If a certain activity accomplishes its purpose or intent, there is no point in continuing it. The reason for the activity has been accomplished. For example, if we have succeeded in lifting an animal out of a hole by means of a rope, there is no reason to continue pulling on the rope. The rope has fulfilled its purpose. In the same way, if a particular activity cannot accomplish what we need done, simply continuing it will not help us make progress. In fact, it may be counterproductive. For example, if the entrance to the hole in which our animal has fallen has become obstructed so that it is now too small, merely continuing to pull on the rope will not free the animal from the hole. Instead, if we keep pulling we may very well injure the beast.
The same principles apply in spiritual things. God gave the Law of Moses to the Jewish people. In it He instructed them to do certain things. For example, God told the people to offer sacrifices for sin, year after year. Yet even though God commanded that these sacrifices be made, they were incapable of cleansing the people from their sin. To say it another way, the sacrifices were ineffective to meet the need. How can this be? The inspired book of Hebrews, chapter 10, verses 1 through 10 explains:
“For the law, having a shadow of the good to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near. Or else wouldn’t they have ceased to be offered, because the worshippers, having been once cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a yearly
reminder of sins. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Therefore when he comes into the world, he says, “Sacrifice and offering you didn’t desire, but you prepared a body for me; You had no pleasure in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of me) to do your will, O God.’” Previously saying, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you didn’t desire, neither had pleasure in them” (those which are offered according to the law), then he has said, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He takes away the first, that he may establish the second, by which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
In a previous section the book of Hebrews has already contrasted the place where sin sacrifices were made. The sacrifices required by the Law were made in a dwelling made by man. In contrast, Christ presented His sacrifice to God in heaven itself. In this passage, we see another contrast between the sacrifices. Those required by the Law had to be repeated endlessly, year after year. In contrast, Christ’s one sacrifice is sufficient for all people, for all time.
Hebrews points out that the sacrifices made under the Law were ineffective. If they had been capable of removing sin, there would have been no need to repeat them. However, the very fact that they had to be repeated time after time, proves that they were incapable of removing sin.
Why were the sacrifices offered at the Tabernacle ineffective? Because the Law and its requirements is only an image of reality. An image or picture is not without meaning for it tells us something about what it represents. However, it is a serious mistake to confuse the image for the actual thing it represents. A painting of a man is not the man himself. Suppose you take a picture of a man who has a wound. If you touch up the photograph so that the wound no longer shows, it does not treat the actual wound on the real man. In the same way, the animal sacrifices made in the earthly copy of the heavenly Tabernacle could not affect the spiritual reality. It took a heavenly sacrifice, presented in heaven itself, to pay for sin once for all.
If the sacrifices made under the Law were ineffective, then what was their purpose? They served as a reminder of sin. They illustrated the terrible consequences of sin. They showed that a life was necessary to pay for sin. They proved the impossibility of reconciling with God through our own efforts. No matter how many sacrifices were made; no matter how many bulls and goats were offered, people still had a sense of guilt. Their consciences still convicted them of the wrongs they had done.
The writer of Hebrews quotes from Psalm 40 in order to explain the solution to this problem. In this Psalm, King David prophetically writes as though Christ were speaking. He first acknowledges that the animal sacrifices were inadequate. Though God required them, they could not accomplish what God desired. To deal with the problem of sin God needed a body. And, since man was incapable of providing the body which was needed, God Himself, prepared it. Hebrews already pointed out that Jesus is the exact representation of God. Since God is perfect, any sacrifice provided by Him will also be perfect. Jesus stepped into history as a man in order to provide that perfect sacrifice. He came to do God’s will. He made a conscious choice to fulfill what God required.
The animals which were sacrificed under the Law had no choice in the matter. They could not know why they were being sacrificed. But Jesus sacrificed Himself voluntarily, knowing full well what He was doing. His whole purpose in coming into the world was to do God’s will. No one had to compel Him. He said, “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord…” (John 10:17-18 NIV)
Because Jesus accomplished God’s will, the Old Covenant established by the Law of Moses with all of its sacrifices is no longer needed. The purpose for the Law and the sacrifices has been accomplished. Through Jesus’ sacrifice, God has established a New Covenant with all those who, like Jesus, wish to obey God’s will.
Each of us faces a decision. Will we follow the example of Jesus and do God’s will? Will we accept Jesus’ sacrifice so our consciences will be cleansed from our guilt or will we cling to an old, ineffective system which can never take our sins away? Will we enter the New Covenant which Jesus’ sacrifice has made possible?