Behold His sacrifice  

Behold the Lamb

Oh bless the Lord, my soul remember

All the good things that He has done

Forgiven sin, forgotten sickness

An orphan called instead a son

The gift of life, borne on Christ's shoulders

Death’s sting engulfed by victory

Bought with His blood, saved through His suffering

This is the song of the redeemed

Behold the Lamb of God who takes away our sin

Fear is overcome as we fix our eyes on Him

No higher name, none greater than the Lamb

Consider Him, High Priest, our Saviour

The perfect Lamb who had no sin

Embraced God's wrath so we have favour

Now boldly we can enter in

Jesus, oh Jesus

You’re worthy, You’re worthy

Devotional

It probably goes without saying that we can really only do things, accomplish things, and grow in any way, while we are alive. If someone were to grievously injure their arm, such that the tissues in that arm were irreparably damaged, the arm would need to be amputated. This person would suffer the loss of the arm and all its functionality. This would be the same for any fruit tree which, should it die, could not produce fruit or grow new leaves. 

In the same way, before coming to salvation in Christ, we were dead in our sins. In that state it is impossible to please God, for we were spiritually dead, living entirely for ourselves, and enslaved to the sins of the flesh (Romans 6:16, 8:8; Ephesians 2:1-5; Colossians 2:13; 1 Timothy 5:6; John 8:34). 

Even the Apostle Paul – a man we often tend to elevate for his moral uprightness and his depth of spirituality – knew acutely his utter incapacity to live for Christ outside of the death of Christ (Romans 7:22-25). He warred constantly against the flesh’s desire to sin, even going so far as to call himself a “wretched man” in desperate need of saving from his “body of death”. But Paul knows where his salvation comes from, and he concludes: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”.

Why exactly did Paul thank God “through Jesus Christ our Lord”? Paul, in his struggle to kill sin in his life and serve a holy and righteous God, knows that he needs deliverance. The writer to the Hebrews explains it for us (Hebrews 9:11-14): If goats and bulls and various sacrifices could purify the flesh, “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

It is only through the sacrifice of Christ that we have any communion whatsoever with God; any life, any capacity for faith or belief, any ability to please the Lord and to serve Him, even any desires within us for good (Romans 3:9-12, 23; 7:18; 8:7; Ephesians 2:3; Jeremiah 13:23; Matthew 7:18; Psalm 51:5; John 3:6). 

The blood of Christ purified “our conscience from dead works to serve the living God”. In other words, Christ’s sacrifice on the cross erased our debts, purified our hearts, removed all shame and guilt, and brought us to life in order that we might serve the living God. 

That one little word is key: “to serve the living God”. In one word, the author of this letter clarified exactly what was meant to be the result of being brought to life: saved and made alive so that we can know Him and serve Him. Let us not rejoice only that we are saved and have life and then simply stop there. Let us understand both what has been done for us and what God has purposed it for. Let us be conscious of the price paid to bring us life. Let us live and serve our God in light of the sacrifice made to make it possible. The writer to the Hebrews goes on to say the same thing in a different way: “since we have a great priest…let us draw near…” (Hebrews 10:21-22).

So draw near to Him who saved us.

Reflections

1. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that drawing near to God is what is expected of those who are saved. What are practical ways you can begin to draw near?
2. Hebrews 9 makes it clear that, unlike the sacrifices we can offer, Christ’s sacrifice is all-sufficient and totally achieves what it sets out to accomplish. How can you allow this truth to influence your feelings of guilt and/or shame?
3. John Owen once wrote, “Nothing but the death of Christ for us will be the death of sin in us,” and, “Love for Christ because He went to the cross, and hate for the sin that sent Him there, is a solid foundation for spiritual mortification.” By this he means that, if we intend to mortify (kill) sin in our lives, we need to love the work on the cross, and hate our sin. In light of Christ’s sacrifice, how can we practically go about killing sin in our lives?