HSS2502006

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(Derek) Welcome to Hope Sabbath School,

an in-depth, interactive study

of the Word of God.

Have you been enjoying this series

on Bible Prophecies and Stories

for the Last Days?

It's so relevant.

And we're glad you joined us today

as we're studying

about Understanding Sacrifice.

You say, "Derek, that doesn't

sound very exciting."

Well, you'll discover

it's all about Jesus, and it

will bless your life, so welcome

to Hope Sabbath School.

Welcome to the team,

say, "Hi," to each other.

We're glad you're all here,

looking great today.

And I'm excited because Puia's

going to be leading our study today.

Puia, we always are blessed

when you lead us.

And let's see who's

joining us remotely today.

Rodney, great to have you with us today.

We're glad you're here.

Shaina, always good to have you with us.

And, Alex, great to have you

with us today.

And we're glad that you are here, too,

because you are part

of our interactive study.

I hope you brought your Bible with you,

and we'll have a great study together.

We're always happy to hear from you,

our Hope Sabbath School family

around the world.

You can write to us at [e-mail],

and I'm blessed when the emails come,

and aren't you, team?

And we get to hear how God is blessing

around the world.

Well, here is a note

from one of our team members.

Do you remember John from India,

one of our team teachers?

Well, John, thank you for writing to us.

He writes, and he says, "It's John.

I'm emailing you

from the country of India.

I hope this email finds you all well.

I've been in India since August of 2024,

and I've been preaching almost every week.

As I'm going around to various churches,

in almost every church, people talk
to me about..."?

(Derek, Team) "...Hope Sabbath School."

(Derek) "This goes to show

the global impact of Hope Sabbath School

is felt in my home country

of India." Amen?

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) Does anybody remember

how many people live in India?

(Joshua) Over a billion.

(Derek) Yes, it's 1.4 billion.

It is the most populated country

on the planet.

And he says, "Thank you

for the opportunity to be part

of Hope Sabbath School's ministry

for Jesus Christ.

God bless you all. Amen."

(Team) Amen!

(Derek) John, thanks for writing to us.

We miss you, but we're excited to hear

that God is blessing as you're sharing

the good news about a God who loves

with an immeasurable and unfailing love.

Tiffo writes to us from Ethiopia,

and Tiffo says, "Love and peace,

Hope Sabbath School family."

(Team) Hello.

(Derek) Got the wave.

"I'm blessed following

your teaching every day.

Hopefully, many are blessed

and understand there is only one way

to come to God, and that is through Jesus.

God bless you all."

Well, Tiffo, thanks for writing

to us from Ethiopia.

We're glad that you're blessed as part

of the Hope Sabbath School family.

Here is a handwritten note

from a donor couple in Tennessee

in the United States, and, Donor Couple,

you know, we don't read names,

but you'll recognize your message,

and I want to say thank you to you

and to each of our donors.

"My wife and I have been joining

with Hope Sabbath School

ever since the pandemic.

We appreciate your method of teaching

and the inclusion of all in your group."

I guess that's diversity, right?

"May God bless you all, with love,"

and a gift of a thousand dollars

to bless the global ministry.

I just want to say thank you, Tennessee,

and thank you to each one of our donors.

We are all part of a great miracle.

You say, "Derek, how can I help?"

Go to our website, hopetv.org/hopess,

click on the Donate button,

or get the address and write a note

just like this donor couple did.

And thank you to each one of you.

One last note, this was beautiful,

from Samuel in Canada, and Samuel

writes and says, "Hello,

Hope Sabbath School family."

(Team) Hello.

(Derek) I actually like it when they

do that because then we can wave.

"We get a lot of inspiration

from your teaching of the Word of God.

We love everything

about Hope Sabbath School,

from the songs,

the interactive discussion, the diversity,

and the inclusion

of the worldwide community

through reading our emails.

What a blessing!

Thank you, Hope Sabbath School,

for enabling us to understand

God's Word better."

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) "May God continue to bless you

and your ministry, Samuel."

Well, Samuel, thanks for taking the time

to write to us; that's an encouragement,

and that's really why we do this,

so people can understand the Word of God

and realize that God loves us so much.

And as Puia leads us in our study today,

we'll discover that.

But, before we sing our theme song,

I want to remind you about that free gift,

because as we study about Bible Prophecies

and Stories for the Last Days,

we'll realize that we

need supernatural protection.

