Mary Anneliese and I have spent a lot of time this year talking about sacrifice. We have read through the first several books of the Old Testament together as part of our homeschooling lessons. A significant portion of the Books of Law is God laying out His plan of redemption to the Israelites. It was a plan of bringing sacrifices as payment for sin. Each time the Israelites entered the temple for worship and hearing the Law, they were to first stop at the table of sacrifice and make restitution for their sin. They would bring goats, rams, birds, or whatever sacrifice they had. They brought the sin offering, the thank offering, the guilt offering, the grain offering, the fellowship offering. They brought it all as a sacrifice in order to make atonement.

I don’t know why chose for us to make restitution by sacrifice – this giving of innocent as payment for guilty. But that is the process that He, by His divine authority, gave us. As modern day Christians, those living after the Once and Final sacrifice was given, we know that we no longer stop at the front doors of church each Sunday morning and sacrifice goats or birds. Jesus became our all-encompassing sacrifice. Our Once and For All. Our Final Payment. And His sacrifice is enough. It is complete. It is able to make us children of the Most High God.

If God has given us such a complete payment for our sins, if He has made us worthy to be His children through the shed blood of Jesus, if He has atoned us completely and irrevocably, why do we try so hard to earn our salvation? Why do we still rely on good choices and being a nice person, instead of resting in His grace? Why do we try to be good enough and do good enough, when our sins have already marred us for eternity and the only way we can earn salvation is by accepting His already-paid-for atonement? Why do we try to do for ourselves what Jesus has done for us so perfectly?

The real answer to those questions is because we listen to the lies of the Enemy instead of claiming hold of our inheritance by faith. We blindly listen to the father of lies as he guilts us into believing that we don’t deserve salvation. And guess what… We don’t deserve it! That’s what grace is all about – God giving to us that which we have not earned. “For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:9) He gives us His grace-gift of salvation not because we deserve it, but because He wants us as His own and has made a way for it to happen.

Today is one of those days when I am just overwhelmed by God. I am completely undone by His total perfection. The depth of His creativity is unfathomable to me. I have no words to describe Him because He is above my ability to use words in a descriptive way. Everything that is on this earth has its beginning in Him. He is the eventual source of all that is good. His holiness is so great that I cannot stand before Him, and yet He calls me to approach His throne of grace with confidence. How can that be?

His gift of salvation and completeness in Him? Why does He deem us worthy of that? We are dead in sin – completely dead. And yet, we are raised to new life in Him. I can’t wrap my mind around Him today. Or any day. I’m just very humbled and beyond grateful.