An Acceptable Sacrifice

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Matt 3:13-17 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Ephe 1:3-7 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

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When Jesus was baptized, the Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove.

God’s voice said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."

He called Jesus His "Beloved" Son.

He was acceptable to God.

Pleasing to God.

He was "beloved."

There is only one way to be acceptable to God.

We must be "IN" Jesus Christ.

Christ alone is acceptable to the Father.

Paul said God made us accepted "IN THE BELOVED"

This means we are accepted IN JESUS, since He is the beloved.

Colo 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son:

We are translated into the KINGDOM of HIS "DEAR" (beloved) SON.

Taken from darkness into the Kingdom because we are now accepted.

When we are accepted in the BELOVED, then we, too, experience the Holy Ghost descending upon us.

But the term TRANSLATED into the Kingdom of this DEAR Son, shows us a TRANSFER, MOVING from one place to another.

ATONEMENT RITUAL:

To further explain the implications of Christ’s acceptance, and our acceptance IN HIM, let us delve into the atonement work of the High Priest in Old Testament times.

The following explains one element of the HIgh Priest’s robe which tells us much!

Exod 28:33-35 And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about: A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about. And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the LORD, and when he cometh out, that he die not.

Bells had TONGUES inside them that hit the bell and caused it to ring out a sound that the High Priest was moving around.

When the High Priest entered the Holiest, if the sacrifice was unacceptable he would be killed and the bells would not ring. Since they could not go into the Holiest to see if he was struck dead or if he was accepted was by hearing the tongues of the bells ring as the Priest moved.

His sound was heard.

He did not die since the sacrifice was accepted.

So he still moved about.

If he was alive and all was well, then the sound let them know.

The first account of entering the Holiest presence of God was with Moses. Moses went in with the blood of the atonement and the fire fell and consumed the sacrifice.

Levi 9:23-24 And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people. And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: [which] when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.

This shows us a very important picture.

We cannot enter God’s presence because of sin.

Fire would slay us.

But if a sacrifice is offered to take our sins, then the fire could fall on it and we could enter!

Moses entered because the sins were taken from him and placed on the sacrifice so the fire would fall on it and not him.

But look what happened to others.