How Can Jesus Atone for All Sins?

So welcome to the Day of Atonement 2021. This is a day about the atoning provided by Jesus Christ for human sin. In the past years on this day, we focused on the amazing atonement instructions given to the high priests that were performed on the two goats in Leviticus chapter 16. That's not going to be my focus this year. If you'd like to review that event in Leviticus 16, you can find some past sermons on our local Facebook site where we cover the mysterious instruction verse by verse in a lot of detail. The UCG has a lot of great sermons and articles written about the two goats in Leviticus 16. I thought I would do something different this year and approach this Day of Atonement from a fresh and different perspective. I'd like to focus on what really was the role of the one goat in Leviticus 16 that represented the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and his atonement for us. Have you ever asked the question, how is atonement even possible? And I'd like to talk about that today. Think about how can one be shed his blood and atone for all the sins that have ever been committed. If you were to type in on Google how many people have ever lived?

Probably to the top of the top of my page and maybe near the top of yours, it's a non-profit organization who's done a lot of research and calculations. They say 107 billion people have ever lived, including the 7.9 billion who live on earth today. That's a lot of people.

And they take into account the number of deaths through the Great Plagues of Europe and the Americas, and so it's an interesting calculation, but that's the number they come up with. How could one individual die and pay for the sins of 107 billion people? How can one ransom 107 billion? Well, we're going to talk about that today. We're going to talk about what the Bible tells us and what we might call the theology of understanding the atonement a little better. But before we get there, I think it's always wise for us to go back to Leviticus 23, which I like to do early on the sermons in the Holy Days, and make sure that we're grounded and understand the instruction from the Old Covenant of why we do these things. They all have a New Covenant perspective, indeed, and the sacrifices are gone from these instructions from Leviticus 23, but they have very powerful spiritual meanings and are applicable to us today as far as their observance. So, Leviticus chapter 23 verse 26. Let's begin there.

For some reason, someone removed my water glasses. I don't know what's going on here. Leviticus chapter 23 verse 26. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Also, on the tenth day of this seventh month, remember the first day of the seventh month was the Feast of Trumpets. Now, verse later or so, the tenth day of the seventh month, shall be the day of atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you. You shall afflict your souls and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, and you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the day of atonement to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. Now, anciently, this had to be done every year because it was symbolic of something that would be fulfilled when Jesus Christ walked on the earth. The high priest then was a mere physical person, and he had to do this ritual every year to continue as a substitution for the sins of the people. But thankfully, the atonement has been done for us once for all through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. We'll talk about that later. Verse 29, For any person who is not afflicted in soul in that same day shall be cut off from among his people, or come off cut off from his people, and any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no manner of work. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, some translations say, of a complete rest. And you shall afflict your souls. How many times does it mention the importance of afflicting our souls? Numerous times. On the night today of the month that even from evening to evening you shall celebrate your Sabbath. So, first of all, the word afflict your souls comes from the Hebrew word anah, and it means to humble yourself, to be downcast, looking down like you don't have any self-esteem. It means to be browbeat, to literally depress yourself. Now, the literal Hebrew word for fast is not in these verses, but the Jews understood early on that this was a day of humility, a day of self-abasement, and in that 24 hours the most appropriate way to do that would be to fast. And that's why we'll see later on in Acts chapter 27, Luke refers to the Day of Atonement as the fast. So the Jews came to understand and acknowledge that, even though technically there is no instruction to fast for the Day of Atonement in these verses. The Hebrew word translated into English as Atonement is kippur. That's why it's called yom kippur, day of Atonement or kippur. It means expiation. That's a word we don't use a lot in the English language. It's the act of making amends or reparations for guilt or doing something wrong. So you make a reparation, you make amends for something that has been done wrong. That is the meaning of the day. So let's ask the next question. We've seen where there's an instruction in Leviticus 23 regarding the Day of Atonement. Is this only for the Jews? Only for a short period of time, only for the Jews. Let's go back a few chapters now to Leviticus chapter 16. And we'll pick it up here in verse 29. We saw earlier that the instruction was that it would be a statute forever in chapter 23, and that's going to be stated again here in Leviticus chapter 16 and verse 29. It just so happens to be this statement is made after the ceremony and the agausal, the azazal goat, is released into the wilderness. And here's what's said. This shall be a statute forever for you. So forever is a pretty long time.

