The Sacrifice of Christ
This was brought up in the "Ask The Expert" section http://www.creationconversations.com/page/ask-the-expert-thane-ury - but thought it might bear upon the minds of others.
There are certainly many valid reasons why we should not have human sacrifices, but the sacrifice of Christ, while it was a sacrifice according to the law, was also a "self - sacrifice", and this makes it very different.
John 15:13 reminds us that "Greater love hath no one than this, that they give up their life for their friends"
In the Old Testament I'm reminded of Samson and his own self sacrifice to help free the Israelites from the oppresion of the Philistines.
My purpose with this discussion is two-fold. First, what are the prohibitions in the bible about human sacrifice and second, what examples, both New and Old Testament, do we have of self sacrificial behavior.
Tags: Christ, Cross, Sacrifice
Views: 8
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Terrance Egolf on -
Brian,
Good luck on this topic. It is very touchy and I have gone around the barn with several polemic atheists about the fact that I subscribe to a religion that supports human sacrifice!
I believe that it comes down to the difference between human appeasement of an imaginary god (human sacrifice) and God fulfilling His perfect justice (Jesus's sacrifice). Jesus Christ died in the flesh to satisfy God's death sentence on all men, but He is still God. He didn't die for eternity. I'm not trying to minimize His sacrifice, because He bore all of our sins--a horrendous price. But He still lives.
In other cases of purposeful self-sacrifice, I think they are more simply examples of people valuing the lives of others over their own.
--Terry
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Permalink Reply by Justin Mooney on -
I have not given this subject much thought before, but I wonder if an important distinction that needs to be noted is whether a given sacrifice was God's idea, or man's? A person's life is not their own, it is God's, and since God created life, he has the right to take it away (especially considering that sin makes us all worthy of death). This would seem to imply that it is acceptable for God to command sacrifice, but not for a person to do it without God's permission (whether sacrificing himself or someone else).
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Permalink Reply by Don Smith on -
This is really about an acknowledgment of power.
If a person makes his own efforts the requirements of salvation, then he is its power. If it comes from God, then God is the power. Which one of us can give them self eternal life? That's a person that don't need Jesus Christ. What qualifies as a valid sacrifice?
The first the fallen pair tried to cover their nakedness, but this did not meet the requirement for their transgression. They had entered a much greater controversy and acquired a foe in Satan that they weren't able to contend with. They had join in the war that started in Heaven (Revelation chapter 12). Only God could meet this level of the great controversy. God had spared them this knowledge. When He created them, they only knew good, that is God and His created gift for them. They had no knowledge of evil, that is a knowledge of Satan. They had every advantage and was created in a saved condition. In the first two chapters of the book of Job, God presented Job to Satan as a blessed and saved man. Satan's aim was to destroy him and make him hate God. This is the case with us today.
Only God has this power to meet the requirements for sin.
John 10:17-18 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
Rom 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
No power in human creations:
Psa 96:5 For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.
Psa 115:2-7 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
Rev 9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
Samson's failures was a lesson, a mini drama, of someone that broke his vows and ended up losing his life to deliver Israel. There are may characters thought out the entire Bible whose lives have the characteristics of the plan of salvation. A retelling of the gospel message, told over and over each telling same message how those God relate to us and how do we relate to God. "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." Romans 15:4.
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