Friday: Further Thought ~ Jesus, the Perfect Sacrifice

Further Thought:

Read Ellen G. White, “Calvary,” Pages 741-757; “It Is Finished,” Pages 758-764, in The Desire of Ages.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

Professor Jiri Moskala has explained the nature of this pre-Advent judgment. God “is not there in order to display my sins like in a shop window. He will, on the contrary, point first of all to His amazing transforming powerful grace, and in front of the whole universe He, as the true Witness of my entire life, will explain my attitude toward God, my inner motives, my thinking, my deeds, my orientation and direction of life. He will demonstrate it all. Jesus will testify that I made many mistakes, that I transgressed His holy law, but also that I repented, asked for forgiveness, and was changed by His grace. He will proclaim: ‘My blood is sufficient for the sinner Moskala, his orientation of life is on Me, his attitude toward Me and other people is warm and unselfish, he is trustworthy, he is My good and faithful servant.’ ” — “Toward a Biblical Theology of God’s Judgment: A Celebration of the Cross in Seven Phases of Divine Universal Judgment,” Journal of the Adventist Theological Society 15 (Spring 2004): p. 155.

“Both the redeemed and the unfallen beings will find in the cross of Christ their science and their song. It will be seen that the glory shining in the face of Jesus is the glory of self-sacrificing love. In the light from Calvary it will be seen that the law of self-renouncing love is the law of life for earth and heaven; that the love which ‘seeketh not her own’ has its source in the heart of God; and that in the meek and lowly One is manifested the character of Him who dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto.” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, Pages 19, 20.

Discussion Questions:

Human beings have always had the tendency to offer different kinds of sacrifices to God as an exchange for forgiveness or salvation. Some offer God heroic acts of penance (long journeys, etc.), others offer a life of service, or acts of self-deprivation, etc. How should these acts be considered in the light of Jesus’ sacrifice and the assertion of Scripture that the cross has put an end to all the sacrifices (Daniel 9:27, Hebrews 10:18)?
At the same time, what is the role of sacrifice in the life of the believer? What did Jesus mean when He said that we need to take our cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24), or the apostle Paul when he said that we should offer our bodies as “a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Romans 12:1, ESV)? What is the relationship between the instructions of Jesus (Matthew 16:24) and Paul (Romans 12:1) and Hebrews 13:15-16?