"A time of trouble is coming,"
Daniel prophesied,

"such as has never been."

But, we don't need to be afraid

if we know that we have a Savior

who is also our strong Deliverer.

So, I've got a resource for you

in this series.

It's called Radical Protection.

You can just go to our website,

hopetv.org/hopess, that's it,

and click on the Free Gift tab,

and you can download a digital copy.

I know you'll be blessed.

You can also download

the theme song and the sheet music.

I hope you've learned it already.

It's from Colossians 3:16, "Let the word

of Christ dwell in you richly

in all wisdom, teaching

and admonishing one another."

That's what we're praying today, right?

Let's sing together.

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(Derek) Well, I'm looking forward

to our study today, Puia.

Thanks for leading us in prayer.

(Puia) Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, God, we thank You so much

for this opportunity to open Your words

and study them.

We pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance

for each one of us here as well as all

the Hope Sabbath School members

around the world.

Please bless us today

with spiritual insights so we may

see You clearer, so we may understand

Your love better.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen

(Derek, Team) Amen.

(Puia) As we begin, I want to come

to our viewers online wherever you

may be joining us from.

Thank you for joining us once again,

and today we're going to be looking

at a very important study

on Understanding Sacrifice.

We're going to look at the Bible

from Genesis, we're going to fly

through to Revelation, and we'll look

at themes of sacrifice, and this theme

will help us understand God better,

specifically His love for us

through the Person of Jesus Christ.

So, stay with us, go get your Bibles,

open the Bible along with us

as we read them; I am sure that you

will be blessed today.

So, thank you for joining us.

Alright, friends, we are now

on lesson number six in this series

as we're looking at Bible Prophecies

and Stories for the Last Days.

Today, this is going to be

a very important study.

For some of us, it may be a lesson

that we may have studied before,

and maybe you say, "Oh, I understand

everything there is to understand
about sacrifice."

Oh, wait a minute.

You'll see more, that there is

so much more from the Bible

about sacrifice and how it points

to the love of God.

If we are to take away one lesson

from today, I'm going to say this

ahead of time, there is one simple point

that we need to take away: It's Jesus.

(Team) Amen.

(Puia) Sacrifice, Jesus,

and His love for us.

So, let us go to Leviticus

to begin our study, and I am going

to ask Scott if you can start our lesson

by reading Leviticus,

chapter 1, verses 1 to 4.

(Scott) Alright, Leviticus 1:1-4

in the English Standard Version:

(Puia) So, we see here

the clear instructions from God

through Moses to the children of Israel,

how they are to bring

sacrifice before God, a burnt offering.

But, is this the first place we see

in the Bible about sacrifice?

(Team) No.

(Puia) Anyone want to bring us

to, maybe, the first book

of the Bible? Nicole?

(Nicole) Well, in Genesis,

Abel brought a sacrifice to the Lord...

(Puia) Can you read that for us?

I think it's in Genesis,

chapter 4, verse 4.

Let's go back to the first book

of the Bible and see

where we see this sacrifice.

(Nicole) So, Genesis 4:4

in the New International Version says:

(Puia) Okay, so we find here a sacrifice,

even all the way from Genesis.

In fact, from reading Genesis 4,

we can understand that God

probably already gave them instructions

on how to do sacrifices

all the way back in Genesis,

from Adam and Eve, right?

We also see throughout the Bible, like

Noah sacrificing to God, right?

We also see other examples - Abraham.

Anyone else from Genesis?

(Scott) Job.

(Puia) Job, yes, around that time, too,

the early patriarch. Yes, Shawn.

(Shawn) There may even be a sacrifice

alluded to in Genesis 3.

If we go and look at Genesis 3:21,

it tells us that God made,
for Adam and Eve,

skins for them to wear.

The question comes, where did He

get the skins from?

So, already He has promised the Messiah

coming, in Genesis 3:15, and now He

may be alluding to the sacrificial system

of how they're covered

from their sin as well.

(Puia) So, in other words, Shawn,

what you're saying is the purpose

of the sacrifice, all the way

from the beginning of Genesis,

was to cover or to atone

for the sins, right?

Anyone else want to add on that point?

(Derek) Puia, I think that's

a really good point; this isn't something

that people thought up.

If it was, it would have been unfair

of God to say, "I accept Abel's sacrifice,

but I don't accept Cain's fruit offering."

