Tag atonement

Wednesday Worship: Jesus Paid It All

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Opening Reflection

Hebrews 10 invites us to stand before the cross with clear eyes and a quieted heart. It reminds us that the law was never the destination. It was only the shadow of a greater reality yet to be revealed. The sacrifices of the Old Testament expose sin, but they never erase it. They bring people near, but they can not make them clean.

Christ, nevertheless, offered one sacrifice for sins for all time—and then He sat down. His work was finished. His offering was done. His blood accomplished what the law never could. It cleansed the conscience. It perfected those who draw near.

This is the truth that the beloved hymn Jesus Paid It All proclaims with such simplicity and power. Every believer confesses this. They have discovered that their hope does not rest in their own efforts. Instead, it rests in the finished work of Christ.

Scripture Anchor: Hebrews 10:12–14 (ESV)

“But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God… For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”

Devotional

Hebrews 10 opens with a sobering reminder: the law was never meant to be the final answer. It was a shadow—a silhouette cast by something greater that had not yet appeared. The sacrifices of the Old Testament exposed sin, but they never erased it. They brought people near, but did not make them clean.

If the blood of bulls and goats had truly cleansed the conscience, the offerings would have stopped. But they didn’t. Year after year, the priests stood—always standing, always sacrificing—because the work was never finished. The very repetition of the sacrifices was proof of their insufficiency.

Hebrews 10:12 interrupts with the gospel in a single sentence. Christ offered one sacrifice for sins for all time. Then He sat down. The priests stood because their work was never done. Christ sat down because His work was finished.

This is the heart of the chapter: we do nothing because Jesus has done everything.

His sacrifice is not one more offering in a long line of attempts. It is the final offering. It is the perfect offering. It is the once-for-all offering. It actually cleanses the conscience and perfects those who draw near. The blood of Christ does what the law could never do—it makes us clean, whole, forgiven, and welcomed.

And this is where the hymn Jesus Paid It All becomes more than a song. It becomes a confession of faith that rises straight out of Hebrews 10. The hymn writer understood what the writer of Hebrews proclaimed. Our efforts and our striving cannot make us presentable before God. Our spiritual disciplines and attempts to “be better” are insufficient. None of these can make us presentable before God. They are good, but they are not atoning. They are helpful, but they are not saving.

We do not approach God because we have prayed enough. We do not approach God because we have behaved well enough. We do not approach God because we have avoided sin long enough. We approach God because Jesus paid it all.

And that changes everything.

Have you ever hesitated to come to God because you felt unworthy? Have you ever tried to “clean yourself up” before praying again? Have you ever believed the lie that you need a streak of good days before God will welcome you?

Hebrews 10 dismantles that lie. The hymn reinforces it. The cross settles it.

Your confidence before God is not rooted in your performance—it is rooted in Christ’s finished work. His sacrifice is not fragile. His blood is not temporary. His cleansing is not conditional. You are invited to draw near, not because you are worthy, but because He is.

So take a moment and ask yourself: Where am I still trying to offer God my own sacrifices?

  • My discipline
  • My consistency
  • My ministry
  • My moral effort
  • My attempts to “make up” for my failures

All of these things matter—but none of them save.

You are a son. You are a daughter. Not by your offerings, but by His.

And that is why generations have sung, and will continue to sing, that simple, liberating truth: Jesus paid it all. Not some. Not most. Not the part you can’t fix. All.

Hymn: Jesus Paid It All

Words: Elvina M. Hall (1865)
Music: John T. Grape (1868)

Verse 1
I hear the Savior say,
Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.

Refrain
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Verse 2
Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.

Refrain
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Verse 3
For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim;
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

Refrain
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Verse 4
And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
My lips shall still repeat.

Refrain
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Jesus Paid It All: take time to meditate upon this great hymn as you are reminded as to how great a love the Lord has bestowed upon us, sinners as we are.

About the Hymnwriter

Elvina M. Hall wrote the words to Jesus Paid It All. She was sitting in the choir loft of Monument Street Methodist Church in Baltimore. As she listened to the sermon, the lines began forming in her heart—a simple, profound declaration of Christ’s sufficiency. John T. Grape, the church organist, later composed the tune that carried her words into the worship of generations.

The hymn endures because its message is timeless: Christ has done what we could never do. His sacrifice is enough.

