Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was infinitely better and more effective than the repetitive sacrifices prescribed under the Mosaic Law. Here’s how:
1. Jesus’ sacrifice was once for all
Under the Mosaic Law, sacrifices for sin had to be offered over and over again. The book of Hebrews explains this:
For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. (Hebrews 10:1-4)
No matter how many bulls and goats were sacrificed under the old covenant, these sacrifices could never fully and permanently deal with sin. They simply served as reminders of sins. But Jesus’ sacrifice was different:
And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10:11-14)
Rather than continually offering sacrifices that could not fully atone for sins, Jesus offered Himself as a perfect, complete sacrifice for sins once for all time. His one sacrifice was able to perfectly and permanently deal with sin.
2. Jesus’ sacrifice cleansed the conscience
The sacrifices under the old covenant could not cleanse the conscience from a sense of sin and guilt. The sacrifices provided external ceremonial cleansing but could not touch the heart and mind (see Hebrews 9:9-10,13-14). But Christ’s sacrifice had a much deeper impact:
For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:13-14)
And again:
For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:24-28)
The sacrifices of the old covenant could not provide lasting peace of conscience. But Jesus’ sacrifice cleanses the conscience before God, providing true inner peace and freedom from guilt.
3. Jesus’ sacrifice was Himself
Under the old covenant, animals had to suffice as substitutions for the sacrificial offering. But animals are not adequate substitutions for human beings. As Hebrews 10:4 states, “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” Animals cannot die in the place of people.
But Jesus did not offer an inferior animal sacrifice – He offered Himself. God Himself took on human flesh and died on our behalf, paying the penalty for our sins. The infinite, divine Son of God substituted Himself in our place. This gives Jesus’ sacrifice infinite value and efficacy:
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:11-14)
No Levitical sacrifice could compare to the Son of God sacrificing Himself for us. This demonstrates the infinite love, mercy and grace that God has for us in Christ.
4. Jesus’ sacrifice was according to God’s will
Animal sacrifices under the old covenant were offered according to the requirements of the Mosaic Law. But the ultimate will of God was to send His Son Jesus to be the true sacrifice for sins:
For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:38-40)
It was the sovereign plan of God from all eternity to provide salvation through the sacrifice of His own Son. Jesus was not plan B – He was the center of God’s will and the fulfillment of all the old covenant sacrifices.
5. Jesus’ sacrifice perfectly satisfied God’s wrath
The old covenant sacrifices could not fully satisfy the righteous wrath and justice of God against sin. This is evidenced by the fact that they had to be offered over and over again. But Jesus’ sacrifice fully absorbed and exhausted the penalty due for sin, propitiating and placating God’s wrath:
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (Romans 5:9-10)
The perfect life and atoning death of Christ fully satisfied the wrath of God due for the sins of His people. God’s justice was poured out completely on Christ at the cross. This is how believers are reconciled to God and saved from condemnation.
6. Jesus’ sacrifice brought redemption and forgiveness
The old covenant sacrifices gave at best a ceremonial cleansing externally before the law. But Christ’s sacrifice brings true spiritual redemption from the penalty of sin:
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace (Ephesians 1:7)
Animal sacrifices could not purchase sinners out of their bondage to sin. But Christ laid down His life as a ransom, obtaining full forgiveness of sins for all who trust in Him (Matthew 20:28).
7. Jesus’ sacrifice makes us holy
The repeated sacrifices of the old covenant could not make anyone fully holy and acceptable to God. They were limited to ceremonial cleansing. But Christ’s sacrifice has the power to fully sanctify us before God:
And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10)
Only Jesus’ supreme sacrifice could provide true sanctification and inward moral transformation leading to a holy life.
8. Jesus’ sacrifice gives direct access to God
Under the old covenant, the priests acted as mediators between God and sinful people. The ordinary Israelite had no direct access to God’s presence. But Jesus’ sacrifice gives us direct access to enter God’s presence:
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19-22)
Rather than going through earthly priests, we can now enter straight into the holy presence of God, with hearts cleansed by the blood of Christ.
9. Jesus’ sacrifice inaugurated the new covenant
The old covenant sacrifices pointed forward to something greater that was needed. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross established the new covenant prophesied by Jeremiah:
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:31-33)
The new covenant is far greater than the old – it is an everlasting covenant that provides inward transformation of the heart and full forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 8:6-13). This was established through Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on the cross.
10. Jesus’ sacrifice makes Him the mediator of the new covenant
The priests under the law served as mediators between God and the people. But Christ is now the mediator of the far superior new covenant, having secured it with His own blood:
But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. (Hebrews 8:6)
We now have the incomparable privilege of coming to God through the mediation of His own Son, who ever lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25).
In summary, Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice accomplished everything the old covenant sacrifices could not. It permanently atoned for sin, satisfied God’s justice, redeemed and forgave sinners, gives access to God’s presence, provides inward holiness, and established the new and better covenant. The old covenant pointed forward to the supreme sacrifice of Christ – the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).