Clearly, God had explained

not only what to do, but as Shawn

pointed out, the significance, right,

that it symbolized what God

was going to do to provide salvation.

(Puia) Right. Back in Leviticus

where we read, Leviticus, chapter 1,

that Scott read for us, there is

a very interesting instruction

that God gave to Moses in verse 4.

God said, "He shall put his hand

on the head of the burnt offering."

What do you think that symbolizes

when you put your hand on the animal

that is about to be sacrificed? Scott.

(Scott) There is a symbolic transference.

The sinner's sin is now transferred

to the sacrifice, just in the same way

that Jesus bore our sins when He offered

His life as a sacrifice.

(Puia) Alright, so you are going ahead

to the ultimate point of this sacrifice,

but thank you for pointing that out.

So, in other words, this animal,

this innocent animal, died

on behalf of the sinner.

And so, as the sinner put his hands

on the animal, symbolically the sin

is transferred to that animal,

and so the animal paid

for the sin of the sinner.

So, there is a deep symbolic transference,

symbolic sacrifice that we see from this.

Now, let's jump all the way to 1 Kings,

chapter 8, and let me request Sophia

to read this for us,

1 Kings, chapter 8, verses 62 to 63,

and let's look at the sacrifice

in which King Solomon led out

as they dedicate the new temple.

(Sophia) And I'll be reading

from the New King James Version:

(Puia) Wow! How many animals?

Twenty-two thousand bulls,

and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep -
that's a lot!

(Joshua) That's a whole lot.

(Puia) Joshua, that's a whole lot

of animals, right, you just said

that's a whole lot.

For someone like me who became

a vegetarian as a result

of watching animals suffering,

this number is a lot.

I remember I was in college,

and one of our professors in college

showed us this documentary

of how much the animal kingdom

is suffering as a result

of human consumption.

And after watching that documentary,

I was moved; I was like, "I have

to become a vegetarian."

So, from college, I decided to stop

eating animal meat.

And as I am reading this,

22,000 bulls, 120,000 sheep,

how do you explain this?

Or, what are your thoughts

about this massive number of animals

being sacrificed? Derek.

(Derek) Puia, I struggle with this,

because I don't see God asking

for such a massive amount of slaughter.

It makes me wonder if there is

a misunderstanding coming, that more

of them would be better.

But, actually it's a symbol,

so wouldn't a symbol

of one be significant?

I don't know; I struggle with that.

It's like saying, "I'll confess my sin,

but maybe if I did it 100 times

over and over again, God would be

more pleased with me."

And that's not the character

of God that we know.

(Puia) We don't see any instruction

from God for that massive number,
right? Joshua?

(Joshua) I mean, that's

a ridiculous amount.

And I'm just thinking about it,

because I once went to an event

where there were 50,000 people there

all at the same time, and it was

just an amazing amount of people.

So, I'm just here picturing 22,000 bulls

and 120,000 sheep, and I'm thinking,

how did they clean that up?

And on top of that, I mean, Solomon

was an extremely rich man,

the richest who ever lived,

so perhaps in his material wealth

he wanted to reflect the level

of spiritual sacrifice he could make.

(Puia) I see a few hands.

Let me come to our remote, Rodney,

Alex, then Zandile.

(Rodney) Puia, I appreciate the fact

that we are actually walking

through the Scriptures

on the sacrificial system, and Shawn

brought us to a very important point

from the very inception, which is,

in Genesis 3, verse 15, it speaks

to the fact (I'm just paraphrasing)
that there is

a deliberate and intentional connection

between sin and sacrifice

at ultimate delivery.

In other words, Genesis 3:15 brings us

to the point that says we have sinned,

and there is a Messiah who is to come

who is the ultimate sacrifice.

So, here it is now, we are

at, back to Joshua's point, 120,000 sheep

and 22,000 bulls.

I think the intent there is

to really demonstrate the depth

at which sin has taken us away from God.

And so, that chasm cannot be crossed

by 120,00 sheep and 22,000 bulls.

It had to be bridged

by the Son of God Himself.

And so, it brings to the fore

the real gravity of sin and what it takes

God to do for us to save us,

ultimately, from sin.

(Puia) Thank you, Rodney,

for this point. Alex?

(Alex) Yes, and all the comments

are very [good] because God...

That's a horrible sight to see,

all those animals, just slaughtered,

and that's exactly how God wants us

to see this whole process.

