Sacrifice

‘Passion’ star Jim Caviezel talks about Mel Gibson’s troubles, and his own, at Orlando church

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May 042011

9:44 PM EDT, April 30, 2011

Actor Jim Caviezel, his voice sometimes cracking with emotion, spoke of being “rejected in my own industry,” the problems of his friend Mel Gibson and his son’s cancer in an appearance Saturday night at First Baptist Church of Orlando.

The star of “The Passion of the Christ,” whom First Baptist pastor David Uth described as “more passionate about God” than anyone he’s ever met, was in town to give witness to his faith, to urge others to share it and to sell a new all-star audio production of the Bible that he has produced.

During a 20-minute talk, Caviezel spoke of the troubles that have dogged Gibson, his “Passion” director, who has been labeled an anti-Semite in addition to being caught on tape ranting and cursing out the mother of his youngest child.

“Mel Gibson, he’s a horrible sinner, isn’t he?” Caviezel, 42, said. “Mel Gibson doesn’t need your judgment, he needs your prayers.”

The actor recalled Gibson’s offering him the role of Jesus in the film, then calling him back to beg him not to take it:

“He said, ‘You’ll never work in this town again.’ I told him, ‘We all have to embrace our crosses.’ ”

But the actor noted that Gibson wasn’t far off the mark when he spoke of the damage playing Jesus could do to his career.

“Jesus is as controversial now as he has ever been,” Caviezel said. “Not much has changed in 2,000 years.”

Caviezel said he doesn’t worry about the career price he paid with that film — a global box-office smash that led to fewer, not more, film offers for him. “The awards, the hall of fame” that actors get into here on Earth, he said, don’t matter to him. His reward, he said, will come in heaven.

“We have to give up our names, our reputations, our lives to speak the truth,” Caviezel said.

A native of Washington state and a lifelong Roman Catholic, Caviezel has never shied from films with religious subtexts, sometimes controversial ones, from “The Passion of the Christ” (2004) and “The Stoning of Soraya M.” (2008) to “I Am David” (2003) and “Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius” (2004).

Caviezel has said his faith is his guide, both personally and professionally. He speaks of being “called” to the acting profession and says it was no coincidence that “in my 33rd year, I was called to play Jesus.” He even joked about his initials — J.C. — with Gibson at the time of his casting, which “freaked him out a little.”

Caviezel and his wife have adopted “special-needs” children from China, and one has cancer.

“Maybe God, through my son’s death, is going to teach me something.”

Caviezel will speak at the 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. services Sunday at First Baptist, 3000 S. John Young Parkway.

rmoore@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5369

David Wilkerson (1931 – 2011)

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Apr 282011

Pastor David Wilkerson died Wednesday, April 27, 2011 in a tragic car crash, according to a CBN report.

“It is with deepest of sadness that we have to inform you of the sudden passing of Reverend David Wilkerson, our founding pastor,” Times Square Church Senior Pastor Carter Conlon said in a statement on the church website.

Pastor David Wilkerson was first called to New York City to minister to gang members and drug addicts in February, 1958. Prior to that, he had been serving as pastor in small churches in Scottdale and Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. It was there that he saw a photo in Life Magazine of seven New York City teenagers charged with murder. Feeling moved with compassion, he went to New York and began a street ministry.

He began by taking runaway children into his apartment to sleep on his couch and floor. One night, his was room filled with more kids than he could handle. Feeling overwhelmed, thinking there was no way he could accept another child, there was a knock at the door. He opened the door to find two forlorn children, who quietly asked if they could stay there as well. He told them he was sorry, but no. His apartment was full. Looking devastated, the children turned and left. Pastor David felt terrible. He never forgot the look of despair in their eyes, and he determined that he would never turn a child away again.

Later that year, Pastor David Wilkerson founded ‘Teen Challenge,‘ an evangelical Christian recovery program that has since grown into a network of Christian centers in several countries. In 1967, Wilkerson began Youth Crusades, a ministry for middle-class teenagers who were restless and bored – whom he called “goodniks” – with the hope of preventing them from getting into drug abuse, alcoholism and violence. Through this ministry, the CURE Corps (Collegiate Urban Renewal Effort) was founded with a goal of being a Christian version of the Peace Corps and Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA).

