If God forbids human sacrifice why did He sacrifice His own Son?

[WhiteWings]

See title.

[jabcat]

Unique, one-time circumstance.  Someone needed to bear the sins of the whole world, and only the Lamb was worthy.  As a father myself, I can say to some small degree, I have a little understanding of how this also hurt God the Father.  I would probably die a hundred times myself rather than give up my own son (or daughter) - who are actually a piece/part of me.  

As I see it, God gave a piece of Himself (His Son) to be tortured, maimed and killed, for us.  He suffered and suffers with us.  He doesn't just sit back and watch.  He came and dwelt among us, lowering Himself into our condition.

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.  Hebrews 4:15

and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.  I Ptr 2:24


So again, it was a unique, one-time circumstance, and only the Lamb is worthy - a part of God Himself.

There'll be no more thorns on His head...

[jabcat]

What kind of man is this
that He'd lay down His life
not only for His closest friend
but for His enemies alike
There is no greater love than this
no sacrifices made
there is no greater gift than His
amazing grace

They placed a crown upon His head
He wore a scarlet purple robe
The sign they placed above His head said
King of Jews, behold...
They thought that it was finally done
when they took His body down
Oh but there'll be no more thorns
no more thorns in His crown

The angels and the heavenly hosts
the saints from every age
now bow before the Great White Throne
and offer up their praise
And there's still a crown upon His head
but it's a Crown of Glory now
And for the King of kings and Lord of lords
there's no more thorns in His crown

They placed a crown upon His head
He wore a scarlet purple robe
The sign they placed above His head said
King of Jews, behold...
They thought that it was finally done
when they took His body down
Oh but there'll be no more thorns
no more thorns in His crown     c jberry


One time was sufficient.  There's no need for any other human sacrifices... :2c:

[Beloved Servant]

Gods Alchemy:

Before Christ, the spirit of God was upon man.
After Christ, the Spirit of God is now within man.

[CHB]

Here is my  :2c: worth.

Since it was God who caused man to be in this predicament it had to be him who got us out. It was God who gave us evil, and it is God who gives us good.

God fixed things so that we would all need His Son and that his Son would be glorified.  He also fixed things so that we could all be like his Son. 

[Cardinal]

 :cloud9: My  :2c: The souls of men are the dark glass with which they perceive what the Spirit does. The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. A type of "death" occurred at the "lowering" of God's Christ with whom He made all things lower than Himself ie. natural creation.

The unapproachable Light/eternal Word took form and God said it was good, even very good, and that included the darkness of the 6 days. Those 6 days are as the 6 one-thousand year days since Adam, and they are both time related and related to the people that existed/exist in these days, as containing both darkness and light.

To Him, we are actually a day also, who at the end of the appointed time, is to be no part darkness, enter into His rest, which is Christ.

The reason it is even very good, is because He who knows the end from the beginning, knows that ALL THINGS (including the darkness) work together for good for those that love the Lord. They do, because the eternal Word declared it and it was so.

So: because the body (soul included) can only do what it perceives it's Head do, He knew they would slay Him in the natural as well. But; only God can use evil to create good. This is how He condemned sin in the flesh. Blessings...

[thinktank]

People sacrifice their lives everyday for another, whether its in war, work or play.

There is no greater sacrifice than for a man to lay down his life for their friends.

God sent his son as a sacrifice and Jesus was willing and obedient to the cross. Due to God's unchanging laws it was the only way to save mankind from death. The more you meditate on it the more it makes sense but we'll only appreciate it fully when we meet Jesus himself and can ask him these questions. :gangel: :icon_king: :angelharp: :angel4:

[WhiteWings]

To me it just looks breaking His own law...

[micah7:9]

It was flesh that had to be sacrificed for sin full flesh.