In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. So even a gentile who lived within the borders of Israel was expected to respect and observe this day of atonement. Verse 30, for on that day the priest shall make atonement for you to cleanse you, and you shall be clean from all your sins before the Lord.

It's the Sabbath of Solomon rest for you, and you shall afflict—there's that word another time—you shall afflict, humble your souls. It is a statute forever. So one emphasized, as it's said here already numerous times, the day of atonement is a statute forever. Not until Jesus Christ comes, not until certain things are so-called nailed to the cross, it's a statute forever. And a stranger was to observe the day as well. But that's why about 1500 years—when this was written, let's fast forward 1500 years to about 50 AD—you can go to the book of Acts in chapter 27 in verses 9 and 10, and Luke writes—Luke the Gentile writes, sailing was now dangerous because the fast was already over.

So the Gentile, Luke himself, understood the meaning of the day of atonement. Even though he was a Gentile, a stranger, should we say, he was acknowledging the day of atonement. So again, with that background, I want to focus on that one goat that we often talk about in Leviticus 16, the one that represented Jesus Christ, the one whose lot was chosen for the Lord. That's mentioned in verse 8 of chapter 16, also called the goat of the sin offering in verse 15.

So I think that's important for us to focus on today, just what is atonement? How could Jesus Christ atone for all the sins of 107 billion people who have ever lived? Let's begin by going to Leviticus chapter 17. It's not too far from where we're at. Leviticus chapter 17 and verse 10. Because to understand atonement, we must first understand the unique rule of animal blood in Scripture. We know biologically, I'm sure most of us do, that blood is essential for our human lives. It circulates our body.

It provides needed oxygen, the major organs in every major area of our body. It also takes away the toxins from those major organs so that those toxins can be processed and eliminated. It is essential to physical life blood. And if that blood is shed through war or through accident, it's very possible to bleed out and that causes death. If you were a medic in the military and you're on a battle scene and you go to a soldier who's wounded, one of the first things you want to do when you discover where the wound is is stop the bleeding.

Because that will kill a lot of people before they have a chance to even remove shrapnel or whatever is in their body. You have to stop the bleeding. All of this just to highlight biologically how essential and how important blood is to an animal. And there's certainly human beings. Leviticus chapter 17 and verse 10. And whatever man of the house of Israel or of the strangers, notice again they're included, strangers who dwell among you, eats any blood. Anyone who eats blood, God says, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and I will cut him off from among his people for the life of the flesh is in the blood.

And I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. So God acknowledges that for biological life blood is absolutely essential. The flesh is in the blood. That's what keeps us going. That's what keeps us alive. This prohibition against the eating of blood with meat goes all the way back to the time of Noah. So we'll go there and take a look at that in Genesis chapter 9 and verse 1.

And even back as far as the time of Noah, the man was not to eat or drink blood because of its sacred use in procuring atonement for sin. There is a sacredness about blood, and that is why God does not want human beings to consume blood to eat blood or consume blood in our foods. Genesis chapter 9 verse 1, if you'll turn there, with me.

A destruction God gave to Noah. So God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. And I would say with 107 billion people, one thing they obey pretty well. Verse 2, And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, and every bird in the air, and all that move on the earth, and all the fish of the sea, they are given into your hand. And indeed, human beings are hunters by nature, we're predators by our carnal human nature. We tend to dominate the animal life on this earth. Now, God certainly in context didn't mean that we should abuse and ravage the earth or animals. We're trustees. We're to respect God's creation. But God gives us, indeed, the dominion over the animals in the earth and in the air and in the sea. Verse 3, Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even the green herbs, but you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is its blood.

So you shouldn't eat raw meat. You shouldn't eat anything which still literally has that blood within it. I'm going to read this from the new century version. The new century version here, verse 1, Everything that moves, everything that is alive, is yours for food. Earlier, I gave you the green plants, but now I give you everything for food. But you must not eat meat that still has blood in it because blood gives life. Again, that's from the new century version.