David Wilkerson is the best-selling author of “The Cross and the Switchblade” and “The Vision.” Co-authored with John and Elizabeth Sherrill, “The Cross and the Switchblade,” published in 1963, is considered one of the most influential and evangelical books in history. It tells the story of gang member Nicky Cruz’s conversion and sold over 50 million copies in over thirty languages. A 1970 movie based on the book, starring Pat Boone as Wilkerson and Erik Estrada as Cruz, was included on Christianity Today’s “Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals.”

In 1971, Wilkerson moved his ministry headquarters to Lindale, Texas, and founded World Challenge, an organization with the mission of spreading the Gospel throughout the world.

Fifteen years later, walking down 42nd Street at midnight in 1986, he was passing by live peep shows and X-rated movie houses when his heart broke over the prostitutes, pimps, drug addicts, runaways and hustlers crowding Times Square. Again overwhelmed, he cried out for God to do something to help all the spiritually dead and dying people.

Pastor David later said the Holy Spirit called him to return to New York City and to raise up a ministry in Times Square.

“I saw 9, 10 and 11-year-old kids bombed on crack cocaine. I walked down 42nd Street and they were selling crack. Len Bias, the famous basketball player, had just died of a crack overdose, and the pusher was yelling, ‘Hey, I’ve got the stuff that killed Len.’ I wept and prayed, ‘God, you’ve got to raise up a testimony in this hellish place…The answer was not what I wanted to hear: ‘Well, you know the city. You’ve been here. You do it.’”

He obeyed and in October of 1987, at the “crossroads of the world,” he opened the Times Square Church in rented auditoriums in Times Square (Town Hall and the Nederlander Theater). Later, in 1989, the ministry purchased the historic Mark Hellinger Theater, where the church then moved.

Since that time, he has faithfully led the congregation, delivering powerful biblical messages that encourage righteous living and complete reliance on God. Wilkerson’s sermons, such as “A Call to Anguish,” are direct and frank, emphasizing Jesus Christ, God’s holiness and righteousness, and God’s love for people.

He has also had a strong burden for pastors all over the globe. In the 1990′s, Wilkerson focused his efforts to encourage pastors and their families to “renew their passion for Christ” and since 1999, has traveled around the world holding conferences to strengthen and encourage Christian ministers.

In his own words:

“I’ve been an evangelist for 50 years, but I didn’t want to preach to pastors until I had gray hair, until I’d pastored. Now after 15 years of pastoring, sharing the hurts, pains, and difficulties of the ministry as a pastor, I felt the Lord finally release me, that I might have something to say.”

In 2006 Wilkerson and his wife Gwen began splitting their time between New York and Texas. They have four children and eleven grandchildren. His son Gary Wilkerson is also a Christian minister and evangelist.

According to Texas state troopers called on the scene, Wilkerson was hit head-on by a tractor trailer that moved into his lane. Although the truck driver saw the car and attempted to avoid the collision, Wilkerson crashed and was pronounced dead on the scene. Gwen Wilkerson is in critical condition.

Memorial services for Pastor David Wilkerson have been set for May 14, 2 p.m. ET at Times Square Church.

David Wilkerson was 79 years old.

PROPHESIES

In April 1973, Pastor David Wilkerson had a vision regarding the U.S., which he then gave a sermon and wrote a book concerning. (called ‘The Vision.‘ )

Some of the details:

1. “Worldwide recession caused by economic confusion”
* “At most a few more fat flourishing years, and then an economic recession that’s going to affect the life style of every wage-earner in the world. The world economists are going to be at loss to explain what’s happening. It’s going to start in Europe, spread to Japan and finally to the United States.”
* There will be a move toward a worldwide, unified monetary system. The US dollar will be hit bad and it will take years for it to recover.
* The only real security will be in real estate (until a somewhat later stage, at which point this security will also disappear).

2. “Nature having labor pains”
* Environmentalists will come under heavy criticism.
* There will be major earthquakes.
* There will be a major famine.
* Floods, hurricanes and tornadoes will increase in frequency.
* “A new kind of cosmic storm appearing as a raging fire in the sky leaving a kind of vapor trail.”[4]

3. “A flood of filth and a baptism of dirt in America”
* Topless women will appear on television, followed by full nudity.
* Adult, X rated movies will be shown on cable television. Young people will gather at homes to watch this kind of material in groups.
* Sex and the occult will be mixed.
* There will be an acceptance of homosexuality, and the church will even say that it is a God-given gift.

