Today is a special day for every person here! It is especially important to God. What is today? Today is the Day of Atonement. What is that you may ask? We will answer that question in just a moment. First, I’d like to ask you a question:
If someone asked you, “What is the most important thing in your life?” what would you say? Family? Friends? Success? Your faith? What is it? If we expand that question and ask: “What is the most important thing in this world?” what would you say? Would you answer be the same? Would it still be about your success? Your family? Your faith? Or would it be that every person hears about Jesus and has the opportunity to receive Him as Lord? What if that question was expanded one more time, to life in general. If the question was posed as, “What is the most important thing in all of life?” what would your answer be?
You see, I believe that there is a
tendency and a temptation to only focus on what is in front of us in our own
life. The key word there is “only.” All we see is:
• My success
• My family
• My dreams
• My future
• My failures
• My shortcomings
• My recovery
• My faith
Now, all of the things I listed are good for us to focus on. We should look to be successful, that is us being good stewards of the gifts, talents, and opportunities that God has given us. We should focus on our family, it is a gift from God and is one of the most important things in life. We should focus on our future, that is where we are headed. We should focus on our overcoming our past shortcomings and our recovery, because we are not defined by our past. We should focus on our faith, because that is the reason we are all here in the first place is to grow closer to Christ! So all of these things are good!
But look at the first word listed of all of these, “My.” I believe we have a tendency and a temptation to focus on ourselves. While all of these things are important and they should be paid attention to, focusing on ourselves will cause us to miss the boat on what matters most to God. You see, God loves you and He cares about you. However, while you are important to God and you do matter to Him, the truth is that you are not the only person that God cares about.
I asked asked you the question, What is the most important thing in life? I would propose that the most important thing in life is the very thing that we are all moving closer to. It is an event that has yet to happen, but all of us are getting closer to. I believe that the most important thing in life is The Return of Christ. There is nothing more important in life than the return of Jesus Christ. Everything that God has invested in all leads and points to this moment. We will talk more about this in just a little bit.
Let us get back to why today is important. It is that today is The Day of Atonement. What in the world is that? I will tell you in just a moment, but I want you to know that this day matters and it matters especially to you. It matters to you for two reasons:
1.
The Atonement
changes where you stand today
2. The atonement determines where we all stand when Jesus returns
Before we move any further, let’s talk about what the Day of Atonement is.
The Day of Atonement is the day a sacrifice was made to cover the sins of the people and make them right with God.
THE OLD TESTAMENT REALITY
This is revealed in the Old
Testament. There was a time when mankind, God’s creation, was at peace and
relationship with God. However, when sin entered the world, we were separated
from Him. He is a holy God. He is just and is righteous and cannot approve or
ignore sin.
• A judge cannot ignore guilt and still be called just.
• A doctor cannot ignore diagnosing a deadly disease and
still be considered good.
• An accountant cannot falsify records and still remain
an honest accountant.
• In the same way, God cannot overlook sin and still remain holy.
So in order to bring His people back into relationship with Him again, He made a way through a sacrificial system that would cleanse the people of their sins. There was so much in this system and it was very detailed, too much for us to go over today. The most important part of it all was The Day of Atonement, as it was the day that all of Israel’s sins were atoned for.
Atone = To cover; the covering of sin by paying a price for it
This was performed by the High
Priest of the temple. This man was responsible for making a sacrifice on behalf
of all the people unto God.
• The high priest washed himself and put
on special linen clothing.
• He offered a bull as a sacrifice for his
own sins and his family’s sins.
• He selected two goats for the people.
• He killed the first goat as a sacrifice
for the people’s sins.
• He carried the sacrificial blood behind
the veil into the Most Holy Place.
• He sprinkled the blood on the mercy
seat—the lid of the Ark of the Covenant.
• He placed his hands on the second goat
and confessed the people’s sins over it.
• That goat was sent into the wilderness, symbolically carrying their sins away.
On top of the high priest being responsible for performing all of these duties, he had to do them perfectly. He had to dot every “i” and cross every “t”. He could not skip any steps in the process. If he did so, when he walked into the Most Holy Place where the presence of God was housed, he have fell dead on the spot. Wow!
Now I know that may seem a bit extreme, but there is a reason for this, and that is: forgiveness is a big deal. Forgiveness may seem easy for the guilty party. It may seem easy to you when you were the person who committed the wrong. However, forgiveness is birthed out of sacrifice. This is because when you sin, somebody has to pay the price for it. Somebody has to bear the hurt and pain of your shortcoming. Whether it be your spouse, your children, your co-worker, etc, somebody has to bear the weight of your shortcoming. In order for you to forgive someone, it will cost you something.