The sin issue is not a beautiful sight,

but by the grace of God, He will

deliver us from it.

(Puia) Okay. Zandile?

(Zandile) I'm coming

from a different angle.

When I was going through it,

I saw the willingness

of the people to give.

To me, it spoke to the gratitude

of human beings.

They were fully blessed by God

for them to give such a huge number

of sacrifices, and God accepts

their sacrifices anyway.

So, it was more like, "Are we willing
to give God as much as...

(Derek) I stand corrected.

It may be it was exactly what God

wanted to happen, and it does show

the gravity of sin and the appreciation.

I'll have to ask when we

get to Heaven, on that one.

(Puia) This is the beauty

of this discussion, right;

it's in-depth, interactive, because we

may have different perspectives,

and hearing different angles

gives us a bigger picture.

And as I was reading this,

I remembered that in another place,

in 2 Chronicles, chapter 7,

this same story is described,

but in 2 Chronicles we are told

that as Solomon prayed to God

in dedication of the temple,

the new temple that was built,

God filled the whole temple

with His presence, right,

that the priests could not enter

the temple because the presence

of God was so huge.

And so, we saw that God

accepted the sacrifice.

But still, even without that big number,

if you think about it, every day,

sacrificing an animal every day,

think about the number of animals

that were sacrificed on a regular basis.

It still is a huge number,

and what I learned for myself personally

from this was that it was so unfair

for that animal, and it was so unjust

for that animal.

What did that animal do, what did

that lamb do, what did that sheep do,

what did that bull do

to deserve that death? Nothing, right?

Naturally, there was the lesson there,

because it was pointing forward.

God was trying to teach them

that there is going to come a Savior

who is just, who is loving,

who doesn't deserve to die.

And yet, He is going to die

on behalf of sinners.

This was all pointing forward.

So, someone may be watching today

and may be saying, "When I look

at the Old Testament, when I see

all these sacrifices, this is so unfair,

this is so cruel!"

Well, my friend, that may be

the lesson we need to learn,

that the death of Jesus that was

foreshadowed by this death of animals

tells us that the death of Christ

in other words is so cruel,

that this is what sin does.

This is the price for dying

on behalf of the sinner.

Let's continue our study.

Now, this time let's go to Isaiah,

chapter 1, verses 10 to 11, and let me

request Stephanie to read this for us,

Isaiah, chapter 1, verses 10 to 11,

and let's see how God responds

to the peoples' sacrifice by this time.

(Stephanie) And I'll be reading

from the New King James Version:

(Puia) What can we learn

from this clear Word of God, Scott?

(Scott) This shows that the point

of sacrifices was never the sacrifice.

The point was what was going on behind it.

And so, you can kill all

the cattle you want, but if your heart

is not affected by it, if it doesn't

change your life, then it's done nothing.

Yeah, Jesus died, not just so we can say,

"Oh, yeah, He died," but He died

because He wants to change our lives.

(Puia) Okay, Kylynda.

(Kylynda) I was thinking
this is an example

of how it's easy to commodify

salvation and God, you know.

Kind of a modern example, we think,

"Well, if I just give this money,"

"If I just donate this item,"

"If I just purchase this for the church,

well, then I'm in a right space with God."

And we see this throughout history,

and I think for some Israelites, maybe it

had become rote, "Okay, well, here's

this sheep; alright, I'll go

to my temple visit and give up the sheep,

and we're good."

But, God is a God of immeasurable wealth.

Anything that we give is nothing, right?

And so, when we actually give something

like the Israelites were required to,

a sacrifice - which, God

doesn't love bloodshed - and they're

doing it without a change of heart,

that's a dangerous space.

(Puia) Thank you for pointing it out.

I think it's very easy even for us today

to look at our relationship with God

through that lens of religious traditions

and kind of like a checklist...

(Derek) Rituals.

(Puia) Right, rituals,

and just a checklist, "Okay, let me

check this box: I've done this,

I've done that, I've done that"

without trying to understand

what God is trying to teach us internally.

Derek, you mentioned the sacrifice

that God accepted

between Abel and Cain, right?

God accepted the sacrifice of Abel

but rejected Cain, why was that? Nicole.

(Nicole) It's a heart issue

as it's been said before.

I think that the Lord wants

a relationship with us.

He wants to be in our hearts

and not just in our behaviors.

And so, we have to get to the place

where our hearts are with Him

and not just what we're doing

that shows who He is.

