Jesus was the perfect sacrifice. When Jesus died and was resurrected, He defeated Satan. The scripture tells us that He made a public display of the devil. He led captivity captive and Jesus, once and for all, did what He came to earth to do. He did what God told Him to do.
The Bible says that the reason the Son of Man was manifested was to destroy the works of the devil. What were the works of the devil? The work of the devil was to destroy God’s creation, man.
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
The devil came into the Garden of Eden to tempt Eve. Adam sinned and fell short of the glory of God. Before that point he was able to walk and talk with God. But when Adam fell into sin, he separated himself from being able to fellowship with God. That’s what spiritual death is. Spiritual death is separation from God.
The work of the devil was to separate man from God. In the New Testament we are told that one of the works of Jesus was to reconcile man back to God. The only way we can step into the presence of God again is for us to be cleansed of our sins and to be perfect. How can we do that? The answer is, we can’t do that. It is impossible. You cannot be good enough to get into the presence of God.
That’s where grace comes in. Grace is God’s willingness to do for us that thing that we can’t do for ourselves. What is the thing we can’t do? We cannot clean ourselves up enough to go into the presence of God.
No matter how good we try to be, no matter how religious we try to be, no matter how much we tithe, no matter how much we give to the poor, no matter how many good works we do, no matter how many times we mow our neighbor’s yard, no matter how much we love our spouse and kiss our kids, we cannot get ourselves good enough to stand in the presence of God. We would die.
Satan liked it that way because man was forever separated from God. If man tried to get into the presence of God, He would die. In all of the earth, the high priest, once a year, one man out of all the millions of people on the earth, got to go into the Holy of Holies. But even that was marginal. The sacrifices of the blood of bulls and goats had to be done just the perfect way.
But God had a plan. He sent His Son here to the earth so that all mankind could be cleansed of their sin. Then all mankind could do what they were created to do, which is to fellowship with God and to live with God through all eternity.
But either man had to be perfect or he had to have the perfect sacrifice. The perfect sacrifice, the only sacrifice that was without sin was Jesus. So God sent His Son, Jesus, here to the earth and He shed His blood on a cross for you and for me.
We must understand what Jesus did. We must understand that Jesus died for our sins, and accept Him as Lord and Savior. That’s what we call becoming saved and born again. Without the blood of Jesus, we could accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and it wouldn’t do us any good at all. Without His perfect sacrifice, there is no remission of sins.
But because of His sacrifice we now have the ability to spend eternity with God. All we have to do is receive Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior by faith. All the work for salvation is complete. God’s plan is in place. The choice is ours. Choose life!
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Dr. Larry Ollison is founder and Senior Pastor of Walk on the Water Faith Church and founder of Larry Ollison Ministries. With over forty years in the ministry, he is a very popular speaker nationally and internationally and ministers the Word of Faith through radio, television, Internet, and daily e-mail devotionals. As the author of twelve books (including The Power of Grace, The Practical Handbook for Christian Living, Breaking the Cycle of Offense, Life is in the Blood, and recently released The Paradise of God), he is in frequent demand for radio/TV interviews, book signings, and magazine publications.
Dr. Ollison was raised a Southern Baptist. While majoring in theology at Southwest Baptist University, he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. For many years he traveled extensively speaking at Full Gospel Business Men's meetings and conventions. He later earned an M.A. in Theology and a Ph.D. and Th.D. from Life Christian University.
Currently President of International Convention of Faith Ministries (ICFM), Dr. Ollison is also Vice-President of Spirit FM Christian Radio Network, Missouri State Director of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), and a Trustee on the boards of several international ministries. He is also the host of The Cutting Edge Radio Broadcast and authors The Cutting Edge Daily Devotional.
As the owner of a marine dealership, his extensive business background brings a unique flavor to his teaching. He founded and served as chairman of the Missouri State Marine Board, President of the Marine Dealers’ Association, Vice-President of a bank holding company, along with holding several directorships in various corporations.
Dr. Ollison's strongest areas of teaching are the blood of Jesus, faith, relationships, the Hebrew language, the Holy Spirit, the end times, and heaven. During ministry, he operates freely in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. His use of humor and his ability to make a theological concept simple makes it enjoyable and easy for everyone to understand. Countless testimonies have been received from people who say their lives have been changed after experiencing Dr. Ollison's unique ministry.
Dr. Ollison is a pastor, pilot, teacher, and author. His number one goal is to meet the needs of the people through the teaching of faith in God's Word. He and his wife, Loretta, have two children and six grandchildren.