Now, obviously, in context here, this means that humanity could now eat animals that God had labeled as clean. How do I know that? Well, in the previous chapters, God designated before the animals went on the ark that some animals were clean and some animals were unclean. Obviously, God would not allow or desire people to eat animals that are that he and that are designated as unclean. There were seven pairs of clean animals, one pair of unclean that were taken on the ark. So that's very clear in this statement here that God makes about eating animals on the earth. Obviously, the context is eating animals that are clean. So why did God command not to eat or drink the blood of an animal? A number of reasons. So we'll talk about them for a few minutes. First of all, blood is the physical essence of one's ability to exist. So one reason that God prohibited the consumption of animal blood in the Old Testament was to teach respect for the sacredness of life.

Blood is viewed as a symbol of life throughout the Bible. Going all the way back to Genesis 4, verse 10, where God asked the murderer Cain, he said to Cain, What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. God said to him, So the blood is sacred. And going all the way back to Genesis, God wants to emphasize this fact. It's very important. The shedding of blood represents the loss of life. In the New Testament, the blood of Christ is a common figure of a speech for the death of Christ. So I want to emphasize again that circulating blood is the essence of physical existence. When it is shed through an accident or on purpose, the being dies. The existence ceases. Let's take a look here at verse 5. Surely for your life blood, I will demand a reckoning from the hand of every beast I will require it. So if a beast attacks the human being, sheds its blood, that beast must die, according to God's instruction. And from the hand of man, so if a man attacks another human being, sheds that person's blood and they die, God says, I demand a reckoning. That is pure justice. We'll talk about justice a little bit more. Continuing, From the hand of every man's brother, I will require the life of the man. So if you kill someone, you shed his blood as an act of murder, then you absolutely should die, according to the instruction of God's law. Continuing in verse 6, whoever shed man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God he made man. God says a human being is made in the very image of God and to destroy that creation that was made in the image of God is an offense against God. And there's a price to be paid, for there is a reckoning to be paid for that, God says. Another reason for God's command not to eat. Bloody meat, undoubtedly, was concerned with the sacrifices. Blood was the only atonement for sin. Therefore, blood was considered a sacred thing. God wanted to ensure that the blood of the sacrifices was always considered precious.

To preserve the people's appreciation of the sacrifices, he would not allow blood to become food. He would not allow blood to become part of the common accepted diet. And in some cultures, it is today, you've probably heard of blood sausage, and there are a lot of cultures that use raw blood in the making of those foods, and that is something that God detests.

So let's take a few moments to discuss the shedding of blood in Jesus Christ and to discuss this theologically. Let's begin to answer that question. How could the death of Jesus Christ possibly atone for all the sins of the world? How in the world is that even possible?

Can you make sense of it? Is it logical? You can make sense of it. It is logical. Let's begin by going to John chapter 1 and verse 1. John chapter 1 and verse 1.

John was inspired to write, In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. As we'll see in just a few verses, he's obviously talking about one who later became Jesus Christ. But let's keep in mind these things, just through what we read here in John chapter 1 verses 1 through 4. In the beginning, before time, this word was with God and was God. And as we'll see, he later would be the member of the Godhead who would volunteer to come to earth in the flesh as Jesus Christ and sacrifice himself.

There's not yet a father and son relationship here. He became a son when he was born in the flesh to a physical mother who conceived him through the Holy Spirit. That's the first point I want to bring out. The second one that we can pull out of these verses and understand, this word creates all things. Everything that exists is credited to him. This word has life, inherit, and himself. No one gave him life because his existence is eternal. He's a life giver. He never received life. He never had a beginning. Everything our human senses can detect in this world, through smell and taste and sight and hearing and touch, everything our human senses can detect all exist because he desired it to exist. Everything in this universe that we can't sense and that we don't know and that we don't understand exists because he desired it to exist. It's dropped down now to verse 14. John chapter 1 and verse 14. And the word became flesh. So this word, who was in the beginning, was God, was with God, became flesh and dwelled among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. I want you to notice that now that he's become flesh, we have a father-son relationship. That began when the word emptied himself of his glory and humbled himself to become flesh and walk on the earth as a man, full of grace and truth. So again, his birth makes him the son and it creates a father-son relationship. Verse 15. John bore witness of him and cried out, saying, This is he of whom I said, he who comes after me is preferred before me, and he was before me. So John the Baptist acknowledged himself. And John acknowledged that Jesus Christ was eternal, pre-existent, that he was the word before he even came to earth, before John was born.

