The Ultimate Sacrifice

QUESTION: How was Jesus the ultimate sacrifice?

ANSWER:

The Bible declares Jesus to be the ultimate sacrifice for many reasons:

• Jesus is sinless, holy, and divine. He is described as a lamb without spot or wrinkle in 1 Peter 1:19: "…the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." Jesus was chosen from the beginning of time to be the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of mankind. No one else was qualified to save the world! Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice, because He restored the pathway for humanity to come back to God. In John 14:6 Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
  
  
• Jesus was tempted in every way, but He did not succumb to temptation and sin. Hebrews 4:15 says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin."
  
  
• Jesus was God's ultimate plan for redemption. Isaiah 53 describes God's redemptive plan. Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice, was "despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering." Yet, Jesus was God's perfect plan: "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). He took on the sin of all mankind - that is an ultimate sacrifice!

So, why was Jesus the ultimate sacrifice? Jesus, unlike humanity, did not have the capacity to sin or do evil. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice because He was divine in origin (Luke 1:34-35), and was unable to do evil or wrong.

What do you believe about Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice? Is He your ultimate sacrifice? If not, He can be. Jesus redeemed mankind by going to Calvary and purchasing our redemption. He sacrifice Himself in our place, so that we can become children of God!