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Student Name Professor Name Subject 1 October 2012 The Old Testament law and its fulfillment in Christ The incarnation of God and his coming to the material world was prophesied long before the birth of Jesus Christ by the Old Testament prophets (Isaiah 9:5). What is more, the Old Testament features a very profound and vast symbolism in terms of the institution of priesthood as well as the ceremonial order of carrying out sacrifices. The concept of the Lamb that was innocent, defenseless and harmless, but such that had to carry the punishment of the true transgressors was embedded in the conscience of a typical Israelite since the early days when the law was passed from God through Moses to the nation of Israel still in the days of wandering in the Sinai desert. Likewise, the idea that sin is a violation of Gods law which deserves capital punishment was conveyed by means of Mosess prophetic messages. Only the taking away of life by shedding blood was identified as the sole way for redeeming the quilt of a sinner. Somebody had to suffer, since transgression had a price and could not be overlooked by the God of absolute holiness and justice. Any true whole-hearted follower of the law of God with a proper understanding of how high its requirements were this way or another had no way of escaping the realization that he could not steer clear of committing sin in his life, and, being honest with oneself, a great deal of sins over just one year of his life. Death was the only outcome. A redeemer was the only chance for salvation. The Son of God came to this world as the flawless and guilt-free being, the lamb of God, to willfully shed his blood and lose his life on behalf of anyone who takes Him for Who He is, diverted the punishment and granted the life that He has Life eternal.

Leviticus 1 instructed the Israelites on the way the burnt offering ought to be presented, but not what they intended to mean. However, what could be said here is that the burnt offering

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described in Leviticus 1 were considered principally as individual offerings, carried out on one's own accord by a particular person . In other places, the burnt offerings are frequently a group offering, yet as it is depicted in Leviticus1, it is perceived as a personalized act of worship. Therefore, verse 2 says, Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, When any man of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock (Lev. 1:2). Starting from here, he is utilized to signify a particular person, who turns up before God with his burnt offering. From this it could be inferred that God intended to put the significance of the personal connection of an individual and God, that becomes even more important when God provides Christ as the personal sacrifice to connect Him with every believer and his\her personal Savior - Jesus Christ.

The goal of the burnt offering appeared to be atone for the transgression of the one who offered it and therefore to achieve Gods approval (Longman and Tremper, 2007). The person placed hands on the animal, sort of becoming one with it. In particular, he connected his transgressions with the given animal. As a result, if the animal was killed with the hands of this given individual, it perished for his sins. Taking life is in no way an insignificant thing with God. He tells Moses: "For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life." (Leviticus 17:11)

It concerns not so much the person's particular transgressions (that are taken care of by additional sacrifices), yet, instead, the mans overall condition of depravity. In other words, the burnt offering was demanded by, and functioned to point out to the man of, his sinfulness. It was intended to atone for the man's sinfulness, rather than to receive forgiveness for a specific wrongdoing. It wasn't merely a specific transgression which demanded individuals to stay set aside from God, yet the person's fallen condition. The offering appeared to offer a divine remedy for a persons depraved state.

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No matter what the Old Testament people comprehended about the representational meaning of the offering with regard to its forthcoming fulfillment in Jesus, the Son of God was the supreme satisfaction of the offering-based Law. It was suggested by John the Baptist at the start of Jesus' ministry, as he welcomed Christ with the following, Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

The Book of Hebrews (specifically) and of the New Testament (on the whole) show that Jesus came as "the Lamb of God" and died once for all (Herews 10:10), and thus, no need of the burnt offering is necessary any longer, since Jesus our Christ appeared to the supreme and closing offering .

It may appear that if the burnt offering isn't required any more, we could infer that it is no longer appropriate, due to the fact that its forthcoming meaning has already been actualized in Jesus. No doubt that this realization is completely accurate, but there is an additional position wherein this realization might be taken too far, since there is still some significance and usefulness of the burnt offering to New Testament believers these days as well.

The burnt offering (along with other types of sacrifices likewise) wasn't solely representational in the meaning that it symbolized and described, ahead of time, the supreme burnt offering, the Son of God. The burnt offering likewise represented the Old Testament believers trust in Gods taking care of his wrongdoings, and also of his admittance to God. The burnt offering represented the Old Testament believers desire to love the Almighty with "all his heart, soul, mind, and strength", as well as to "love his neighbor as himself"(Longman and Tremper, 2007).

