FirstUpdate | April 30, 2021

Last Sunday, I shared the third message in our sermon series, The Pathway to Pentecost, titled “The Cross—Jesus Paid It All!" The message defined the great sin bearer, Jesus Christ. Sometimes it is asked, “What happened to our sins?”

In the Old Testament, two animals were used as the sin offering as described in Leviticus 16. One animal was the sacrificial lamb and a second (not often mentioned) was the scapegoat. In verse 10, it states, “But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.”

The scapegoat was the one on which the priests symbolically laid the iniquities of Israel; then they slapped him, and he went running into the wilderness, carrying their sins away. The imagery is very strong as we have all seen in the secular setting, when someone ends up getting the ax for everyone else, we call that person a “scapegoat.”

So, Christ was not just our Sacrificial Lamb who paid the price for our sins. He was also the Scapegoat who carried our sins away.

Have you ever thought about the reason we have trouble getting our church to enter into real worship? It is because we don’t understand what Jesus did on the cross. If we fully understood what Christ did for us, we would never need any high-power instruments to worship God. When we know all the goodness of Jesus on the cross and all that He has done for us, our souls cannot help but shout, “Hallelujah!”

When we don’t understand what Jesus did, we end up praising God for meaningless stuff. For example, “Oh, praise God, I got a new car!” or, “Oh, they marked down that dress! Thank you, Jesus.” or, “I got free tickets to the game! Bless the Lord.” In the meantime, God is looking at us as though we’re crazy!

The truth of the matter is He has provided for us so much more than a dress, a car, or free tickets to a great game! When our soul was chained to the gates of hell, Jesus came Himself and died for us. When He took our sin upon Himself, He took our place and set us free! If we are going to praise Him, we ought to praise Him for that!

Here is the bottom line! When Jesus died, He had us on His mind. The thing that Satan torments us with is guilt and shame. But Jesus says, “I covered that!” I think what Jesus was really saying to us was, “Cast all your cares on Me and let Me carry them away.” Jesus is our Scapegoat.

Remember when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him, and he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Whatever our sin, the blood of Jesus will wash it away. We can be clean! We can be healed!

The message for this coming Lord’s Day is titled, “The Cross—The Place of His Passion” from Acts 1:1-3. Here is just a taste of our message this Sunday: “If you enter into His passion, He will deliver you from your mess.”

I want you to take a few moments this week and reflect on your life. Imagine a God who knows your deepest, darkest secrets and yet keeps saying, “You are so beautiful to Me. You are my chosen." From the cross, Christ cried out, “I thirst!” but it wasn’t for water. It was for you! Two thousand years later, He says, “I’m waiting for you! I love you!"

Missions Yard Sale + Youth Fundraiser

Looking for a Scapegoat

Worship With Us This Sunday!

National Day of Prayer

Choices Walk for Life

VBS 2021 | "Destination Dig" | June 6-11

Read Through the Bible in 2021

SBC Missionary Highlight & Prayer Prompt

Giving Options

This Week @ FBC Strafford

This Sunday, May 2