I’ve been abroad. I met some intelligent and learned Muslims. They told me that, in their book the Koran, it states that Jesus was NOT crucified on a cross, he was taken up into heaven and another was crucified in his place. My response was that without Sacrifice there can be no forgiveness (Salvation) Muslims believe the Old Testament about Abraham and Isaac, the flood, Adam and Eve etc and say they accept that God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, saving him at the last minute with a ‘Substitute’ animal. It astonished me that a Muslim could believe God’s instructions about sacrifices for sin but reject the idea of a final sacrifice by Jesus, which we Christians believe. I feel so sorry for them, lost as they are, without hope and believe that we should urgently pray that they understand the truth about Jesus. You don’t believe it? Think about the millions who do, friends who have had huge changes in their lives because they do believe. Did you know, there are more Christians alive today than the sum of all Christians down the ages? They can’t all be deluded. Also, the Koran cannot explain why the disciples changed suddenly from terrified men and women hiding in locked rooms to shouting their belief out loud in the streets.Nor can it explain the peace enjoyed by millions or the reason that many still go willingly to death because of their faith. ISIS is an example.i’ve copy/pasted this from the internet. You should read it carefully:-
God required animal sacrifices to provide a temporary covering of sins and to foreshadow the perfect and complete sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Leviticus 4:35, 5:10). Animal sacrifice is an important theme found throughout Scripture because “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). When Adam and Eve sinned, animals were killed by God to provide clothing for them (Genesis 3:21). Cain and Abel brought sacrifices to the Lord. Cain’s was unacceptable because he brought fruit, while Abel’s was acceptable because it was the “firstborn of his flock” (Genesis 4:4-5). After the flood receded, Noah sacrificed animals to God (Genesis 8:20-21).
God commanded the nation of Israel to perform numerous sacrifices according to certain procedures prescribed by God. First, the animal had to be spotless. ( this equates to the best part of ones income today ) Second, the person offering the sacrifice had to identify with the animal ( you couldn’t borrow or steal one )Third, the person offering the animal had to inflict death upon it. When done in faith, this sacrifice provided a temporary covering of sins. Another sacrifice called for on the Day of Atonement, described in Leviticus 16, demonstrates forgiveness and the removal of sin. The high priest was to take two male goats for a sin offering. One of the goats was sacrificed as a sin offering for the people of Israel (Leviticus 16:15), while the other goat was released into the wilderness (Leviticus 16:20-22), (hence the term ‘Scapegoat’). The sin offering provided forgiveness, while the other goat ( The ‘Scapegoat’ ) provided the removal of sin.
Why, then, do we no longer offer animal sacrifices today? Animal sacrifices have ended because Jesus Christ was the ultimate and perfect sacrifice. John the Baptist recognized this when he saw Jesus coming to be baptized and said, “Look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). You may be asking yourself, why animals? What did they do wrong? That is the point—since the animals did no wrong, they died in place of the one performing the sacrifice. Jesus Christ also did no wrong but willingly gave Himself to die for the sins of mankind (1 Timothy 2:6). Jesus Christ took our sin upon Himself and died in our place. As 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Through faith in what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross, we can receive forgiveness.
In summation, animal sacrifices were commanded by God so that the individual could experience forgiveness of sin. The animal served as a substitute—that is, the animal died in place of the sinner, but only temporarily, which is why the sacrifices needed to be offered over and over. Animal sacrifices have stopped with Jesus Christ. (The Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70AD, about 35 years after the crucifixion). Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrificial substitute once for all time (Hebrews 7:27) and is now the only mediator between God and humanity (1 Timothy 2:5). Animal sacrifices foreshadowed Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. The only basis on which an animal sacrifice could provide forgiveness of sins is Christ who would sacrifice Himself for our sins, providing the forgiveness that animal sacrifices could only illustrate and foreshadow.
So, you may not even believe there is a God. King Soloman, probably the wisest man that ever lived, said ‘The fool, in his heart, believes there is no God’ who wants to be a fool? You have free choice, you can if you like.
One of the 12 steps of recovery from addiction recommends belief in a ‘Higher power’ millions have been released from addiction by this means.
On the other hand, of course, you are free to believe whatever you like, you might believe in fairies, ghosts, Star Wars, anything but if you believe in nothing, well, what’s left?, why are you here?
Me? I believe in Jesus who met with me in 1983 in a very powerful way, changing my whole life overnight!
Go on, ask me something.
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