If God has accepted our Sacrifice

“Manoah [Samson’s father] said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these” (Judges 13:22-23).

Eeyore and Manoah had a lot in common. I am naturally inclined to think like Manoah. We cannot believe that God is gracious, so good in His grace that He saves us by His grace in spite of our sin for Christ’s sake alone, and receives us as Christ without any merit on our part. It’s just too much. The gift is too great. I am such a sinner. In sinful unbelief, our wicked heart will think, "Since I can’t bring something, I can’t imagine God would do all for me in Christ." But as God received the token sacrifice from Manoah and his wife, He has much more received Christ as our Sacrifice, the fulfillment of that token.

Christ, our High Priest, offered Himself as the Lamb of God for our sins (Heb. 9:12-15, 24-26). But like Manoah, we wonder if we shall perish for our sins. We fear that we have presumed to trust Christ for too much and without warrant. Yes, God has chosen and redeemed His people. But am I one of God’s elect? What reason do I have to think I can trust Christ to cover my sins and clothe me in His righteousness? What basis do I have to think He is all of my salvation? We must therefore give heed to the response of Manoah’s wife to his lament. It comes down to this: If Christ is the only answer you have, if all blessings from God to you are in Him and because of Him alone, then Manoah’s wife’s answer is the answer of scripture to you. If God has received Christ for us, we will not die.

Unbelief instills fear. Faith in Christ brings peace and joy (Rom. 15:13; Isa. 26:1-3). Have I failed to do my part? Have I therefore presumed to rely on Christ without warrant? Have I ventured too much on Him to do all for me? What about this present cold, hard heart? What about my sin? What about my ignorance? What about even my unbelief? Haven’t I disqualified myself by these things? If we consider ourselves in some way, the answer is, yes, we have. We have disqualified ourselves. That’s the whole point of God’s law (Rom. 3:9-19)! Faith therefore looks to Christ only in honor of God's righteousness. By His accepted sacrifice of Himself, faith takes comfort from Christ by the words of Manoah’s wife: If God has accepted our sacrifice, He has accepted us because of our sacrifice. “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7).

If God has drawn us to Christ, if by God-given faith we come to Him and call on Him and find in Him our only and all-sufficient cleansing and covering for all our sins; if we find His obedience that fulfilled God’s law to be our only and all-sufficient righteousness, then we have come for grace and all blessings from Him. He Himself has said that He will not cast out any so made desperate, so drawn, so coming to take from Him (Matt. 11:12; John 6:37; Rom. 8:34). How could Christ cast out one given to Him by His Father? How could He cast out one drawn by His Spirit of grace? How could He cast out one for whom He died?

Did Jesus scold the woman who sneaked in the press behind Him to touch the hem of His garment, that she might be made whole by His garments of salvation (Isa. 61:10)? No! He commended her faith. It was His work (John 6:29; Acts 3:16; Heb. 12:2). He always commends His own work (Gen. 1:31). Scripture encourages sinners of the worst sort: ruined, spent, helpless, needy, who have nothing and have suffered much for a long time without relief under sin’s tyranny and the burden of God’s law, who only grow worse; to them He gives the warrant of His command to look to Christ (Mark 5:24-34; Isa. 45:22), to come to Him (Matt. 11:28; Isa. 55:1-3), to see in Him and freely take of Him all that God requires of me, and find all blessings promised to Him to be promised blessings to sinners in Him (Rev. 22:17; Rom. 3:19-21; Eph. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:20).

God’s law directs us away from ourselves. God’s grace directs us to Christ crucified to see our Savior in Him, and to see our God in Him, and in so seeing, to find our rest because He is our all (Rom. 3:19-21; Gal. 3:22-24; Col. 2:9-10; Eph. 1:22-23).

When once God has begun a good work in us to draw us to Christ, He will not fail to complete that work (Php. 1:6). He will surely give all things to those He draws to Christ. He will cause us to look away from all that may be called ours and find our all in Christ who came from glory to this world to bear our sins and lay down His life for chosen sinners. He will direct us to Christ whom God raised from the dead because of our justification (Rom. 4:25). He will direct us to His throne to see the risen, exalted Christ seated there, and so see that throne as a throne of grace. Christ who offered Himself for us is now seated there at God’s right hand to intercede for us that He might save to the uttermost all who come to God by Him (Heb. 7:25).

If we have been so taught of God, then we must look away from the ruin of our lives, the failure of our obedience, the sin of our heart, the corruption of our nature and motives, and especially all works done by us or produced in us, away from all that we are and all that we are not to Christ crucified, risen, forever reigning and now interceding to bring us to Himself (Rom. 8:34; John 17:24).

God’s law -- all that God requires and demands of us -- unmasks what we are in ourselves. It confines us as a straight jacket constrains a mad man. That is for our good that we might see our only hope is Christ, in what God thinks of His Son. Grace instructs us to trust God to think on Christ as all for me. Grace teaches us that God received us when He received His Son from the dead (Rom. 4:25; Eph. 2:1-6; Gal. 3:22-24; Heb. 7:25; 2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 5:6-10). Grace teaches us that God treated Christ as we deserved to be treated for our sins that He might treat us as Christ deserves to be treated for His obedience in death (2 Cor. 5:21).

Like Manoah, our conscience may tell us we deserve to die. But as Manoah’s wife, the Gospel from God’s own word points us to God’s offering of His Son, of God’s acceptance of Christ as our Sacrifice, offered to cleanse us of our sins, to clothe us in His righteousness, and in that perfect way, to bring us to God (1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18). The great transaction is done! God has justified us in His Son! No condemnation can now be laid to the charge of one for whom Christ has paid (2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 8:34)! O trembling soul of mine! Hear God’s word to you! If God has accepted our Sacrifice, and has shown us Himself in Christ our Lord by these things, then He has been pleased to justify us by His blood. He will save us from the wrath to come through Him (Rom. 5:9-10; 2 Cor. 1:10)!

Rick Warta