THE SHADOW OF GOD WAS AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS
Psalm 40:6-8 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for me; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, “Here I am. I have come - it is written about me in the scroll. To do your will, O my God, is my desire; your law is within my heart.”
At first this may seem confusing, because we look to the Passover and God’s demand for a perfect lamb to be sacrificed and then later in Leviticus we see God demanding all kinds of sacrifice. There was sacrifices to be made for the sake of tradition like the Passover to unintentional sin. How can we explain what is going on here?
We need to remind ourselves of temporal truth and eternal law. We also need to remind ourselves of the intent of the law or action. Was it God’s desire or intention for permanent reconciliation to come about, or just a temporary appeasing of his wrath? What was the real purpose of the sacrifice in the first place? If we go to Hebrews 10:1-18 we see a lot of this explained. It says, “ The law is only a shadow of good things that are coming - not the realities themselves.” The law was given so that people would have an understanding of what God was like, and how they could be like God. God does not sin, because he isn’t like that. God does not lie, and he wants us to be like him. When Jesus came to earth he came as a demonstration and fulfillment of what God is like. There was no sin in Jesus. This is why he was able to take the sins of all humanity on himself atoning for our sins.
What the Hebrews saw in the law was the shadow that was cast from the cross of Jesus. The law was never meant to be a bad thing, but rather a good thing. It was only because of our carnal nature and our free will that humanity freely chose to rebel from what was good in doing God's will. It is ironic as we see in Gen 3:1-5 that Satan lies in saying Adam and Eve couldn’t trust God, because he didn’t want them to be like him. In fact as we see in Isaiah 14:13,14 Satan says he will be like God, but then does the opposite of what God would do! If Satan would have really wanted to be like God he would have been like Jesus in the garden, humble and wanting to do the Heavenly Father's will. Jesus wanted to glorify his Heavenly Father, and Satan only wanted to glorify himself! In turn Adam and Eve believed Satan's lie and wanted to exalt their lives by being like God knowing good and evil. So if we really want to obey the law and be like God we will be like God’s Son on the cross! (vs1b) “For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.” The sacrifice was an act of obedience that demonstrated not only their remorse for their rebellion of sin, but their desire to be Christ-like or like God. For God it was not just a matter of continual repentance, but for them to truly change and start living Godlike. This is why God commands us to be holy as he is holy. (I Peter 1:16) This is why we must be born again! (Jn 3:1-18) Only by being born again can a person have their heart changed, so they want God’s will rather than their own. The Christian will sin, but it is certainly not their desire as it was before they became a Christian. The intent for sin has entirely changed for the Christian. Now obedience to the law is motivated by a passion to be Christ-like, and not escape hell's torment.
Being born again is an instantaneous event, but because of our humanity and free will it is also ongoing. When we do sin it is because of the weakness of our humanity. The sacrifice by Jesus was perfect in every way, in that it provided a grace that far exceeds our sin. Because of this Jesus doesn’t have to continually return to sacrifice himself again and again. It was his one perfect sacrifice for all people, for all time, that enables the very weakest of Christian to fulfill God’s command to be holy as he is holy. Thus in the perfection of Jesus we take on the likeness of Jesus, rather than the sinful rebellion of Satan.
Lastly in my attempt to explain this Psalm to you, I want to show you the eternal aspect of Jesus’ sacrifice of himself. This is that it was not just for the sake of humanity. Jesus sacrifice was also for God! God could not overlook the accountability of sin, a sacrifice needed to be made. By Jesus sacrificing himself, God remained his being just. God did not have to compromise his characteristic of holiness by being unrighteous. Nor did he have to take away our free will, and us losing our ability to love God and experience God’s love in return. This is why in verse 14 it says, “because of one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” We become holy or Christ-like, just as God always wanted us to be. The sin of Adam and Even that lead to our having the carnal nature and all our sin no longer needs to keep us separated from God.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus and Holy Spirit, we thank you for your wonderful love and kindness. As you point out to us in II Cor 3:18, with each day we become more Christ-like in every increasing waves of glory, please help us to be more like you until we at last in the twinkle of an eye come into your presence. We ask this in Jesus holy name.