The second reason why I believe God went through the lengths of making this process so detailed is because it was a foreshadow of what Jesus would do for you and me.
Hebrews 9:11-12 — “11 …But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.”
Under the old testament, the high priest entered God’s presence with the blood of another sacrifice. But Jesus entered the presence of God with His own blood.
Ark of the Covenant = God’s Presence
The High Priest = Jesus Going into God’s Presence on Our Behalf
The Sacrificial Goat and Its Blood = Jesus Giving His Life and Shedding His Blood
The Mercy Seat = Where God’s Justice and Mercy Meet in Christ
The Scapegoat = Jesus bearing our sins and carrying them away
This right here is the reason why today, The Day of Atonement matters. It’s because it is a picture of what Jesus did for you and me! That Jesus came, died, was buried, and rose so that you and I can be forgiven and made right with God!
Romans 10:9 — “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
You might be here today and you are not sure that you are saved. Because of what Jesus did for you on the cross, if you realize, repent, and believe, then you will be saved! You will be changed from the inside out and your name will be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life in Heaven.
So where do you stand today? Have you been forgiven? Are you still guilty before God? That is all determined by you realizing you too have sinned, by repenting to God and turned back to him, then by receiving Jesus as the savior of our soul and asking Him to come into your life. That is the answer!
With that said, the day of atonement matters to you, but it also matters to everyone else. It matters for your mom, dad, siblings, spouse, children, friends, co-workers, neighbors, everyone! Why? Because Jesus is coming back.
Hebrews 9:28 — “Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”
Jesus is coming back again! He came once to pay for our sin, and now He is coming back to redeem those whom He paid for! All those who call on the name of the Lord will be saved!! That word “saved” meaning that we will be collected by Jesus when He comes again to be made like Him and to spend eternity with Him. Praise God!
But this is bigger than just you. Because of the war being waged by the devil. If you have been saved and set free by Jesus, He knows that He can’t pull you from the Hand of God. But what he can do instead is to keep you from taking other people with you. He wants to keep as many people blind to the truth as possible. One way he can do that is by keeping you focused on your own life and your own world. If he can get me to be consumed with just “me”, then he will keep me from the bigger truth that so many other people are in danger!!
[Story of the two men trapped on 9/11]
The truth is that:
• If anyone believes that Jesus died for them and place
their faith in Him, they will be saved.
• Everyday there are people around us dying and going to hell because they never believed.
That is the urgency that the enemy is trying to keep us from seeing today. We are all moving toward eternity, but there are many who are not prepared for it.
2 Peter 3:9 — “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
Some people ask, If Jesus is coming back, why hasn’t he returned yet? The answer is that He is being patient. He is being patient for you, those around you, and everyone here on earth. Every additional day is another day of mercy for someone to come to Christ and to be saved. However, we cannot mistake God’s patience as His absence. Jesus is still coming back. The day is still approaching. The clock is still ticking.
The question is, are you covered?
And if you are covered, who are you helping to get ready?
If you have never placed your faith in Jesus, today is your opportunity. You do not have to perform a religious ceremony, you don’t have to bring a goat, find an earthly high priest, or enter a temple. Jesus, your perfect High Priest, has already entered God’s presence for you. The sacrifice has already been made. The blood has already been shed. Jesus has already paid the price!
All you have to do is:
Realize you have sinned.
Repent and turn to God.
Receive Jesus into your heart as the free gift of salvation.
For those of us who are saved, let us look beyond ourselves and ask: who in my life is not ready for the return of Christ? Let us pray for them, reach out to them, invite them to church, tell them about Jesus, and live the truth of the gospel in front of them.
But do not allow yourself to only be consumed by what is happening in your world that we lose sight that the enemy is trying to snatch as many people away from God and take them with Him to hell for eternity. May God give us the eyes of Jesus so that we can see the people in our life the same way He does. There are people whom God has placed in your life because He wants them to come to Christ through you! So how do we do that?
1.
Pray for them
2.
Show God’s love
to them
3.
Invite them to
church
4. Tell them about Jesus
If we do that, the we are doing our part. And if we can just do that, God will do the rest.
TAKEAWAYS:
I.
Forgiveness
is never free.
II.
Jesus
paid the price so that you could be forgiven.
III. Jesus is coming back; every additional
day is more time for someone to repent.
IV. If you are ready for Jesus’ return, don’t
go alone!
