The Cross from the Beginning
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Read Hebrews 10:1-10.
When most people think about the cross of Jesus, they think about the New Testament. They think about Calvary and Pilate and Roman soldiers. But the cross did not simply spring up in the middle of redemption’s story as though it were an afterthought in the mind of God. The cross had always been God’s plan of salvation, and so we shouldn’t be surprised to clearly find it in the Old Testament as well.
The cross was God’s answer to humanity’s sin and rebellion when Adam and Eve fell. For from the beginning, in the Garden of Eden, God instituted the shedding of blood. An innocent animal was slain in order to cover our first parents’ sin (see Genesis 3:21). The Lord wanted them to know that their sin was costly, which is why, from Abraham to Moses to the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry, animal sacrifices were offered continuously. Innocent blood was shed for the sake of guilty sinners. However, after Jesus endured the cross, animal sacrifices were no longer necessary. Atonement for sin, which was never achievable through the blood of animals nor the efforts of man, was finally and eternally settled by the blood of the divine Son of God.
From the earliest days of humanity, God’s people have understood that their sin required a sacrifice—and they passed this Truth down to their children. Today, as we look back on the cross as the final sacrifice, there is no greater legacy we can give the next generation than to tell them about the seriousness of sin and the amazing grace of the cross of Christ.
Prayer: Lord, I know that sin is deadly serious—so serious that only the blood of the Son of God could make atonement. Help me to share this Truth humbly and lovingly with the next generation, that they might know Your salvation. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
“And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).
Learn more in Dr. Michael Youssef’s sermon The Folly and the Power of the Cross, Part 1: LISTEN NOW | WATCH NOW
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