(Puia) That's right. Rodney.

And after Rodney's comment,

I want to ask Shawn to get ready

with Hebrews, chapter 10, verses 1 to 4.

Rodney, your comment, please.

(Rodney) Puia, may I read Isaiah,

chapter 1, a little bit further down

in that very same chapter, to indicate

what God was truly interested in,

Isaiah, chapter 1...

(Puia) Okay.

(Rodney) ...verses 16 to 18.

(Puia) Give us some time to find that...

(Rodney) And while we're reading that,

as we said earlier, Israel had gotten

to the point now, when this

just became like a ritual,

it's like what we do day in and day out,

it really lost its meaning

in pointing people towards Jesus

who was going to be

the ultimate Sacrifice

for all of our sins.

And here is what God is now interested in,

Isaiah 1, verses 16 to 18, and I'm reading

from the New King James Version, it says:

Then verse 18, and I love it; it says:

(Puia) Thank you, Rodney,

for pointing that out.

I think this connects very well

with the next verse that Shawn

will be reading for us from Hebrews,

chapter 10, verses 1 to 4.

(Shawn) Yes, I'll be reading

Hebrews 10:1-4 from the English
Standard Version.

Hebrews 10, verse 1:

(Puia) Okay, so from that text,

it's very clear that the blood

of the animal itself

cannot take away the sin.

So, what was God trying to teach them?

I think in verse 1 it hinted that, right?

There's that word; I don't know

about your version, but in my version,

the New King James Version, it says,

"a shadow of the good things to come,"

so all the sacrifices were

just a shadow of a greater thing

that was to come.

As we have hinted at before,

it was pointing forward to something

that was real. Scott.

(Scott) One of the major themes

in the book of Hebrews is

how Jesus is better, right?

And so, Jesus is a better sacrifice,

there's a better priesthood,

better all these things.

But in this case, the animal sacrifices

pointed to a better sacrifice,

that of Jesus.

A sacrifice of animals,

that couldn't take away sins,

but Jesus' death on the cross

does have that ability

to take away sins.

(Puia) Right, so if we put ourselves

in the shoes of the people living

before the time of Jesus,

they were looking forward to this event

of the coming of the Messiah, a Savior.

And by participating in that sacrifice,

they were receiving the gift of salvation

and the forgiveness of sin in advance

in symbolic traditions.

It's almost like when you buy

a ticket before traveling.

Let's say you purchase

a plane ticket to travel somewhere,

and you have been given that ticket

through your email

or through your cell phone.

By looking at that ticket,

you are able to see...

The ticket is like a symbol

of the journey to come.

And then once you are on the plane

actually traveling, the plane ticket

had served its purpose, right?

So, all the sacrifices of the animals

were just symbolic representations

of the actual event that was to come.

And when that did come, the sacrifices

would have met their end, right?

They would have served their purpose.

Now, let's go back to Exodus and see

this even clearer about how it was

pointing forward to the coming

of the Messiah.

Let me request Shaina to read

for us Exodus, chapter 12.

If you can read for us verses 1 to 8,

verses 1 to 8 of Exodus 12, please.

(Shaina) Sure, and I'll be reading

from the New King James Version:

(Puia) Thank you for reading that.

So, we see this symbolic representation

of the coming event once again,

but at this time they were

still in Egypt as slaves, right?

They were still slaves, and God was

just about to bring them

out of their slavery.

So as they sacrificed this animal,

a lamb without blemish,

they were to take the blood

and put it on the doorpost,

and God was saying

something was about to happen.

Let's continue; Shaina, can you

take us to verses 12 and 13?

Let's just conclude this part of the story

in verses 12 and 13 of Exodus 12.

(Shaina) Sure, and I will be reading

from the New King James Version:

(Puia) Okay, so God is saying,

"I will pass over the house

wherever there is blood on the door."

What important insight is God

trying to teach them here? Shawn.

(Shawn) What I love about this passage

is that it just shows how powerful

our salvation really is.

And what strikes me is that,

as God passed through, He did not ask

who was inside, He did not ask

what they did, He did not ask

for a recounting of their wrongs.

All He looked for was if the blood

of the lamb was on the door.

And if the blood of the lamb covered them,

it was enough for Him to pass over.

And that's what Jesus does for us as well.

As Scott was alluding to earlier

with the transfer of the sacrifice,

when we have accepted Jesus,

His life covers ours.