4. “Rebellion in the home”
* “I see the new number one youth problem in America and the world as hatred towards parents.”

5. “A persecution madness against truly Spirit filled Christians who love Jesus Christ”
* There will arise a world church consisting of a union between liberal ecumenical Protestants and the Roman Catholic Church, using Christ in name only.
* There will be a hate Christ movement.
* There will be a spiritual awakening behind the Iron and Bamboo Curtains.

6. Others
* There will be another wave of riots.
* There will be a fall in moral conduct.
* There will be a new drug that will be popular with teenagers that will break down resistance and will encourage sexual activity.
* Homosexual and lesbian ministers will be ordained and this will be heralded as a new breed of pioneer.
* There will be nude dancing in church, but this will never be widespread.
* There will be occult practices in churches.

http://www.tscnyc.org/history.php

http://www.worldchallenge.org/about_david_wilkerson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Wilkerson

Hijacked and Murdered Sailor was on Christian Mission

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Feb 222011

Four Americans on Yacht Murdered by Pirates –

Friend: Hijacked California Sailor Sought to Mix Faith, Adventure

Published February 21, 2011 Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — A friend and former professor of a California man whose yacht was hijacked by Somali pirates said Sunday that Scott Adam wanted to combine his love of adventure with his faith by spreading bibles around the world.

Professor Robert K. Johnston of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena told The Associated Press that Adam — who last year earned a master of theology degree from the school — had sent friends emails detailing his international sailing trip. But Adam went silent Feb. 12 to avoid revealing the location of his yacht, the Quest, to pirates.

“He was sailing around the world and serving God, two of his passions,” Johnston said.

Organizers of the Blue Water Rally yacht race said passengers of the sailboat owned by Adam and his wife, Jean, carried them and two other Americans, Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle, both of Seattle. It was hijacked Friday off the coast of Oman. It is now in the waters between Yemen and northern Somalia, two pirates and a Somali government official told The Associated Press.

Johnston said that despite an adventurous spirit, the Adams were meticulous planners who knew the dangers they faced. The couple had sailed with a large flotilla to stay safe from pirates near Thailand earlier in the trip.

“They knew and we knew they still had to go by the Somalia coast,” he said. “We’re asking people to pray for them.”

Adam, now in his mid-60s, had been an associate producer in Hollywood when he turned in a spiritual direction and enrolled in the seminary a decade ago, Johnston said.

“He decided he could take his pension, and he wanted to serve God and humankind,” he said.

Johnston and Adam worked together to start a film and theology institute. Adam also taught a class on church and media at the school.

Since 2004, the Adams lived on their yacht in Marina Del Rey for about half the year and the rest of the year they sailed around the world, often distributing Bibles in remote parts of the Fiji Islands, Alaska, New Zealand, Central America and French Polynesia, Johnston said.

Iowa High School Wrestler Defaults Match So He Wouldn’t Face Girl

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Feb 172011

Iowa High School Wrestler Defaults Match So He Wouldn’t Face Girl

Published February 17, 2011 | Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa — A standout Iowa high school wrestler refused to compete against a girl at the state tournament on Thursday, relinquishing any chance of becoming a champion because he says wrestling a girl would conflict with his religious beliefs.

Joel Northrup, a home-schooled sophomore who was 35-4 wrestling for Linn-Mar High School this season, praised his first-round opponent, Cedar Falls freshman Cassy Herkelman, and Ottumwa sophomore Megan Black, who became the first two girls to make the state wrestling tournament in its 85-year history.

But in a brief statement issued through his school, Northrup said he defaulted on his match with Herkelman because he doesn’t think boys and girls should compete in the sport.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Cassy and Megan and their accomplishments.

However, wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times,” said Northrup. “As a matter of conscience and my faith I do not believe that it is appropriate for a boy to engage a girl in this manner. It is unfortunate that I have been placed in a situation not seen in most other high school sports in Iowa.”

There were several thousand fans at Wells Fargo Arena on Thursday, but many were watching other matches when the referee raised Herkelman’s hand to signal her win. There was a smattering of cheers and boos from the crowd before Herkelman was whisked into the bowels of the arena.