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your once-for-all sacrifice. Thank You that You have done what the law could never do. Thank You that we can draw near with confidence, not because of our worthiness, but because of Your finished work. Teach us to rest in the truth that You paid it all. Amen.

Benediction

May the God who perfected you through the sacrifice of His Son fill you with confidence. May He also fill you with peace and joy as you draw near to Him. Walk in the freedom of the cross. Know that Jesus paid it all. Nothing can be added to His finished work.

The Scapegoat

Allen Frederick 4 Comments

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He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 8 Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord’s lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering. 10 But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness. Leviticus 16:7-10


1scape·goat Pronunciation: \’skap-?got\

Function: noun

1 : a goat upon whose head are symbolically placed the sins of the people after which he is sent into the wilderness in the biblical ceremony for Yom Kippur

2 a : one that bears the blame for others b : one that is the object of irrational hostility http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scapegoat


(e)scapegoat
Image by mindfulness via Flickr

The scapegoat was a goat that was driven off into the wilderness as part of the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement, in Judaism during the times of the Temple in Jerusalem.

Yom Kippur is probably the most important holiday of the Jewish year. Many Jews who do not observe any other Jewish custom will refrain from work, fast and/or attend synagogue services on this day.

The name “Yom Kippur” means “Day of Atonement,” and that pretty much explains what the holiday is. It is a day set aside to “afflict the soul,” to atone for the sins of the past year.

In Leviticus God instructs Aaron on how to observe this most Holy of Holy days. He was to select two goats and present them at the door to the temple of the Lord and one will be sacrificed to the Lord and the other will be released as a symbolic carrier of the people’s sins. The scapegoat was to be released into the wilderness and left there to die.

20 “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. 21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. 22 The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. Lev 16:20-22 NKJV


Since this goat, carrying the sins of the people placed on it, is sent away to perish, the word “scapegoat” has come to mean a person, often innocent, who is blamed and punished for the sins, crimes, or sufferings of others, generally as a way of distracting attention from the real causes.

Scapegoating is an important tool of propaganda; the most famous example in modern history is the singling out in Nazi propaganda of the Jews as the source of Germany’s post-World War I economic woes and political collapse.

“Scapegoated” groups throughout history have included almost every imaginable group of people: adherents of different religions, people of different races or nations, people with different political beliefs, or people differing in behaviour from the majority. However, scapegoating may also be applied to organizations, such as governments, corporations, or various political groups. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scapegoat

Scapegoating seems to be the method of choice, utilized by those in today’s political class. It would appear that in order to press forth unpopular policies and bills the politicians in charge look for a scapegoat to demonize. They wish to misdirect anger and blame away from themselves and onto another group, political party, race or social class. This is nothing new, and the practice is as old as time itself.

Even Adam and Eve looked for a “scapegoat” when confronted with their own failings. Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent. (Gen 3:8-19). This is human nature. No one really wants to take responsibility for their own failings and usually attempt to find someone or something upon which to affix blame.

No matter how hard we try however, the guilt and blame can not be assuaged by a scapegoat. In fact this ritual, during the “Day of Atonement” mentioned in Leviticus, was only a temporary fix to a permanent problem. No amount of ceremony, ritual cleansing, or scapegoating could actual remove the stain of sin from a person’s life. The stain of quilt would still remain.

What started in the Garden of Eden (the missteps of Adam-sin) God finished in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus chose to be the ultimate scapegoat in order to carry away the stains of sin from the world. Jesus chose to be sent out to die as a scapegoat, to make the ultimate atonement for the people.

To a devote Jew, Yom Kippur is a necessary ritual that must be repeated each and every year in order to atone for sins they commit against God. To the Christian Yom Kippur is a reminder of the sacrifice Jesus made in order to atone for our sins once and for all. It is therefore helpful to remind ourselves of this atonement day, but it need not be only on Yom Kippur.

Every time we feel the need to blame someone else or try to dismiss our own shortcomings by looking for a scapegoat, remember one has already been offered for you. So instead of pushing the blame onto unto another innocent party or group, why not simply acknowledge your need for the cleansing power of Jesus’ sacrificial offering and accept Him as your permanent scapegoat? Better yet why not accept Him as the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world? (John 1:29)


But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)



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