Day 5: The Need for a Sacrifice

Dear friend,

God is love and God is light. These two statements indicate a deep basic tension, because love draws us, but light scares us. Light holds us away. There is an important practical consequence that results from this tension between love and light, that can be summed up in one phrase: the need for a sacrifice to approach God.

One of the great revelations of the Bible is that for any human being to approach God there must be a sacrifice. No one can approach God without a sacrifice. And that sacrifice speaks always of a life that must be laid down as the penalty for man’s sin. No man can ever actually have access to God without the sacrifice which first of all acknowledges the fact of sin, and secondly indicates that the price has been paid, a life has been laid down.

This need for a sacrifice to approach God is consistently emphasised throughout the Bible. In fact, it commences with the earliest records of man’s history. In Genesis chapter 4, verses 3-5, we read how Adam’s two sons, Cain and Abel, sought to approach God. One was accepted, that was Abel, the other, Cain, was rejected. Neither was accepted on the basis of what he was in himself. But each was accepted or rejected on the basis of the offering that they presented to God. This is how the Bible records it:

“And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering...” (NKJV)

This indicates the Lord accepted Abel on the basis of his offering, but He likewise rejected Cain because his offering did not fulfil the Lord’s requirements. The difference was that Abel’s offering indicated the acknowledgment of sin, the penalty of sin, the need for a sacrifice, the sacrificial life of one of his flock laid down in his place. And on the basis of this acknowledgment, which was contained in the sacrifice and the blood that was shed, Abel was accepted, but Cain who had no such sacrifice was rejected.

The basic principle is there, all through the Bible, because of God’s holiness, because of that radiant, unstained, unsullied light. We cannot approach Him in our sin, in our guilt, without a sacrifice.

For reflection and prayer

No one can enter into God’s holy presence without a sacrifice. How does this relate to the Christmas story?