His character is counted as if it

was our own, and God looks at you

as if you have never sinned,

and you experience

that great Passover in your life.

(Puia) That is beautiful.

In fact, if we had time, and I wish

we could read more,

it's a very interesting story.

God even instructed them that they

were to celebrate this every single year

moving forward, right, as a remembrance

of how God delivered them

out of Egypt from slavery.

And so, this was to become

a memorial every year.

And as we fast forward, Rodney,

can I ask you to take us

to Matthew 26, verses 17 to 18,

and let's see what Jesus does

on this Passover celebration

when Jesus was here on Earth,

moving forward to Matthew 26,

verses 17 and 18, please.

(Rodney) And I'm reading

from the New King James Version:

(Puia) And can you quickly take us also

to verses 26 to 30

of the same chapter, Matthew 26.

(Rodney) Still reading

from the New King James Version:

(Puia) Okay, so Jesus was here on Earth,

and it was the Passover celebration time

of that year, and Jesus instituted

basically a new institution

but based on the same principle.

What is Jesus trying to teach

His disciples through this institution

of the Lord's Supper

on Passover celebration time?

Anyone? Okay, I see Shaina

and Rodney, yes.

(Shaina) So, ultimately Jesus was trying

to show them that these symbols,

these processes that the Jewish nation

had been practicing for these centuries

at this point,

He was coming to finally fulfill it

and ultimately put an end to this system

because He is the ultimate Lamb.

He is the Passover,

the initial Passover Lamb,

that was sacrificed

whose blood covered households.

Now, His blood would cover

the entire world.

And so, He was demonstrating it.

It's so...I don't know, it's so important

that He did it at the exact time

that that first Passover happened, too.

(Puia) Right, in other words, Jesus

was confirming to everyone that, "Hey,

it's Me, it's about Me.

All the sacrifices,

especially the Passover celebration

was pointing forward to this event

that I am about to go through.

I am the sacrifice," right?

Rodney, you have a comment, please.

(Rodney) I love what Shaina just said.

I really see a pattern happening here

from back in Israel's time

where you had the 400-plus years

of slavery, then you had the sacrifice,

and then a miraculous (we call

it Passover) delivery of God's people.

But, here it is now, we fast forward

many generations later, Jesus is

now saying, back to what you

just said, Puia, "I am

that Passover Lamb; I am the One."

So, we see sin ravaging the world

all the way from Adam,

generations after generations,

all the way to Jesus' time.

Following the sequence,

Jesus now dies as that Passover Lamb,

and then there is going to be

an ultimate deliverance

of God's people to come.

And here we are living in that time

just before the ultimate deliverance.

So, it is clear that Jesus was

really telling the disciples and all of us

that He was fulfilling this Passover Lamb,

and then the deliverance is to come,

which is the Second Coming of Jesus.

(Puia) Thank you, that's amazing.

So, most of us here and maybe our viewers

from home, too, we may say,

"Well, I wasn't there in Exodus.

You know, I wasn't there in Egypt.

I don't feel like I am a part

of that Passover celebration."

But, guess what, by Jesus' institution,

this Lord's Supper, we are

now a part of it!

Jesus is inviting everyone of us

to celebrate the deliverance that God

has provided for us, not from Egypt

but the deliverance from sin, right,

by Jesus dying on the cross

as the sacrificial Lamb,

the Passover Lamb.

In fact, we don't have the time

to read this, but in the New Testament,

Paul, in 1 Corinthians, chapter 5,

verse 7, calls Jesus as "Christ,

our Passover Lamb."

So, by accepting Jesus

as our Passover Lamb, we can proclaim

the deliverance that God has provided

for us from Satan's control, from sin.

From the bondage of sin,

from the slavery of sin,

from the condemnation of sin,

Christ has delivered us.

That's a beautiful concept.

Now, testimony time, this institution

that Jesus instituted

just before He was arrested and crucified,

that Passover time that year,

Jesus taught His disciples,

"Do this in remembrance of Me,"

washing His disciples' feet

and giving them bread

and the grape juice, the wine,

to remember Him.

So, the Christian church tradition

has been to celebrate this every so often.

Testimony time, has anyone

had an experience where the celebration

of the Lord's Supper touched you

in a special way?

Alex, I see your hand.