And of his fullness we have all received, and grace for grace, for the law was given through Moses. But grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God, speaking of the father, no one has seen God at any time. The only begotten son who is in the bosom of the father has declared him. In other words, has introduced humanity to the fact that there is not simply Jesus Christ God the son, but there is also God the father. So what he's saying here, John is saying here, is that from the very beginning, Abram and Moses, the prophets and others in the Old Testament, communicated with the word. This word, after being born into the flesh, is Jesus, revealed the existence of the father. It's through Christ that we know who the father is. It's through the example of Christ that we know what the father is even like. There's no way to know what the father is like unless you study and understand what the son is like, because he is in the image of the father. They are one.

So with this background, let's discuss the theology of atonement. I'm going to give you some things to think about here, and then we'll take a look at a number of verses to support the statements that I'm going to make. Number one, the word was God, and he created all life. Since he is God and the creator of all life, his life is of greater value and worth than all that has ever been created. He is the creator. He is good and the total sum of righteousness. Since he is God, his righteousness is of greater value and worth than all human sin. So if you put it on a scale and you put the righteousness of God, which is pure and all-incompassing, and you measured that against human sin, it is of greater value and worth of human sin because of who he is. Later, God treated humanity. Adam and Eve sinned, and the penalty of sin is death. The justice of God requires a payment for sin and a punishment. That punishment is death. Justice demands payment for the violation of holiness and for God's law. What occurred on the Day of Atonement in the Old Covenant was only an annual short-term substitution. All the animal sacrifices just temporarily covered the sins of the people, but the sin was not permanently forgotten. How do we know that? Because if those animal sacrifices could have literally forgiven sin, there would be no need for Jesus Christ to come to earth and shed his blood. If that was possible through those animal sacrifices, then Jesus Christ would not have had to make the ultimate sacrifice. But he did because they were just substitutions I've used an analogy before, and I know it's a weak one, but I've used the analogy before that sometimes as we're getting ready for the Sabbath, we have a lot of dishes in our dish strainer that bothers us. They're dirty. We didn't have time to wash them before the Sabbath, and we'll take a cloth and we'll cover the dishes. Now the dishes aren't clean, but the covering over the dirty dishes makes it a lot more pleasant for us to talk to each other and be in the environment of the kitchen, but the dishes yet are not clean. And that's the same here with what was occurring through the Day of Atonement in ancient Israel. So again, all animal sacrifices temporarily covered the sins of the people, but their sin was not permanently forgiven. Anticipating the sin of humanity in advance, God had prepared a solution. The Word, and here was the solution that was decided before man was even created, the Word would divest himself of his glory, humble himself, and become flesh. We know that because Revelation chapter 13 and verse 8 says, all who dwell on the earth will worship him whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Sometimes people think God is clueless.

Like somehow he created Adam and Eve, he expected them to be perfect, and at all, now what do I do? Oh, they sinned. Now what am I going to do? Now God knew absolutely Adam and Eve were going to sin, and he had already made a provision, going back to the foundation of the earth as it's being created before the day that Adam and Eve are even made. God has already created a provision to atone for their sins and the sins of all humanity. So let's continue. The Word became flesh, and he walked on the earth of Jesus Christ. He became the Son of God and lived a perfect life without sin. Therefore, his total righteousness as the Word previously remained.

