Your debt has been paid

In Old Testament times, you received forgiveness from God by bringing a sacrificial lamb to the altar, where a priest would shed its blood and offer it as atonement. The first person in scripture to do this was Cain’s brother, Abel (see Genesis 4:4). When Solomon dedicated his magnificent temple, he sacrificed 120,000 sheep and 22,000 oxen as a sacrifice for the entire nation. In the Old Testament tabernacle, the sacrificial fire was never allowed to go out; it had to be kept burning. The Israelites carried it with them on their journey through the wilderness, and it’s been estimated that between Gethsemane and Easter, no less than 100,000 lambs died, literally turning the Kidron stream red. However, not one fluid ounce of the blood that was shed could atone for our sins. They were simply rolled forward, waiting for a lamb whose sacrifice would end all sacrifices, a priest whose finished work would atone for sin once and for all. And that’s what happened when Jesus cried, “It is finished.” In Hebrew, the phrase literally means “Paid in full.” At that moment, the curtain in the temple that separated the people from God was torn from top to bottom. As a result, we can now go at any time where only one man could go one day a year: into the presence of God, knowing we’ll be loved, accepted, seen through the blood of Christ, and deemed righteous. With that in mind, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16 NKJV).