(Alex) I can remember one, specifically,

or I have been doing this recently

whenever we partake of the bread

and the wine, I picture myself

as if I was a part of the 12

right then and there

and hearing Jesus' words

and even experiencing my feet

being washed by the Savior.

And that always touches me

whenever I just think of Jesus

actually being there with me

doing the service,

and not only just washing my feet

but asking me to allow Him

to wash my heart, too.

(Puia) Thank you for sharing that.

I once read a story where this one church

was celebrating the Lord's Supper,

and as the pastor and the elders prayed

over the bread and the grape juice,

and they started distributing
to the members,

there was this young lady who was sitting

in one of the pews.

As the deacon came towards her,

she felt unworthy to participate,

so she told the deacon, "I'm not worthy

to take this; I can't take this.

I'm too sinful."

So, the deacon whispered to her,

"Young lady, take it.

It's for sinners."

It's for you; it's for me!

This is a beautiful symbolic institution

that Jesus has instituted for us

to participate in, for sinners like us

who can be washed clean once again.

Nicole, your comment.

(Nicole) I was going to say that I think

it was very meaningful for me

when I could share it with my daughters.

When they were old enough to understand

the sacrifice that Jesus has made

and what it means to partake

in the supper I think it was
very meaningful

to me to be able to wash their feet

and have them wash mine.

That was something that I

can always remember.

(Puia) That's beautiful.

I wish we had the time to stay here

a little longer, but time is running out,

so we have to move

to the next part of our study.

Now, this plan of God's

to save us from sin,

according to the Bible

is not an afterthought.

This was already in place by God,

and we find this in Revelation 13,

verse 8, and let me request Kylynda

to take us there, revelation 13, verse 8.

And let's see how the Lamb

is described here.

(Kylynda) I'll be reading

from the New King James Version:

(Puia) "The Lamb slain

from the foundation of the world."

Sophia, can you take us to 1 Peter,

chapter 1, verses 18 to 21,

1 Peter 1, verses 18 to 21.

Let's look at this same principle

of the Lamb that was slain

from the foundation of the world.

How does Peter [describe it]

in chapter 1, verses 18 to 21?

(Sophia) And I'll be reading

from the New King James Version:

(Team, Puia) Amen.

(Puia) So, can anyone comment

on this idea that the Lamb of God,

the Lamb that was slain

even before the foundation of the world?

In other words, it seems that God

already had this plan in place. Scott?

(Scott) That's just what I

was going to say.

God wasn't caught by surprise.

When God created us, He knew

because He knew the future.

He knew that sin would come.

And so He already had a plan.

When we studied in the beginning

of our study about the sacrificial system,

we're just seeing God's plan

that He was working

to build that teaching, that lesson,

for us, so we come in our day, and we see,

wow, I mean, God knew about that.

And in fact, nothing that happens

in my life is a surprise to God.

God doesn't get taken by surprise.

(Puia) From the very beginning,

or even before God created the world,

Christ had covenanted Himself

to love us even to the point of death.

He loves us so very, very much.

You may be watching today, friend,

and wondering, "Does God

really care about me?"

"Is God really love?"

"Can I really trust that God loves me?"

Or maybe you are doubting

about God's character.

I want to invite you to reflect

on these verses that tell us that God,

in Jesus Christ, had

covenanted Himself to love us.

Even before the foundation of the world,

God knew you.

Even before you were formed

in your mother's womb, He loved you.

So, whenever we have this problem

of trying to understand God's character,

it is always helpful to look at God

through the lens of Jesus.

When we look at Jesus, we see

a God who loves us so much.,

So, don't give up; hold onto Jesus.

Now, let's move on to the next couple

of verses here; let's go

to Isaiah, chapter 53.

And can I ask Stephanie to read for us

Isaiah 53, verses 3 to 7,

and look at the prophecies

that Isaiah gave ahead of time

about the Messiah who was to come,

specifically in the context

of this idea of a sacrifice.

(Stephanie) Alright, and I'll be reading

from the New King James Version:

(Puia) Wow. Verse 7 specifically,

"He was oppressed and He was afflicted...

He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,

and as a sheep before its shearers
is silent."

This concept of sacrifice

is clearly seen in this prophecy
of the Messiah.

Sophia, you have a comment?

(Sophia) I think it's so powerful

that He deemed us so important

not even to make a sound

with His suffering.

You know, no complaint, nothing.

(Puia) Right, this is a prophecy,

by the way; Isaiah was prophesying

that when the Messiah comes...