[Beloved Servant]

The law was given unto men.
God changes not because the Cross of Christ was and is forever in the Heart of God.
Moses, Joshua and David killed thousand at the righteous Command of God.
He tells us not to kill because it only results in death.
The demonstration of the Cross of Jesus Christ is life for all generations.
He did not break His is own law — He fulfilled it!

[micah7:9]

"I understand that the cross is the symbol of God's way of life, i.e. through death. The cross is made very prominent in the New Testament, both by Christ and the apostles. See for example, Matt. 10:38; 16:24; Mark 10:21, Luke 14:27; also I Cor. 1:17. 18: Gal. 6:12: Phil. 3:18; Col. 1:20 and many other passages. Now if the reader will look these passages over he will see that the cross is a symbol of something; in these scriptures, and others of the same import the word cross does not refer to the literal piece of wood upon which Christ suffered physical death; that is the letter; but this word has a spiritual meaning like most other Bible words and phrases, and no one who has any spiritual discernment at all can fail of seeing this, viz., that the term cross is used as a symbol of something else, though they might not be able to determine what that something was. I think that Christians use this word in an erroneous, unscriptural sense; they speak of the many crosses that they have to bear. The Bible never speaks of but one cross. Christ and the apostles never speak of crosses but of "the cross," the one thing, whatever it may be. Now it is a great mystery of the Bible that God's way to life is through death. "That which thou sowest is not quickened (made alive) except it die." This is a great truth in nature; it is equally true with God's ways in grace;" (AP Adams)

[Cardinal]

 :cloud9: The cross is the "same" as the brazen altar which had FOUR horns or points on it with which to tie down the sacrifice. We are told to make ourselves a living sacrifice, tied down with cords of love that cannot be broken.

This altar is also like a crown that has points. In olden times the points represented kingdoms that the King had dominion over. The horns speak of power. The horn of God is the Holy Ghost. Horn also is the same word there as points or rays of the sun, and "tongues" (flames) of fire, like fell on the day of Pentecost.

By being obedient to lay the FOUR parts of our soul (mind, will, emotions, and desires) as a living sacrifice, we obtain a better crown, a crown of life to the overcomer. The fire of God consumes  us. For ashes He gives us beauty.

The FOUR "rivers" (speaks of a flow of spirit) in Genesis that came out of Eden/the garden (we are the planting of the Lord) become one in Christ again by the time we get to Revelation. Blessings....

[Nathan]

Man . . .great question . . .great responses.  I'll throw in and say that the act of man sacrificing unto God is blaspheme unto God and sacreligious as well.  It is only the mind of man that could conceive the idea that sacrificing God's creation would appease God.  Flesh can not redeem flesh.  The act alone is saying that the one sacrificing is God.

[WhiteWings]

Here is my  :2c: worth.

Since it was God who caused man to be in this predicament it had to be him who got us out. It was God who gave us evil, and it is God who gives us good.

God fixed things so that we would all need His Son and that his Son would be glorified.  He also fixed things so that we could all be like his Son. 

Sorry CHB I don't argree/understand your  :2c:
But thanks for the money I'm a collector. :icon_jokercolor:

So the God that knew/knows everything has/had a plan. Part of that plan is to forbid human sacrifice so He could bring a human sacrifice to fix things.
It's a bit like (reversed) Calvinism....

[Nancy]

hi there whitewings,
i like you find this an odd concept.  to me God doesn't need to make a sacrifice. i don't know if i believe this anymore, that Jesus HAD to die for our sins. i believe that as Jesus taught everybody about the REAL God who gives good to the evil as well as the good, that's why He was put to death.  he was in total surrender to God even unto death. He didn't see Himself as separate from God.
Godbless
Nancy

[jabcat]

Revelation 13:8 "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the *Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."   [*Obvious pattern of sacrifice from the OT/OLD COVENANT]

I believe the scriptures say Jesus gave up His life.  "No one takes it [ My  life] from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again"John;10:18.   Just as he said he would, Jesus gave up his life and took it back.   Jesus was on the cross not because his enemies wanted to put him there but he died on the cross according to the command of God.  He became obedient to God the Father to the point of death-even the death on the cross Philippians 2.  It was the cup God gave him to drink.       


