I grew up in a home where it was our custom to offer fruits and grain as sacrifices (Yajna) to our gods for purification and blessings. In our community, some people would even offer a lamb or goat in hopes of pleasing the gods. We were taught that sacrifices were necessary to make peace with the gods, but no one ever told us if the gods actually accepted these offerings or whether they were pleased or displeased.
Later in my life, I discovered that Yeshu himself became the sacrificial Lamb of God, offering His life to bring us true peace and Moksha.
Like a lamb, Yeshu voluntarily gave His life as an offering. Watch how he never tries to resist or run away - even though he knew he was innocent.
The sacrifice of Yeshu, is a most precious gift, given by God himself as an act of love for us to pay the debt that we owe from our bad karma.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
The idea that God gives us a gift of forgiveness, despite our bad karma might seem strange to you as it was me the first time I heard of it. But it is a gift that is freely given for us, not something that we can earn or deserve. This great sacrifice is given out of love and grace, not because of our good deeds or religious rituals.
Sin is more than just wrongdoing; it is a state of being separated from God. It refers to actions, thoughts, or attitudes that are contrary to God’s will and disrupt our relationship with Him. It’s not just a matter of bad deeds; it’s the condition of the human heart that causes people to fall short of God’s standard of holiness.
We may strive to cleanse ourselves of our sins by temple rituals, but it is only through the ultimate sacrifice of Yeshu that we can truly be free from sin and obtain Moksha. This means we will meet God himself as a person.
The sacrifice of Yeshu is an invitation to all to find redemption and forgiveness, to move from darkness to light, and to experience the love and grace of God and his presence in our lives. May we accept this invitation and walk in the freedom and joy that comes from knowing that we are forgiven and loved by God.
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
Because Yeshu is holy and without sin, only he is able to offer the perfect and complete sacrifice for our sin that can cleans us forever. Our daily rituals and rules cannot do this.
God goes one step more. Now that we are clean, He adopts us into his family and treats us as sons and daughters. This was His plan from the beginning. We can now approach him and pray to him knowing he loves to listen to us and care for us. Obtaining Moksha is not so just finding forgiveness, it’s starting a new relationship with our Creator as part of his family.
5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, Ephesians 1:5
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, Romans 8:15-16
Questions
- Imagine if God could free you by paying the price for your bad karma. How would that change your life?
Final Thoughts
Some of us live with a heavy sadness knowing that we’ve done evil things that might influence our future life. The good news is that the sacrifice needed to pay for these moments in our life has been fully paid for by the death of Yeshu. Only he could pay this debt because he was sinless.
So if we are forgiven by God, does that mean we can now do whatever we like?
The answer is no. Rather, the evidence that we truly trust God is that we want to do dharma. Because God gives us this gift of Moksha we cannot boast about it as if we had earned it by our own good deeds. Our good deeds are then no longer to earn our Moksha but our response to the kindness, love and forgiveness that God has given us. We live a life of gratitude and thanksgiving for the gift of forgiveness that we have received. We also want to share this gift with others.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10
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