Hi! Since membership class is this Sunday I had a question before I make a commitment to attend. Where does the church stand on the ministry of the Holy Spirit? Do you believe that God still moves in the gifts such as miracles, healing, prophecy and tongues? Thanks! Joanne

Answer: Yes, we have a lot of different perspectives in our church but as for the pastors and the general sentiment of the question the answer is yes.

Jesus as the Lamb of God

November 5, 2007 11:17 AM
david w reid said...
I'll ask a question posed to me by Fred Booth…why does God feel the need to kill all those animals?


This is a good question especially when we read in Hosea 6:6 that the Lord says, "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." (also see 1 Sam. 15:22-23; Ps 51:16-17; Prov. 21:2; Isa. 1:12-17; Jer. 7:21-23; Amos 5:21-24; Micah 6:6-8)If this is true, which it most certainly is, then why all of the bloodshed of innocent animals?

God's people, the nation of Israel, did not live in a vaccumm but in a world in which the surrounding cultures were morally and spiritually abased. Paganism was the religious practice of that day. All the Ancient Near Eastern religions practiced rituals of sacrifice. These pagan worshippers were striving to manipulate or placate their gods in order that their lives would be better. God wanted to impress upon his people that their God, the living God, was the only true God. In a world of pagan worship God communicated that only He was powerful, only He loved and cared for his people, and only He was worthy of worship. He revealed to Israel how to worship not only in practice but in spirit.

These Ancient Near Eastern religions not only sacrificed animals but humans. Canaanite religions had "peace offerings" and "whole burnt" offerings very similar to those of the Hebrew practices. Because these practices were so pervasive and common God incorporated a system that would be well understood by all, the Israelites and the onlooking nations, to reveal Himself, high above the manmade practices of worship.

In contrast to pagan worship, God did not instill these practices of sacrifice for his people in order that they could placate Him but rather as a means (way) for them to have access to the Holy One of Israel. The gap between God and humanity could not be breeched by man's efforts to ascend to God (Tower of Babel) but only by God coming to man. God used the everyday practices of the Ancient World as starting points to reveal the one and only true power of the God of Israel. He started where the people were at and then connected the dots to show them where their hearts and minds ought to be. Jesus did the very same thing throughout his ministry.

Just as we recognize today that blood is life giving and sustaining, e.g. through our campaign ads to Give Blood, so it was understood in Levitical practice. According to Lev. 17:11 the principle of life is represented in the blood. The shedding of blood is necessary as a symbolic act of of God's cleansing presence. It was a purging/purfying of holy objects from the effects of sin. When a blood transfusion is made it is critical to sterilize (to purify) the environment so that no impurities will contiminate the life sustaining blood during the transfusion process. Purification is essential for the giving of blood to be effective.

"Decontamination of the sancturary rendered the offerer clean and paved the way for his reconciliation with God." (Hill and Walton, "A Survey of the OT" p. 107).

"Ultimately the purpose of Hebrew sacrifice was to worship God and to preserve God's presence in their midst. The rituals served to instruct the Israelites in the principles of God's holiness, human sinfulness, substitutionary death [one day to be Jesus Christ] as a response to human transgression and the need for repentance. They provided cleansing and renewed fellowship within the community and with Yahweh." (Ibid., p. 109).

Animal sacrifice was the spiritual ritual that paved the way for understanding the need for and the reason for Christ's sacrifice. When Christ came it was as the Lamb of God who shed his blood for all man's sins for all times. His death on the cross put an end to the need for perpetual animal sacrifice. His blood was the ultimate atoning sacrifice of all time. (Heb. 9-10 compared to Lev. 16). Now instead of ritual sacrifices those who are in Christ Jesus are called to be living sacrifices through our acts of:

• generosity (Phil. 4:18
• worship, praise and thanksgiving (Heb. 13:15-16; Ps. 50:13-14)
• prayer (Rev. 5:8;8:3-4)
• evangelism (Rom. 15:16-17; Isa. 66:20)
• Selfless service to Christ----even to death (Rom. 12:1-2; Phi. 2:17; 2 Tim. 4:6; Rev. 6:9)

God desires our hearts, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise" (Ps. 51:17). Sacrifice is essential to the Christian faith: Christ's sacrifice for us and for the forgiveness of our sins, and our response of gratitude to be expressed through lives of living sacrifice.

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