Tournament organizers declined to make Herkelman available for questions. She entered the tournament with a 20-13 record and will wrestle Friday in the quarterfinals of the 112-pound (50.8-kilogram) weight class.

Her father, Bill Herkelman, told The Associated Press via text message that he understands and respects Northrup’s decision.

“It’s nice to get the first win and have her be on the way to the medal round,” Bill Herkelman wrote. “I sincerely respect the decision of the Northrup family especially since it was made on the biggest stage in wrestling. I have heard nothing but good things about the Northrup family and hope Joel does very well the remainder of the tourney.”

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, more than 6,000 girls competed in wrestling in 2009-10 — compared with nearly 275,000 boys. Though most states require girls to wrestle boys, California, Hawaii, Texas, Washington and Tennessee sponsor girls-only high school wrestling tournaments.

“My Bad” Manute Bol, God gave him “Heart Enough to Look Back”

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Jul 152010

Manute Bol: Sudanese, Christian, NBA Basketball Player

Manute Bol, 1962-2010 | Mindy Belz World Magazine

Convinced that a man who had towered over him in life would not easily go down to death, Tom Prichard made four trips to Virginia to see former NBA basketball player Manute Bol during six weeks of hospitalization. “We thought he was going to make it before he took a sudden turn for the worse,” Prichard told me. Bol died a day later on June 19 at age 47. He suffered from acute kidney failure and a severe skin condition called Stevens-Johnson syndrome.

Prichard, a Kansas pastor and longtime friend, worked alongside Bol to start Sudan Sunrise, building schools and churches in Bol’s native South Sudan. Along with other prominent Sudanese-Americans like Olympic track star Lopez Lomong, Bol aimed through Christian-Muslim efforts to reconcile communities racked by 22 years of civil war. “We need something to symbolize how far we’ve come,” Bol told Prichard.

It was a remarkable undertaking, considering that Bol himself had 250 members of his own extended family killed at the hands of Khartoum’s Islamic government during the war. (His father named him Manute, meaning “special blessing.”). Remarkable also for a 7-foot-7 NBA star drafted by the Washington Bullets in 1985 and later traded to the Golden State Warriors, 76ers, and Miami Heat. He played 10 seasons as the tallest center in the NBA, earning an estimated $6 million that most who know him say was spent on helping Sudanese. “God guided me to America and gave me a good job,” he notably said, “but he also gave me a heart so I would look back.”

Bol’s NBA career was notable also for an expression he invented on the court. In early practices when he missed a shot, Bol—who never had a formal education and knew little English—told teammates, “My bad.” Players repeated the phrase to poke fun at him, until it spread into sports and then mainstream vernacular.

According to Prichard, the same thing that motivated Bol in life drove him to his death: love for his homeland.

He made three trips to Sudan in 2009, the last in November with Prichard and former Reagan national security adviser Bud McFarlane. The trio surveyed progress on the first of 41 schools Sunrise is building—this one in Bol’s home village of Turalei. Nearly complete, it’s being constructed by Christian and Darfuri Muslim laborers.

“He was going to stay a matter of weeks,” Prichard told me. But Bol picked up “a whiff of a plan” to derail elections scheduled for April—the first multiparty elections in Sudan in 24 years. Pro-Khartoum candidates were turning up in Twic County, his county, to run against established locals from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), the majority (and largely Christian) party in the south. Bol was someone locals would listen to, and SPLM leaders asked him to stay. Twice he delayed his return to the United States—until early May.

Lacking medication for his kidney ailment, Bol’s health declined. Eventually he became so sick he had to be hospitalized in Nairobi, Kenya, for a week. But when he learned that some candidates were trying to buy votes in Twic, he left the hospital and returned to Sudan: “If they give you money and food, take it,” he told villagers. “But don’t give them your vote in return.”

On election day the candidates Bol favored won. According to Prichard, “he was very pleased but he was also very sick.” When finally he arrived at Dulles airport outside Washington, he was too ill to board his connecting flight to his home in Kansas. Taken by ambulance to a hospital in northern Virginia, he remained there for five weeks before he was transferred to the burn unit at the University of Virginia hospital in nearby Charlottesville. Apparently medication he received in Nairobi for his failing kidneys brought on Stevens-Johnson, a severe skin reaction that burns the tissue from the inside out.

