THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB OF GOD

Send us Fan MailIn this week's 'Words of Life' message...We encounter God’s holiness as the blazing center of Scripture and the thread that ties Leviticus to the cross. When Pastor Mark reads, “You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy,” he isn’t offering a slogan; he is pointing to God’s essence. Holiness means absolute moral purity and perfection, the total absence of sin. By contrast, we are not just flawed; we are fallen and unable to bridge the gulf. Leviticus reveals God who desires to dwell with His people while still being perfectly holy. That tension drives the entire sacrificial system: if God is near, sin must be dealt with. Yet, Israel is set apart, not because they are better, but because God chose to make Himself known through them and required a way to approach Him without being consumed.The Old Testament way was sacrifice. Blood was not a superstition; it was a stark acknowledgment that sin brings death. The high priest entered the holiest place with blood, not opinions. Bells at his hem reminded everyone that approaching God on our own terms is fatal pride in self-confidence. Day after day, year after year, the altar ran red because the people kept sinning and the sacrifices could only cover, not cleanse. Our primary text, Leviticus 20:26, pulls the curtain back: holiness is not optional; it is demanded. Yet mercy shines through the smoke. God creates a path into His presence, teaching hearts to feel the weight of sin and the cost of forgiveness, preparing history for a better priest and a perfect Lamb.Hebrews announces what Leviticus anticipates: Jesus is the holy, innocent, undefiled High Priest who offered Himself once for all. He does not repeat sacrifices, because His blood actually removes sin rather than merely postponing judgment. Only a true human could represent us, and only the sinless Son could bear guilt without being crushed by His own. At the cross, justice and mercy meet. The penalty is paid, the curtain is torn, and Christ sits down because the work is finished. Where there is forgiveness through Him, there is no longer an offering for sin, which means no ladder of merit, no spiritual treadmill, and no priestly middleman can add a thing.Holiness still defines Christian life, but now as fruit of grace rather than a ladder to heaven. Peter’s call to be holy is not moralism; it is adoption language. If the One who called us is holy, our conduct must reflect our new family likeness. The Spirit applies Christ’s finished work by changing our desires and training our habits. We renounce sin, not to earn entrance, but because we belong to the God who loved us at infinite cost. Holiness moves from temple walls to human hearts.The question is painfully simple: are you prepared to meet God safely? There is no other name given among humanity by which we must be saved. Not sincerity, not spirituality, not tradition, not self-improvement. The blood of Jesus must not be treated indifferently, because it is the one thing that makes sinners safe in the presence of a holy God. The door stands open, but not forever. The time to respond is while you have breath. Have you accepted GOD'S offer of receiving His perfect, sacrificial lamb (Jesus) who bore the iniquities that we deserved?Your answer (or lack thereof) determines your eternity - join us to discern how you are approaching God - now and eternally.In lieu of eternity, sermons and musical artists are featured to extol JESUS CHRIST as the sole hope for the eternal souls of humanity.