Recently I have been reading through the Old Testament and have read again of the sacrifices that had to be offered to God. The one thing that was interesting was the blood that was shed.

Twice a day, morning and evening, there were sacrifices offered. These sacrifices had to be without blemish (no defects). The animal was slain at the door of the tent of meeting and blood was sprinkled on the base of the altar and the horns of the altar. One man estimated that in the 1,500 years of Jewish history, until the New Covenant, there would have been over a million (depending on certain things) animals sacrificed for this one sacrifice to please God. This would not include the guilt offerings, wave offerings, peace offerings, etc. Surely the blood flowed from the amount of animals killed. (Read through the book of Leviticus to see these).

Fortunately, we live in a time that we do not have to offer up these animal sacrifices. The Hebrew writer stated that it was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away our sins (Heb. 10:4). And yet, we need to have our sins covered. What can we do?

We can turn to Jesus. Almost two thousand years ago He went to the cross and offered His own body as our sacrifice. Paul wrote, “Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith...” (Rom. 3;24,25) The word propitiation means “satisfaction”. Jesus satisfied, through His blood (sacrifice), the means of our salvation today.

We who live under the New Covenant have every reason to be thankful. First, for Christ who gave Himself on our behalf and secondly that we do not have to sacrifice a host of animals to please God. Have you turned to the One who holds forgiveness for you? Today is the day!