“He lived for his country, and he died for his country,” Prichard said. “He gave his life to try to thwart the plan to manipulate elections and to try to keep plans on track for a [2011 independence] referendum.”

Happy Birthday to an Exceptional Man

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Jul 012010

Roland John Morris, Sr. July 1, 1945 – June 9, 2004

Roland Morris, Sr., 58, ascended to heaven on Wednesday, June 9th after a four year fight with cancer. Roland, a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, was born July 1, 1945, in Cass Lake, MN. Ojibwe was his first language, and he grew up fishing, hunting, and gathering wild rice with family and friends. He also played intramural basketball, worked hard in the woods, spent time in a foster home and various jails, drank, smoked, and played guitar with friends at various bars.

Roland went to college in Kansas and was a draftsman for a short time before becoming an upholsterer. While he struggled with many difficulties in his early years, he was a perfectionist with upholstery and throughout his life performed his craft well.

After a life changing spiritual experience with Jesus in 1988, Roland moved his second family to Ronan, Montana to be near his cousin and Christian evangelist, Frank (Scotty) Butterfly. There, in 1992, Roland and his wife, Elizabeth, created Montana’s first patient transportation service, Mission Valley Medicab. They also helped instigate the Montana Passenger Carriers Association and the charitable organization, Valley Missions, Inc., all without tribal assistance.

Roland taught his children about wild ricing, hunting, fishing, and a little of the Ojibwe language. But the biggest, strongest desire of his heart was that his children, grandchildren, and entire extended family come to the saving knowledge and acceptance of Jesus Christ. Having watched many friends and relatives die physically, spiritually, and emotionally from alcoholism, violence, and suicide, Roland could no longer stand aside and do nothing. He was concerned for the children and felt distress at the attitudes of many adults within his community. He wanted the self-destruction to stop.

Roland’s relationship with Jesus coupled with his conviction that much of the reservation system was harmful led him to some amazing life experiences. Actively opposing much of federal Indian policy, Roland served as President of the Western Montana organization All Citizens Equal, was a board member and Vice-Chairman of the national organization; Citizens Equal Rights Alliance, was the Secretary of Citizens Equal Rights Foundation.

He also ran as a Republican candidate for the Montana House of Representatives in the 1996 and testified before the US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in April,1998, the Minnesota Attorney General in 2000, and numerous Mont. State committees. With his family, he also had a private meeting with a member of the President’s Domestic Policy Council May, 2002 in Washington DC.

As time progressed, Roland became more convinced of the importance of Jesus in his life. So in 2000 he attended a year of training at the Living Faith Bible College, Canada. Over the last three years, he and/or his family went on mission trips in Canada and Mexico. During a 2003 trip to a children’s home in Juarez, Mexico, he fixed most of their dining hall chairs, taught 6 boys how to upholster, donated materials, and preached a Sunday street service.

Through the years, he has appeared in numerous newspaper articles across the country. The last article he appeared in was on Friday, May 14th, in the Washington Times. Reporter Jennifer Lehner wrote, “the ICWA [Indian Child Welfare Act] protects the interests of others over [Mr. Morris'] grandchildren,” and “Mr. Morris said that once children are relocated to the reservations, they are subject to the corrupt law of the tribal government. Instead of preserving culture, he said, the tribal leadership uses the ICWA to acquire funds provided through the legislation.” Ms. Lehner quoted Mr. Morris as saying that the law is “supposed to help children, but instead it helps tribal governments.”

Finally, in February, 2004, he and his wife founded the Christian Alliance for Indian Child Welfare. The purpose of this was to encourage preaching, teaching and fostering of the growth of the Christian Faith in all places, encourage accountability of governments to families with Indian heritage, and educate the public about Indian rights, laws, and issues.

Roland praised God to the very end. When his final struggle began, several of his friends and family were praying with him. When those present sang old-time hymns, he raised his hand in the air for as long as he could. When “I Surrender” was sung, he sang the echo. While Pastor Kingery sat next to Roland, holding his hand, Roland looked him straight in the eyes and pointed his other hand up to heaven. When he passed on to greater life, his good friend Marvin Bauer was softly playing Gospel songs for him on his accordion.

