The Supreme Moment in History
1 PETER 2:21-24 

Sin is so atrocious in the Lord’s eyes that it costs a life. Without the shedding of blood, there’s no forgiveness and no remission of sin (Heb. 9:22). God set up a system of animal sacrifice as a temporary solution to the problem. An Israelite would take a spotless lamb to the priest, lay hands on its head, and confess his sin. The priest would sacrifice the animal and sprinkle its blood on the altar. The Israelite went away purified.

Throughout history, countless beasts were slain, which seems like an awesome waste from a human perspective. The Lord, however, was making an eternal point: Holy God cannot accept sin.

The Lord is vehemently opposed to sin because of its devastating power. Look at the television news or the front page of the newspaper to see the results of wrongdoing in people’s lives. It brings harm and ruin. Our heavenly Father does not want us to suffer those destructive consequences. Therefore, the Father made one final sacrifice by putting Christ on the cross to die as our substitute. On that day, God judged sin. He put the weight of mankind’s wrongs onto Jesus’ shoulders and exacted the death penalty from His only Son. Animal sacrifice was instantly obsolete because the Lamb of God took away the sins of the world (John 1:29).

God deemed sin so horrible and destructive that He willingly killed His own Son in order to break its power. For His part, Jesus offered Himself as a substitute. He purchased victory over sin for those believe in Him. That was the supreme moment in human history