Obedience and the will of God might offer a better explanation. From the standpoint of Hebrews 10:1-18, what does it take to put an end to sacrifices? There is one sacrifice, and only one, that puts an end to all other sacrifices. It is the sacrifice that God has willed. It is the sacrifice that is willingly given in absolute obedience to God's will. But it is not just a matter of obedience and will. It is also sacrifice. The "body" that God has prepared for the offering must be sacrificed. This atonement is the permanent one.
What makes the sacrifice of Jesus permanent? Chapter ten assumes that it is permanent, and Hebrews uses two different types of sacrifice to make the case: legal sacrifices like those on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16) and covenant sacrifice from Exodus 24.  Hebrews uses the idea of a "will" (as in testament) because the same Greek word means both "will" and "covenant" (diaqhkhj). Once someone dies their will takes affect in perpetuity. Hebrews argues that a covenant works in the same way. Therefore, Jesus' death, because it is a covenant sacrifice, extends eternally into the future.  http://www.oldwritings.com/writings/info/hebrews-larm.html

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was completed at the cross when He shouted, "It is finished!" (John 19:30). It was finished and as a result it is forever done. "It stands finished." Nothing else needed to be done from the moment Christ died. It was a once-and-for-all completed sacrifice for sin.
It was in the shedding of His blood on the cross that Christ both ratified the New Testament and purchased the believer's redemption The prominent term used in reference to the atonement in the New Testament is the "blood." The blood of Christ indicates the all-encompassing redemptive work of Christ on the cross.
http://www.abideinchrist.com/selah/nov16.html

[Beloved Servant]

I believe the scriptures say Jesus gave up His life.  "No one takes it [ My  life] from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again"John;10:18.   Just as he said he would, Jesus gave up his life and took it back.   Jesus was on the cross not because his enemies wanted to put him there but he died on the cross according to the command of God.  He became obedient to God the Father to the point of death-even the death on the cross Philippians 2.  It was the cup God gave him to drink.        

The willing sacrifice!
Finally!
Thanks James.
The willing sacrifice!
I've been waiting for someone to post it!

[WhiteWings]

The willing sacrifice!

Really?

^KJVJoh 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

[Molly]

The willing sacrifice!

Really?

^KJVJoh 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

Yes, willingly.  Adam received a commandment, too, which he disobeyed.

[WhiteWings]

Ok, I can agree with that.
But still that means Jesus wilingly followed a command of human sacrifice that was forbidden in other situations.

[jabcat]

Dave,  :thumbsup:.  Jesus was faithful and obedient, "even unto death".

You're right WW about "still God sacrificed..."   That's why I believe it was a unique, one-time event in God's plan.  Also, that only HE, His Son was worthy and able to fulfill what needed to be done.  Only the Father giving Himself to us would suffice.  I don't know why that was God's method, but it was.  On the other hand, humans killing each other?  It's just that - people killing each other - and God takes no pleasure in that - and it accomplishes nothing.  Human flesh cannot atone. :2c:

[thinktank]

Yeah, and people who sacrifice people usually sacrifice to idols/devils which is clearly evil. But Gods sacrifice was for the purpose of saving many. Ever watched saving private ryan? An interesting story where men are caught in the struggle of having to go and save just one man, but unlike that story God sends one man for the many. Arguably Jesus is worth all the men.

[Beloved Servant]

Right back atcha James,  :thumbsup:.

1 Corinthians 15 goes well here in the discussion, especially verses 35 onward.

[AJ]

Here's another view that I wrote about some years ago...


http://jesusthelightoftheworld.yuku.com/topic/1998

[WhiteWings]

BTW Jesus died very near to where king David was judged and Abraham wanted to sacrifice Isaac. (Isaac was also willingly to be sacrificed)