MyBeloved

A substitute is one that takes the place of another. Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of GOD took my place on the cross, my sins were placed upon Him and He suffered the penalty that I deserved. His righteousness is placed in my account and when our holy GOD looks upon me He sees the righteousness of Christ. Praise GOD!

GOD removes sins from all who will receive the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior. This sacrifice of salvation is universal in that whosoever will may take of this free gift. Jesus' sacrifice is not wasted on anyone, but those who reject Him will not see eternal life.

GOD intended to show us by animal sacrifice that when Adam and Even disobeyed and sinned they were separated from a holy and righteous GOD. They died spiritually, they were separated from GOD. They tried to cover their sin with fig leaves, but GOD rejected their efforts and covered them with the skins of animals. Was this the first animal sacrifice? Mankind tries to come to GOD in his own way, but that is unacceptable. We must come to GOD His way. GOD has provided our covering through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. GOD is holy and righteous and cannot tolerate sin in His presence. But through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ we can stand in His presence.

GOD's provision of animal sacrifice for forgiveness of sins is an expression of His mercy in that He could have turned His back on mankind when he sinned. Instead of turning away from us He provided a way that man could have fellowship with Him. The blood of the animals covered the sin so that GOD could look upon man. GOD was not only showing mercy He was also showing grace looking toward Jesus Christ's sacrifice on Calvary. Hebrews 10:12 reads, "But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of GOD." It is finished! No, the animal sacrifice was not adequate to atone for human sin. It took the GOD Man to do that.

The basic elements for the Old Testament sacrifice for indivual sin are; a lamb or goat without blemish, knife for the slaughter, confession of sin, blood of the lamb, altar and the horns of the altar, the priest, and fire. Since Jesus Christ poured out His blood on the cross for all we no longer need an animal sacrifice for our sins. His sacrifical death cleanses all who will receive Him. Because we still have a carnal nature we need to confess our sins to Him for daily cleansing.

Animal sacrifice is repulsive to modern mankind because they do not want to admit that they are sinners and in need of salvation. Many people today believe that Heaven can be attained by their own good works instead of the shedding of the blood of our Savior. If they would only read GOD's Word they would understand that "without the shedding of blood there is no remission." Praise GOD for the shed blood of Jesus Christ our Lord!

The answer to question one is, the Israelites were instructed to offer a lamb without blemish for their sin offering. All of those offerings were looking toward Cavalry where the Lamb of GOD would die in our place. Revelation 13:8 tells us that Christ was the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the earth. In Genesis 22:8 Abraham answered, "GOD Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering" NIV. And He did provide the only One Who could be the offering for our sin, once for all. Praise His holy Name!

Hello, this is my first time to be involved in an on-line Bible study. I love the Lord and His Word and look forward to learning something new. I believe that I am much older than most of those who have posted messages. My home is in beautiful, sunny, Florida and I have been married to the same wonderful man for over 52 years. We are members of an independent Baptist church where we are active in children's ministry. Thank you for preparing this study.