Jesus Christ was totally and completely righteous. When he was crucified, his shed blood atoned for all human sin and evil. The worth and value of his existence as the supreme creator God, along with his complete righteousness, was more than enough to redeem. For the sins of 107 billion people and more, and all of their depravity, his one death satisfies the requirement of a shedding of blood to compensate for all possible sin and death. His one sacrifice fulfills God's need for justice. Now, I know there's a whole lot that I said there in those three paragraphs in those phases, so let's put it all together by looking at scriptures, and then I'll give a brief recap of what I just said at the end of the sermon. Let's begin by going to Psalm chapter 89 and verse 11. Psalm chapter 89 and verse 11. Let's put these puzzle pieces together.

The psalmist writes, The heavens are yours, the earth is yours, also is yours, the world in all its fullness. You have founded them, the north and the south, you have created them. Thebor and Hermon, those were mountains, by the way, that were to the east and west of each other. So what the psalmist is saying is, you created everything. You created the north and the south and the east from the west. You created all of the corners of the earth, is what the psalmist is saying. Verse 13. You have a mighty arm, strong is your hand, and high is your right hand. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Mercy and truth go before your face. I want you to notice these two qualities that are the foundation of God's character, the foundation of His throne. This is important for us to understand why blood had to be shed for human sin. First of all, righteousness is important to God. Sin is a personal affront to God because it is the opposite of righteousness. And He is also a God of justice. If something is wrong, a price has to be paid. That's simple justice. I mean, that's so far gone from our culture today. We don't get it. In the 60s, someone assassinated a presidential candidate. His name was Bobby Kennedy. And after the American taxpayer funding the housing and food and medical care for his killer for what, the last 50 years, now they're letting him go. They're putting him out on parole. Why? Because there is no justice in the land. How can someone like Charles Manson had been clothed and fed and taken care of for years and years and years in the state of California? Because there is no justice in the land. But to God, justice is everything. It's one of the two hallmarks of what and who He is. Righteousness being made right, and justice, a price being paid when sin is committed. Sometimes people ask me why blood is required to forgive sin. It's because God's character is embedded in righteousness and justice. It's an eternal law that sin is a direct affront or violation to God's righteousness. It's a personal offense to God. And when this occurs, a price or redemption has to be made for sin in some way. His justice demands a punishment for sin. A violation of His law must be paid for because it's God's standard of what is acceptable and unacceptable. He has standards, and He reveals the core of those standards to us in the Ten Commandments, highlighted by the overarching theme of loving God and loving our neighbor. Those are God's values and God's standards. They define who and what He is.

Justice requires that a compensation must be made. And again, that's a concept that's lost today in a system in the United States where you pretty much have enough money. You can buy your way out of anything. You can get the best lawyers. You pretty well can sidestep the judicial system. Just ask Bill Cosby. Right? If you have enough money, you can make enough appeals. You can have enough influence. If you're celebrity status, if you have all these things going for you, there's one justice system for you. And then there's another justice system for us peons down here below. But in contrast to that, justice is everything to God. Ephesians 4, verse 17. Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, This I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind. No purpose, just living and brute instinct. Not much better than animals. Having their understanding darkened, they can understand the difference between right and wrong, good or bad. Having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them. Many people today were not raised with a religious influence. Many people today never went to a church growing up as a child. They don't have the slightest concept of the Ten Commandments are good versus evil or spiritual understanding in any way. They're just totally ignorant. Beware of the blindness of their hearts, who being past feeling, they don't even have a conscience, they do evil things, they hurt other people, they don't even care. Who being past feeling have given themselves over to lewdness, to work with uncleanness and greediness. But you have not so learned Christ. That isn't what you learned in the church to act like that, Paul was saying. That's not what we've taught. That's not what we've learned. Indeed, if you have heard him and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. You see, God is true righteousness and holiness. And by having a relationship with us and sharing his Holy Spirit with us, he wants us to become in his eyes true righteousness and holiness. I'm going to read this from the translation of God's Word for today. However, you were taught to have a new attitude. You were also taught to become a new person created to be like God, truly righteous and holy. So that word originally, beginning of time, who became Jesus Christ is truly righteous and holy. And it's our calling to be renewed, to draw upon that Spirit, God's Holy Spirit, and ourselves, because we share that Spirit with him, to become like him, to become righteous and holy. His complete righteousness and holiness is what gives him the ability to shed his blood once, which he did on the cross, to remove the penalty of sin for all time for those who believe in him through faith that he is their Savior. 1 Corinthians 1, if you'll turn it with me. 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 27.

