Tonight we talked about the Old Testament plan of redemption and why it didn’t work to take away sin.  Bro Dale used Hebrews 10:1-26 as his scripture text. In this passage, God instituted the sacrifice hoping to reform the people, not just to forgive (or use as a payment for) their sin.  The animal was supposed to be perfect and was often a family pet.  Special attention had to be given to it to keep it from getting a blemish.  Because of this, the animal was singled out and often kept in the home.  When it was finally killed, the blood, bleating, and gore were to affect the person and make them realize that their sin caused this animal to suffer.  It was supposed to act as a deterrent to keep them from going out and committing the same offence. 

Over the years, as usually happens, the routine of making sacrifices every year became a habit and the habit lost its meaning.  It was just a form of religion by the time Jesus came on the scene.  A way to have your sins paid off. You could even pick up a “drive thru” sacrifice on your way into the temple.  No more “cost” was involved by tenderly raising and caring for the animal for a year.  It was more like a casual forgiveness.  This is what enraged Jesus when He overthrew the moneychangers in the temple.  They were “stealing” from the people by taking away their remorse for sin.   

When the True Lamb came on the scene and died, the same effect should have happened as in the Old Testament.  We were to see His blamelessness and how our sins caused Him to suffer.  As a result, it should change our mind about sin as well.  We won’t want to commit it and hurt God anymore. 

How careful we must be today to insure that our worship and spiritual activities do not become routine and lose their meaning.  Many times this happens after several generations pass.  It is impossible to pass down true worship to God.  What the next generation sees is the FORM or expression of worship (raising the hands, clapping, going to church).  If they do not possess a real relationship with God, the form ends up getting passed down.  Before long you end up with just a bunch of religious activities, but no life in it. It is just a short distance in going from liberty to legalism.

If we focus on the relationship with God, the outward expression will take care of itself and our children will model our example of seeking God and not the forms.