THE SUPERNATURAL NAME OF JESUS

THE MESSAGE OF THE CROSS IS FOOLISHNESS TO THOSE WHO ARE PERISHING PART 2

THE WAY PEOPLE WORSHIPED GOD BEFORE THE DEATH OF  CHRIST

The mistake people make is to look at God has been canal. God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (john4:24)

In the early part of the ministry of Jesus Christ in John 4, He met a Samaritan woman at a well in Samaria. Jesus cleared the doubt and believes about where to worship God. To the Samaritan, it was on the Mountain in Samaria, to the Jews, you must go down to Jerusalem before you can worship God.

            John 4:21, Jesus said believe me the hour is coming when you will    neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem worship the Father and in

            verse 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will          worship the father in spirit and in truth; for the Father is seeking such to       worship Him and anyone who warship Him must do so in spirit and in          truth.

This does not dispute the fact that God was not receiving their worship but with human knowledge, the Jews believed before you can worship God you must come to Jerusalem and likewise the Samaritan, you must worship God on the mountain where Jacob dug well. The question is was God restricted to one place?

The Blood of Animals was Used to Atone for Sin. Before there will be forgiveness of sins, there must be shedding of blood before the death of Christ. Firstly let us discuss the composition of man: Body, spirit and soul. In the body, there is blood which is defined as the living tissue that flows round the entire body. That is why if someone is short of blood doctor will transfuse him. This tells us there is life in the blood.

            Leviticus 17:11. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it             to you upon the alter to make atonement for your souls: For it is the blood            that makes atonement for the soul.

This scripture was taken from the third book of Moses. We can now see that the life of animal is in blood and God has given it for us to make atonement for sins. Therefore, if there must be forgiveness of sin, God commanded His children that there must be shedding of animal’s blood on the alter prepared for God.

The blood of man can cry to God. Another thing we must also know about blood is that it can cry to God. Remember that God is spirit, He created man and He knows the reason why He put life in blood.

In Gen 4: 1-10, we will see account of the Abel who offered burnt offerings from his best animals to God and his offerings was accepted. And we can also see account of what happened when Cain killed Abel his blood brother like the way many people have killed theirs today: How many innocent blood have you shed? Their blood is also crying for vengeance that is why the end of people that shed innocent blood is always bad like Cain. What we see nowadays is disheartening,  when people kill other human beings in the name God: They are blinded by devil through wrong teachings and they have their part in the lake of fire if they fail to repent.  

            In verse 10: God said something; what has thou done? The voice of your brother’s blood cried unto me from the ground. God told Cain that his brother’s blood cried to God. He didn’t say his soul, bone, or flesh. “He said blood”.

In Gen 8:20-21, Noah made an alter and sacrificed animals as burnt offerings after the flood and it was recorded that a good savour went  to God and God decided that He will not use flood to destroy the world again. 

Then during the time of Abraham in Gen 19:1-19 God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac and as he was preparing to slaughter him on the Alter God stopped him and gave him a ram instead. And in Gen 46:1 we can see how Israel made sacrifice to the God of his father Jacob.

We can see from the above scriptural references that earliest men of faith Abel, Noah, Abraham, and Isaac made sacrifices to God by slaughtering animals on the Alter before their sins can be forgiven or they can worship God.