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Themes: A Seeking Savior Do you know that many people have strange ideas of how to get rid of their sins? Take Jason for example. He didn't like Amanda, the girl next door. One day he stole her old rag doll and ran around the house to his back garden. Quickly, he buried the doll in the dirt and raked the ground to make it look as natural as possible. "she'll never know I took it!" he thought. But it wasn't long before a strange sight began to appear in the garden. Jason's mother called him out to the backyard one afternoon to where this strange plant was growing. It was in the shape of a doll! Amanda's doll! Jason didn't realize that the rag-doll was stuffed with corn kernels. The corn had sprouted and was beginning to grow! Jason learned that burying your sin doesn't put it away.
And then there's Toshio who lives in Japan. The most exciting time of the year for him is New Year's Day. It's holiday time and there are all sorts of fireworks, parties and games. But there is one thing that Toshio and his family always do every year. They get a big kite and on it write all the sins that they've done during the previous year. Toshio has a hard time remembering them all but finally the kite is full and they take it outside to fly. When the kite is high in the sky, his father cuts the rope and the kite disappears from view. His dad says that their sins are gone for another year. But is that the way sins are put away?
Or consider Surya. He lives in India and worships in a temple down the street from his house. Surya's fondest dream is to visit the Ganges River someday. He's been told that everyone that bathes in that river has their sins washed away. But secretly, Surya sometimes wonders whether just taking a bath in a river will really take away his sins.
For the Israelite, the Day of Atonement was the greatest day of the year. It was the day that a sacrifice for sin was made. But it was also the time that sin was put away for the entire camp. As they watched, a goat would be killed and the blood taken into the Holy of Holies. Every boy and girl would understand that "without the shedding of blood" there is no forgiveness. But there was another goat that wasn't killed. Instead, the sins of the people were confessed upon his head and he was led out into the wilderness never to be seen again. You see, God was teaching them the truth that He was removing their sin far from them.
The Day of Atonement pointed to the day that the true Lamb of God would come to "put away" our sins at Calvary (Hebrews 9:26). The Lord Jesus Christ became the perfect sacrifice and for those who trust in His finished work, God has promised that their sins and iniquities would be remembered no more (Hebrews 8:12). I'm glad that my sins are FORGIVEN and FORGOTTEN. Are yours?
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Brian Elliott
