God is Satisfied

While preparing for my next class at Jacob's Well, I ran across this piece I wrote a long time ago in StudyLight.or forums. It is about how only Jesus' blood could satisfy God. It is also something that I have been studying off and on for a decade or more. There are so many who believe that Jesus did not pay for all the sins of the whole world, that His blood was only sufficient for the few who believe, but efficient for all. That makes no sense to me. 

The fact that all sin had to be paid for in order for it to be finished as Jesus stated on the cross comes from several different places. One is in Leviticus 16 in the Law for Atonement. Aaron was to take 2 he-goats and one was for sacrifice, the other for confession and then in a visual complete removal of those sins, the goat was led away from the Israelites into the wilderness.

What happened to the goat didn’t matter, the purpose was to show the complete efficacy of the removal of sins. Of course laying on hands, confessing the sins of Israel over the goat did not put all the sins on the goat. It was a shadow of what Jesus would do.

The priests could only enter the Holy of Holies one day per year and that was after the goat of Azazel (or Scapegoat) was sent into the wilderness with all the sins of Israel on its head, figuratively speaking. Although sacrifices of bulls, sheep, lambs and others continued through out the year (which was to feed the Levites among other things) the true Atonement only happened once a year. This foreshadowed Jesus’ once and for all sacrifice. Instead of just one priest going into the Holy of Holies, we all may go boldly into the throne room of God, sit at His feet or sit on His lap, if only in spirit now, we can do it bodily in Heaven. Glory!

Isaiah 53 is another place we must look to see that God is satisfied with the willing sacrifice of the Messiah. Isa 53:11a  He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.

Then to understand what God means that He is satisfied, we must look at the Law as a whole and in part. For anyone who violates one Law has broken them all. In order for the fullness of sin to be completely covered it had to be the most perfect sacrifice for all.

In order for Jesus to have said, “It is finished,” He had to have paid the full price completely and perfectly. Bulls and goats and sheep and lambs had no power to the remission of sin, only Jesus could do that perfectly. Hebrews 9:22  And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. Heb 10:18  Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

Rom 8:20 - 23 Meanwhile, creation is confused, but not because it wants to be confused. God made it this way in the hope 21 that creation would be set free from decay and would share in the glorious freedom of his children. 22 We know that all creation is still groaning and is in pain, like a woman about to give birth. 23 The Spirit makes us sure about what we will be in the future. But now we groan silently, while we wait for God to show that we are his children. This means that our bodies will also be set free.

His death would have been sufficient for our Spiritual beings to not suffer Hell. But, God had a greater plan. He foretold Jesus would be the first fruits and we are of the first KIND of resurrection of which Jesus was the first. He was raised into a magnified physical and spiritual body that was eternal. It didn’t begin decaying as soon as it was created. Our glorified, magnified bodies will not experience entropy. That could only happen if sin was conquered, and sin could only be conquered if the Law was satisfied. The only way the Law could be satisfied is if all sin was covered by the blood of Jesus.

The crux is that God had to be satisfied which is why there must be atonement: The Hebrew word is

• kâphar כּפר  (kaw-far') A primitive root; to cover specifically with bitumen;  Mineral pitch; a black, tarry substance, burning with a bright flame; Jew’s pitch. It occurs as an abundant natural product in many places, as on the shores of the Dead and Caspian Seas. ...

• A viscous, tar-like oil that requires non-conventional production methods such as mining or steam-assisted gravity drainage.

·        figuratively to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel: - appease, make (an) atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, to pitch, purge (away), put off, (make) reconcile (-liation).

Isn't it interesting that it has to have a gravity drainage system at that it burns with a bright flame? Isn't that exactly what God has promised to do with all who reject Jesus as Savior? God does not throw people in Hell, people choose to go there by not accepting the Scapegoat, not accepting the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I stand amazed.

To say that the unsaved person must pay for his sins is wrong because we all know that we cannot. There is nothing that we can do that will pay for our sins. Burning in Hell does not pay for our sins. It is the result for not believing God, but it does not pay for the sins because only a perfect sacrifice would atone, satisfy, appease the perfect and holy God Almighty. Jesus was the only perfect human and willing sacrifice. And scripture states plainly that God was satisfied with Jesus' sacrifice. If any sin was left unpaid for, then Jesus could not have been raised from the dead.

Sin had to be conquered in order for death to have no sting. The wages of sin is death. Therefore, all sin had to be covered for there to be no required wages.

God said if one command was broken, they all were broken, and that it was sin to break a command. 

1John 3:4  Everyone who sins breaks God's law, because sin is the same as breaking God's law. 

Therefore, the sin of murder was paid for, the sin of lying was paid for, and so on. How could Jesus pay for one man's sin of murder, but not pay for another man's sin of murder? He could not because sin not paid for gives death the upper hand.  In order for Jesus to be raised from the dead God had to be satisfied that all sin was paid for; and that is what released Jesus from the grip of death. He willingly took upon Himself the whole world's sin. His perfect sacrifice paid the price and He was released from death's grip by God who was satisfied with the sacrifice permanently and forever.