Roland is survived by his wife, nine children, twelve grandchildren and a great grandson. Also important to his heart was his “special” son, Jesus Garcia, in Juarez, Mexico. Surviving brothers include Harry Morris and Steven Jones; and sisters include Clara Smith, Bernice Hurd, Sharon Goose, and Christine Jones, as well as numerous nephews and nieces and his great cousin, Scotty Butterfly.

Roland was preceded in death by his parents, Jacob and Susan Jones; siblings Thomas and Wallace Morris, Robert, Martin, Caroline, Frances, Barbara and Alvina Jones, Loretta Smith, and grandson Brandon Kier.

Roland’s loving friend, Jim Ball, crafted a beautiful casket for him as a gift. Funeral services were at the CMA Church in Ronan, MT, on Sunday, June 13, 2004 and the CMA Church in Cass Lake, MN, Tuesday, June 15. Internment was at Prince of Peace Cemetery. He is strongly remembered for his strength, character, and love for the Lord Jesus.

Roland, our husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, cousin, and friend; We Love you and Miss you so very much. You are with God now.

Gi gi wah ba min me na wah

Christian Alliance for Indian Child Welfare
Independent Indian Press
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Theology of Atonement – Part IV, the New Testament

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May 032010

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Continued from Part III - The Ritual

There needed to be a way to remove the stain of moral and spiritual guilt. This method had to be a way that would cleanse us of totally from every sin. Isaiah 53 and Daniel 9:14-27 prophesied that the Coming Messiah would be the Great Atonement for all of our sins. Our Lord Jesus himself taught that He was that Messiah. (Matt. 26:28).

Isa. 53:10 (Sept.) states, “He (the Messiah) came in the likeness of sinful flesh because He was a sin offering.” Isaiah is called the Old Testament Evangelist because of his vivid descriptions of Christ’s suffering, atonement and reward. (Isa. 42:1-7, 53:1-12) Christ’s soul was to be given as an offering for sin. This passage, with recurring reference to the Messiah as the “Servant of the Lord”, proves that Isaiah, and probably other Israelites, believed that the Messiah would come as a suffering substitute with the goal of redeeming man. In ancient Israel, it was known that this passage was referring to the Messiah. More modern interpretations, which claim that the passage refers to the state of Israel rather than a man, fail to explain why the writer would refer to the state in the third person, and to the citizens in the first person. If modern interpreters were to be correct, it would only makes sense if the writer would have referred to all as the state.

Jesus’s is our sacrificial lamb, and His sacrificial death on the cross and blood spilled is the final and complete atonement for our sins. He was a sacrifice, not because his killers thought of him as such and were in a worshipful, repentant mode when they nailed him to the cross, but because He, without sin or blemish, went willingly to the cross. Jesus, in His heart, took all man’s sin upon Himself and bore the punishment others deserved. He sacrificed Himself for man’s sake. In Romans 8:3, (Sept.) “Amartia” is used to mean, “made sin,” not a “sinner.” The term “sinner” can never be used in reference to Christ, who is sinless and a “sin bearer”. The term “sin” in reference to Jesus is abstract, without an article – an abstract noun for the concrete. Jesus is “made sin” for men in the same way men are “made righteous” for God: by a judicial act of God. And God, in His righteousness, accepted Jesus’s bloody sacrifice of Himself.

This is hard for people of the 20th Century to understand. Man tries to comprehend the importance of the blood, but doesn’t understand why it is important. But the blood isn’t for man in the first place; it is God that values the Blood. This is where man needs to have faith that the Blood is important simply because God says so.

According to Evangelist Watchman Nee, the Blood is meant to forgive and wash away sins in the lives of men. The cross is to do away with the power of sin in the lives of men. The Blood is an atonement, and sinners are forgiven not because God overlooks the sin, but because he sees the Blood. Therefore, the Blood is primarily for God, not for man.

It’s important to have faith AND clear conscience toward God, which can only come by the blood, and not anything else. Being extra kind or patient one day does not bring one closer to God. Man can never be good enough. The Blood is unchanging and is man’s only hope for safe ground to stand on. The only important matter is that God values sacrificial, righteous blood shed.

The last aspect of the purpose for the Blood is the part “the accuser” plays. When Satan entered after the fall, man became separated from God. As long as sin was present in the life of man, God couldn’t be approached and Satan had a field day. Without atonement, God couldn’t do anything to help. He couldn’t come near. But the blood changed that. God can stand next to man now.