2 Corinthians 28.

Paul says, He's using us that no flesh should glory in his presence. People will look at us and say, Ha! There must be a God. If he didn't work through them, he's an awesome God! 1 Corinthians 28.

2 Corinthians 28.

3 Corinthians 28.

3 Corinthians 28.

Jesus Christ took our sin, our shame, and our broken lives and gave us his righteousness, his holiness and his perfect nature in exchange for who and what we were, and that is sinners. It's not based on anything that we can do. It's not based on anything that we've ever done. It's based solely on what Jesus Christ did. What we simply did was respond to our calling with obedience, repent, and desire baptism. God gave us his Spirit, and he gets all the credit. And it's all because of what God has done. That's what Paul's trying to emphasize here in 1 Corinthians, that no flesh should glory in his presence. Galatians 4. Let's turn there. Galatians 4.

So we're seeing here that sanctification and redemption are something that are made possible because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ, not something that we can do of ourselves. Galatians 4. But when the fullness of time had come, Paul says to the brethren in Galatia, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law. Everyone in this room are under the penalty, the consequences of breaking God's law. Here's the good news in the State of Atomic. We have a redeemer who has paid the price for us. That we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father! That's a very intimate Aramaic word, being like Daddy or Papa. Very close, intimate phraseology. That's a kind of relationship that we can have with God the Father. Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, an heir of God through Christ. So again, we all share the same spirit the Father and Son share. This power is a gift, and it's what makes us the children of God now. It is the shared spirit of God that grants us righteousness. We're unrighteous. Grants us sanctification. We're not sanctified of ourselves. Grants us redemption, and we couldn't redeem ourselves if we lived a million years and committed good works from now until then.

Let's go to 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 18. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 18.

Read a little bit more about how God has reconciled us to Himself.

2 Corinthians 5 and verse 18. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. That's our new profession. No matter what we do for a living, we have an additional profession, and that is to be an ambassador for Jesus Christ. To be someone who reminds people, reminds sinners, reminds people who are struggling that there is hope, that Jesus Christ is a redeemer, that God has a plan for all humanity, and God wants to have a relationship, a personal, one-on-one relationship with everyone. That's what our profession implores us to do. We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf to be reconciled to God. So step one is for us to be reconciled, and then we can be ambassadors, and we can help and encourage people to be reconciled to God. Verse 21, Galatians chapter 3 and verse 13. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. Then that's Galatians chapter 3 and verse 13. So let's step back a second. The original Word, who became flesh, became Jesus Christ, paid the redemption requirement for our sins. He also accepted our curse that we should have received. He accepted it by dying on the cross for us. We're now righteous and acceptable as God's children in His eyes. Christ has made reparations for our guilt and wrongdoing.

Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 18. If you'll turn there with me. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 18. The author of the book of Hebrews is going to contrast the Day of Atonement and the sprinkling of blood with what Jesus Christ did for the world. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 18. Therefore, not even the first covenant, we refer to it as the Old Covenant, was dedicated without blood, for when Moses had spoken every precept of all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats with water, scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and the people saying, this is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.

Then likewise he sprinkled the blood, both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry, and according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. So there was no other way for our sins to be forgiven, for us to have reconciliation with God without the shedding of the blood of someone who was greater than the sum total of all human sin and evil. Verse 23, therefore, it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, physical, the talking about the physical tabernacle and the utensils, those were just copies of spiritual God's throne, copies of things that exist in the heavens, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, the covenant was made with hands, like the high priests did, they have atonement, holy-holies, all the curtains, that was all made with hands. Christ has not entered the holy place made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us, so that we can be the children of God, so that we can have His righteousness in God's eyes, and be growing and changing, that's what sanctification is.

And, receiving salvation, verse 25, not that He should offer Himself often as the high priest enters the most holy place, every year with the blood of another, He did that on this very day, the day of atonement, verse 26, then He would have to suffer often since the foundation of the world, but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after that the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time apart from sin. We're going to read verse 28 from the New International Version.

