According to the law, almost everything is cleansed by blood. And without blood there is no remission of sins. This is the reason the people of the Old Covenant often offered bulls and rams as sacrifices to God. But the law of the Old Covenant was only the shadow of what was to come. Frequent sacrifices do not make perfect those who come with them, for sacrifices remind us of sins but can never remove sins. For if sacrifices did remove sins, would the sins not have ceased long ago?
When Christ came into the world, He knew that the sacrifices prescribed by the law were not God’s desire; rather God’s will was for Jesus to be the Lamb bearing the burden of sin. Only by the blood of Jesus, shed for the sins of this world, can we be cleansed; for the sins of this world are so great, only by Jesus’ death can humanity be reconciled to God. If Christ did not give up His life, God’s justice and love could never be fulfilled.
Jesus knew what God desired from the body God prepared beforehand for him. Therefore, our Lord Jesus zealously preached the truth to lead many to God. At death, Jesus bore the sins of humankind and was crucified on a cross. Jesus’ life journey is best described in what He once said, "I have come to do Thy will."
When Paul was called, he asked the Lord, "O Lord, what should I do?" The Lord said, "Rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do" (Acts 9:6). Once Paul understood the mission entrusted to him by the Lord, he was determined to fulfill his apostleship to the Gentiles; he suffered and preached with vigor for Jesus till he gave up his life.
Our bodies, like Jesus’, are vessels prepared by the Lord of heaven. May God reveal to us His reason for calling us out of this world of darkness. If Jesus is with us and helps us through life’s journey, we must go just like the apostle Paul, and if we fulfill God’s mission for our lives we will be that much more fulfilled. Only then will our death be worthy!
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