But the Blood doesn’t “cleanse” hearts. The flesh is too bad for cleansing, and it must be thrown out, crucified, and replaced with a whole new heart. This is why the animal sacrifices alone were never adequate. Death and rebirth is still necessary. The old hearts were “sprinkled with an evil conscience”, and that caused a barrier between God and man. When man tried to approach God, he felt guilt and unworthiness. This is why man needs both the Blood and a death – a tossing out of that old heart so a new one could be put in its place. Man must die on the cross, with the Messiah, Jesus, in order to gain new life. When a sinner believes this from the Word and accepts Christ’s gift of death into his heart, his conscience can be cleared and the guilt removed.

The Book of Romans shows us that
1. The Grace of God, our Divine Judge, is the giver and justifier of our full atonement.
2. The blood of Christ is the basis of our full atonement
3. Faith is the receptive organ for our full atonement
4. Justice and Grace will be the end result of our full atonement

Old Testament sacrifices were a foreshadowing of the redemption Jesus Christ was going to bring about on the cross. For reasons only God can fully understand, Christ’s shed blood on the cross is a vitally important event, and the only event, which brings about reconciliation and atonement for all sinners who believe and receive it.

END
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Theology of Atonement – Part III, the Ritual

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Apr 302010

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Continued from Part II – History

Three hundred sixty four days a year, the priest was present during the first three acts of a sacrifice, but began his function only after the blood was received for sprinkling. However, on the Day of Atonement, the priest performed all parts of the sacrifice. Lev. 23:27-32

In the first part of the sacrifice, the sinful worshipper brought his live, unblemished sacrifice to the elevated altar, just as our sinless Christ was raised up on the cross.

During the second part, the offensive worshipper laid his hands on the scapegoat or victim’s head. This action has always been understood to be a communication between one party and another, and in this case, it was a symbolic transfer of guilt to the substitute. On the Day of Atonement, it was accompanied with the confession of sin. Lev. 16: 20-22, 2 Chr. 29:24

The third part was the killing of the animal. Only through the death of one can another live. This was also done on most days by the hand of the worshipper. Just he, who had laid his hand on the victim, could perform the slaughter. In the same way, the Lord Jesus met his violent death by the hand of the Sinners he was dying for.

The fourth part of the sacrifice involved the sprinkling of blood. This was where the priest, who had usually been standing aside as a witness, took his role. Without the priest, the sacrifice could not be offered correctly. Receiving the blood, he made it his own, and poured it on the horns, the altar’s highest point, the foot of the altar and the mercy seat. The priest, in his proper vestments and sanctification, shadowed the holy righteousness of God. In stepping in at this time and accepting the blood as his own, he is portraying that what was done to the victim was supposed to have been done to him. Ex. 30:10

The fifth and final act was the burning of the victim. The first fire for Aaron’s first sacrifice was a holy fire from heaven, never to be extinguished (Lev. v. 6-7). Rising to heaven with a sweet smelling savor, the burnt offering was recognized as an acceptable sacrifice. Some also surmise that the smoke is a shadow of the Holy Spirit.

But the frequency and repetition of the sacrifices reflected their inadequacy. David (Ps. 40:6 and 51:16) Asaph (Ps 50:8), Micah (6:6) and Isaiah (1:11) give clear testimony that the sacrifices were inadequate. The blood of lambs and goats could never take away the stain of moral sin or spiritual guilt.

PART IV – The New Testamaent…
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Theology of Atonement – Part II, the History

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Apr 272010

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History, Continued from Part I:

Fifty days later, at Mount Sinai, God gave His law as the foundation of His covenant. (Exodus chapters 19-24). The early animal sacrifices were always symbolic, and blood was always known to be sacred and necessary for atonement and forgiveness. This was true of all bloody sacrifices from the beginning, but now, with Mosaic Law, it was especially true. Burnt offerings, originally from the primeval and patriarchal age, were now joined by other forms of sacrifice. With the previous burnt offerings, the worshipper had not yet broken the Covenant God was to have with Israel, and the offering was meant to cover the general sin attached to every man. The new “sin offering” expressed that covenant WAS broken through the offense, and the offering was meant to restore relationship with God.