So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people, and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are awaiting Him. Why does it say here that He bears the sins of many and not all? Because He only atones for those who come to Him. It's only for those who acknowledge their sinfulness, who come to God in repent of their sins, who seek to be baptized, who cry out for God's Holy Spirit, who are converted.

Those are the only ones this applies to. And until someone does that, whether they're one of the 107 billion people who live some time in history, or maybe someone who's alive today, the Atonement works for them when they come to Jesus Christ and ask for their sins to be forgiven and accept Him as their Savior, to repentance, and a determination to walk in the way of life. So that's why it says, but now, or to bear the sins of many. That's why it doesn't say, and all. So Jesus Christ is complete fulfillment of all the blood sacrifices of that old covenant, including the one on our slide there. It's a little dark, but that's the high priest shedding blood between the wings of the caribbean in that slide that we have up on the screen today.

In the old covenant, this meant an annual cleansing of the priesthood, a cleansing of the tabernacle area, and for the nation, for the sins that they had committed during the previous year. But in the new covenant, this means the shedding of blood of Christ Jesus simply once.

For all of the sins of any who accept Him, who in sincere repentance come and seek Him, who are called by the Father in this age, and come and seek Him and desire baptism in the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now, obviously, in addition to this, what Jesus willingly did, the cause of original sin, who satan the devil, will also be confined to a spiritual prison.

And I'm not focusing on that today, but we have a lot of past sermons. We'll cover that in tremendous detail. So let's recap some of the things that we talked about today as we begin to conclude the sermon. To God, the Creator, blood is the essence of one's ability to exist. And one reason God prohibited the consumption of animal blood in the Old Testament was to teach respect for the sacredness of life.

Blood is viewed as a symbol of life throughout the Bible, from Genesis all the way to the book of Revelation. Blood was the only atonement for sin. Therefore, blood was seen, perceived by God as a sacred thing. God wanted to ensure that the blood of the sacrifices was always considered special, unique, precious, respected.

To preserve the people's appreciation of sacrifices, God could not allow blood to become a common food. We took a look at John, chapter 1. Some of its verses. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. We read that together. The Word was God, and He created all life. And since He's God and the Creator of life, His existence is of greater value and worth than everything that has ever been created.

He is good, and the total sum of righteousness, since He is God, His righteousness, is of greater value and worth than all the evil and sin that could ever be committed. The Word became flesh, and He walked on earth as Jesus, the Christ. He became the Son of God and lived a perfect life without sin. Therefore, His total righteousness remained. He was crucified. His shed blood atoned for all human sin and evil.

The worth and the value of His existence as the supreme original Creator is more than enough to redeem all human sin and depravity. His one death satisfies the requirement of the shedding of blood to compensate for all possible sin and death. In the eyes of God, His shedding of blood is justice. It pays the price for all human sin. Jesus took our sin, our shame, our broken lives, and gave us His righteousness, His holiness, and His perfect nature in exchange through the gift of His Holy Spirit. It's not based on anything that we can do.

It's not based on anything that we've ever done. It's based solely on what Jesus Christ did in the Father's calling. What we simply did was respond to our calling with obedience, we repented, we desired baptism, and we became part of the family of God.

So, brethren, on this day of atonement, in 2021, let us remember the overwhelming number of individuals who have ever lived but are still unsaved. They're still condemned by their sins. Until you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are condemned by your sins. That happens to be the overwhelming majority of people who have ever lived and died and are in their graves. We know there's hope for them because of God's plan. That also happens to include the overwhelming majority of people who unearthed today. So, they're still unsaved. They're condemned by their sins. They need a Savior. They need an atonement. Like the one that we are blessed to be able to share in today. So, as we fast today, let us remember their needs, as well as our own, and appreciate that God still has a plan for the lives of those who lived and died without the knowledge of God. We'll learn more about that on the eighth day. I pray that all of you will have a fulfilling day of atonement this year. If P.J. and I don't get a chance to see you individually, I certainly wish all of you a meaningful and enjoyable Feast of Tabernacles this year. Have a wonderful day.