In other words, the Messiah is

going to be like a lamb that is

led to be slaughtered for the sins

of all of us, and He is not

going to complain.

He is not going to open His mouth

and say, "Oh, I don't want to do this.

I don't want to be crucified."

He is going to suffer

for the sake of the sins of the world.

Now, probably people in the time

of Isaiah, as we read earlier,

were sacrificing and killing animals,

but many of them probably were

doing that just as a ritual.

Probably some of them had lost

the concept of sacrificial death

that God was trying to teach them.

But now, fast forward to the time

that Jesus actually showed up.

How does John help us connect the dots

of all these prophecies

from the Hebrew Scripture

to this Person of Jesus?

Let's go to John, chapter 1,

verses 29 to 36, and let me ask

Zandile to read for us,

John, chapter 1, verses 29 to 36.

(Zandile) And I'll be reading

from the New King James Version, 29:

(Puia) Beautiful. There is no doubt

in the mind of John the Baptist.

He said, "I saw the Spirit descending

upon Him, and I am testifying

that this is the Son of God,

and this is the Lamb of God
who takes away..."?

(Team) "...the sin of the world."

(Puia) In other words, John is

basically telling all of us

and all of the readers today

that all the prophecies from Genesis,

that all the animal sacrifices,

all the bulls that were sacrificed,

all the lambs that were killed

for sacrificial atonement,

were pointing forward to this one Person,

and His name is Jesus.

And He is pointing to the Person of Jesus

and saying, "Behold!

Here is the Lamb of God

who is going to take away

the sin of the world."

This is beautiful.

In the Person of Jesus,

the entire prophecies are fulfilled.

(Derek) And I think, Puia,

it's really important, that wasn't

just John the Baptist's opinion.

He said, "The Spirit told me,

'When you see this, that's the One,'"

and then he says, "I have seen

and testified that this is,"

not, "I think it is,"

but, "This is the Son of God."

(Puia) Amen. Beautiful.

Let's go to Revelation, towards the end

now, Revelation, chapter 4,

verses 8 to 11, and I want to request

Joshua to read for us,

Revelation 4, verses 8 to 11.

And let's see what the Apostle John

has to say about this Lamb of God.

(Joshua) And I'll be reading

from the New King James Version.

The Bible says:

(Puia) Amen. Thank you

for reading that, Joshua.

So, in Revelation, fast forward,

John the Apostle is seeing

this vision of Heaven.

In Heaven, the four living creatures,

the twenty-four elders, and everyone

is bowing before this Lamb!

And He is given the honor and the glory

because He created everything.

Let's read one other verse,

the next chapter, Revelation, chapter 5,

verses 1 to 7; Kylynda, can you

read that for us, please,

Revelation 5:1-7.

(Kylynda) From the New King James Version:

(Puia) Amen. Thank you, Kylynda,

for reading that.

Dear friend, thank you for joining us

today once again.

As we see in this prophecy

that John foresaw about the future,

the heavenly throne, on the throne

of the entire universe is sitting

this Lamb of God, and He is worthy.

You may be weeping; I may be weeping today

because of our struggles

and maybe because of sin,

but according to John, "Don't weep.

There is the Lamb, the Lamb of God,

who takes away the sin of the world."

And one day the promise is

that this Lamb of God is going

to come again to redeem us,

and you can be a part of it

if you accept the sacrifice

of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.

And we will join the heavenly angels,

the four living creatures

and the twenty-four elders, and one day

we'll get to worship the Lamb of God

and sing, "Holy, holy, holy."

What a beautiful sight

that will be, Derek.

(Derek) Thank you so much.

What a great study, and, yes,

I've thought about that, too,

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,"

not only the angels, but we can say that

if we've accepted, or to use

the image of Passover, put the blood

over our doorposts, over our lives,

we can rejoice in His salvation.

Let's pray together.

Father in Heaven, we thank You

for helping us to understand that all

of the sacrifices pointed to Jesus,

and all You want from us

is the sacrifice of our hearts,

accepting what Jesus, the Lamb of God,

has done for us.

May we do that today and every day.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) Thank you for joining us
for our study.

We're learning, from Bible prophecies

and stories, lessons that will help us

not only to prepare but to rejoice

in the last days

because of our Savior Jesus.

Don't keep that message to yourself.

Go out and be a blessing

to those around you.

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