There are several Old Testament words for sin. The primary ones being looked at here are Chataah, Chattath, Chata, and Chet. They all refer to an offense, a sacrifice for sin, or a sin offering. Chata is a deeper word, and can also refer to the offender himself, to a habitual sin, to forfeit, repent, lead astray, condemn, bear the blame, or purify. Also used in Lev. 4:3b is the word “Ashmah,” which means guiltiness, a fault, or the presentation of a sin offering. It is translated as “offend,” “cause of sin,” and “trespass.” “Shagah,” used in Lev. 4:13, means to stray, transgress, be encaptured, and is translated as to “err,” “be ravished,” “sin through ignorance,” and “wander.” “Peri Amartia” from Lev. 4:35, 5:6, and 6:17 of the Septuagint, meant “sin-offering.”

These offerings were not for the sake of man or the state, but for God. (Lev. 4:1-32, 5:1-8). In addition, the law now divided sacrifices into different classes for different purposes and kept them before the eyes of Israel. God demonstrated the importance of the blood at the consecration of the priests, birth of a child, and even high festivals. (Ex. 23:14-18, 29; Lev. 1-4:1-32, 5:1-19, 6:1-37, and 16:33).

After the covenant was read and accepted by the people of Israel, it needed to be established with blood. Several bulls were killed, and their blood was sprinkled on the altar, the book of the covenant, and the people. This event was the first recorded time of blood being sprinkled directly on people, and therefore, intimates greater accountability.

Immediately after this sacrificial rite, the Lord announced that he wanted a sanctuary built and He would dwell among them. (Exodus chapters 25-30.) He gave strict directions for the building of the tabernacle and it was functionally designed for blood sacrifice. God’s blueprint included the necessary furniture designed for the purification of worshippers and the killing of animals, as well as the Most Holy Place, where only the high priest could enter – carrying blood.

Later, the fact that the sanctuary furniture was sprinkled with blood during certain sacrifices reminds the Israelites that the sanctuary was an symbol for the way God inhabits His church and dwells among His people. (Lev. 16:16) It wasn’t the building itself that was unworthy; the sins of the people made the sanctuary unworthy as a dwelling place for God. However, God could continue to dwell there if He beheld the blood of atonement. That the people needed the reconciliation and not the place is evidenced in the fact the ceremonies were for the transgressions of Israel (Lev. 16:16) and made atonement for the people and the priests (Lev. 16:33)

The importance of the Blood is further illustrated through the description of the Day of Atonement. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest brought the Blood of the sin offering, which had been collected in front of the people, into the Most Holy Place, where no one but himself was allowed. This illustrates that the Blood offering was for God alone, and the transaction was to take place between only God and His representative. Lev. 17:11.

ALL Bloody sacrifices were atoning. Number one, blood sacrifice was shocking in its character; satisfaction came only through a victim’s death. But they also pointed out to the worshipper that he had offended God and God was forced to separate from him. God could not sacrifice His holiness for the sake of His love for the worshipper. So while estranged from God for having broken the covenant, the Israelite was very aware that not only did he have ceremonial guilt and was separated from God’s presence, but that death must ensue because the wages of sin is death. The main thought under Mosaic Law was that transgressions violated the order of the universe and had to be punished. No regrets could remove the guilt, so death is the only recourse.

Interestingly, the sins that the Mosaic sacrifices atoned for were not moral sins, such as murder, adultery or idolatry, but offenses against ceremonial law and theocratic purity, including involuntary oversights and sins of ignorance. (Lev. 12:7-8, Num. 6:11). The Law was an external, arbitrary law, and external, arbitrary atonements could cover the resulting offenses to the Law. The Law and its atonement had come into being at the same time, in order to relieve the worshipper, to develop the idea of sin, and awaken consciences to the fact of sin. The same authority that instituted the ceremonial rites could cancel the offenses.

This was not mere penitence. The mediating priest and the laying of his hands on the worshipper’s head indicates that the guilt was transferred vividly. The effect of the sacrifices was remission of the penalty, independent of contrition and remorse. Nor was it renewal of homage. It had nothing to do with a friendly feast, but was intended to transfer the sinner’s guilt on to a victim. It was meant to prevent penalty that had been earned, and to secure remission of sin (Lev. 4:20)

Continued Part III – The Ritual

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