sins upon itself into a desolate land.

Note that all animals that were used for the various sacrifices must have no defect suggesting that in the real sacrifice, no other blood can be acceptable to God other than the blood of Jesus who is the only person that was sinless.

This is why John the Baptist referred to Jesus as "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1: 29).

The writer of Hebrews, who is most probably Paul explained the importance of the blood of Jesus as most effective to wash our sins.

Paul explained that the blood of several animals that were spilled under the law, were just a foretaste, a shadow, a mimic of the real thing that would take away man's sins. They were a dim foretaste of the good things Christ would do for us (Heb. 10:1). "This system of law was to last only until the coming of Christ, the Child to whom God's promise was made"! (Gal. 3:19).

"The sacrifices under the law system were repeated again and again, year after year, but even so, they could never save those who lived under their rules, if they could, one offering would have been enough; the worshippers would have been cleansed once for all, and their feeling of guilt would be gone. But not so, because "--- it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats really to take away sins" (Heb. 10:1-3).

Jesus is therefore, exactly the kind of High Priest we need; for He is holy and blameless, unstained by sin, undefiled by sinners…. He never needs the daily blood of animal sacrifices, as the human priests did, to cover first their own sins and then the sins of the people because they were weak and sinful men who could not keep from doing wrong.

But Christ finished all sacrifices, once and for all, when He sacrificed Himself on the cross because He is perfect forever" (Extract from Heb. 7:18-28).

I narrated at the beginning of this sermon the procedure of the Day of Atonement. The writer of the book of Hebrews reflected on it and He wrote "The High Priest brought the blood of the slain animals into the sanctuary as a sacrifice for sin, and then the bodies of the animals were burned outside the city. That is why Jesus suffered and died outside the city where His blood washed our sin" (Heb. 13:11-12; Ex. 29:14).

Here again, we see how Jesus fulfilled the laws of Moses and the writing of the Prophets.

Jesus, after He had shed every blood in His system, knowing that all things were accomplished (John 19:28) said "It is finished"(John 19:30) meaning that the work of our redemption is completed. He has paid the penalty of our sins and we are now discharged and acquitted of all our sins.

The pardon however is not automatic for everyone but for whoever comes to Him and requests Him to cleanse his sins with His blood.

These facts cannot be ignored my friend.

Jesu will come again, but not to deal again with our sins. This time He will come bringing salvation to all those who are eagerly and patiently waiting for Him (Extract from Heb. 9:6-28). He will also bring condemnation to those who refuse to have their sins covered by His blood.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John 3:, 18 and 36).

May God forbid any one reading or listening to this sermon to experience this wrath because it is a suffering and anguish, which has only a beginning but has no end.

This is a curse placed on anyone who does not have his sins forgiven, who has his sins uncovered, who is yet to be made holy by the time he exists this world in death, who refuses to avail himself of the grace provided by the blood of Christ to cover his sins, who rejects Christ as his God, Lord and Saviour.

While we live, this curse can still be averted and the curse redeemed. But after the physical death, it is irredeemable. It will be too late.

But every person will be the architect of his own fortune. Each person carries the responsibility to make the choice between life and death. The blood of Christ has been spilled to cover all sins except the sin of unbelief.

The jailer of Philippi asked Paul and Silas: "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they said: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts. 16:30-31). This is good for you right now.

You may want to tell me that the stories are for the Jews. You are wrong. God only chose Abraham and His seed through who, He plans to save the world. But He can only use one person. Reason it along.

In future, I will continue with other dramas that were played, which heralded the coming of Christ. They were foretastes, shadows, forerunners etc of Christ coming to the world to redeem us.

Let us pray.

Father, I thank you for revealing yourself to us. You told the Samaritan woman that the time comes when worshipping you will not be particularly at any place or by any pattern, system or by keeping any set of rules for prayers but that God is spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Father, let all those who are listening to me recognize that there is no good deed they can do that can fulfill your requirements of salvation; not their religious zeal except by placing their trust in the shed blood of Jesus on Calvary.

Help them father to come to the Cross where you died so that they can have their sins forgiven and be saved from the agony of hell. Thank you Father for hearing me in Jesus name. Amen.

Continued from Part 1

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