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The ancient Israels worship frequently worsened to become simple adherence to ritual practices as the sacrifices were presented, however the trust and obedience that they represented failed to go along with them. Whenever this took place, the prophets criticized the nation for their hypocritical attitude:

With what shall I come to the LORD And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my first-born for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:6-8).

It could be argued that the trust along with obedience of the ancient Israel, that the practice of the burnt offering represented, and which was demanded by God from the Israelites, appears to be same the same trust and obedience that the sacrifice of Christ is to generate in all who call Him their Savior, and which God demands from us. This seems to be one more way of how Christ is the ultimate sacrifices making no other additional offering necessary. These kinds of acts of trust and obedience are explained by the NT writers through the similar "sacrifice vocabulary" as is utilized in the OT.

As Jesus is referred to as the "Lamb of God" in John 1:29 in addition to John 1:36, it mentions Him as the ideal and final sacrifice for our transgressions. To be able to comprehend who Jesus was and what He had to do, one must read the Old Testament, comprising prophecies on the subject of the coming of the Messiah as a guilt offering (Isaiah 53:10). Indeed, the entire sacrificial system set up by God in the OT prepared people for the arrival of the Messiah, Who is the ideal sacrifice the Almighty would offer to atone for the wrongdoings of His nation (Romans 8:3; Hebrews 10).

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The sacrifice of lambs performed an extremely significant part in the Jewish spiritual world as well as their system of sacrifices in general (Longman and Tremper, 2007). As John the Baptist called Christ the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), the Jews who noticed that might have instantly considered of some of the significant sacrifices. Since the period of the Passover meal was quite close , the first idea could very well be the Passover lamb sacrifice. This feast appeared to be one of the principal Jewish yearly events and a special event to remind the Jews of how God rescued the Israelites from the Egyptian bondage.

What is more, the killing of the Passover lamb as well as the putting of its innocent blood on the Israelites' doorposts (Exodus 12:11-13) happens to be a stunning display of Jesus' redemptive deed on the Calvary cross. The people for whom He perished are protected by His holy blood, guarding us against the angel death. Spiritual death too.

One more essential sacrifice concerned with lambs was the everyday sacrifice at the Jerusalem's temple. Each morning as well as evening, a lamb had to be sacrificed in the temple for the people's transgressions(Exodus 29:38-42). Such day-to-day sacrifices, similar to all others, were merely to guide people in the direction of the final sacrifice of Christ on the Calvary cross. Indeed, the moment of Jesus passing away on the cross matches the period of the evening sacrifice, that was carried out in the temple (Marshall, 2008).

The Jews in those days would have likewise been knowledgeable about the Old Testament prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, who foresaw the arrival of One who ws going to be delivered like a lamb led to the slaughter (Jeremiah 11:19; Isaiah 53:7) and whose anguish and loss of life would offer salvation for the nation. Obviously, that individual was nobody esle but Christ, the Lamb of God.

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Even though the concept of a sacrificial system could possibly appear odd to us nowadays, the idea of settlement or restitution is nevertheless one that we will effortlessly comprehend. We understand that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23) and that our transgressions isolate us from God. We likewise understand that the Bible demonstrates that all of us are sinners and nobody is " righteous before God" (Romans 3:23).

As a consequence of our sin, we are taken away from God, and we remain blameful before Him. Consequently, the mere hope we could possess is if He offers a means for make it right with Him, and this is definitely what He accomplished in allowing His Son to experience death on the cross. Christ had to die to atone for our sin and to take care of the punishment for the sins of all trusting in Him.

It is by means of His death on the Calvary cross as Gods ideal sacrifice for transgression and His coming back to life three days afterwards that we may now possess eternal life if we trust in Him. The reality that God on his own presented the offering that takes our sin away is the wonderful Gospel that is so distinctly proclaimed in 1 Peter 1:18-21:

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect [my italics]. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. The law isn't ruined, nor the purpose of the Law provider let down; yet complete fulfillment is produced by Christ's death for our violation of the commandments, the end result is obtained. In other words, Christ has satisfied the entire law prescriptions, consequently anyone who believes in him is considered righteous before God, just as if he had satisfied the entire law on his own.

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Works Cited

Longman, R, Tremper, D. (editors) (2007) Introduction to the Old Testament, Apollos. Marshall, I.H. (2008) A Concise New Testament Theology,Intervarsity Press.