Dealing with the problem of sin

Shortly after my wife and I got married, her grandfather passed away, and we went to attend his wake and funeral. 

He was a Buddhist, so of course, they were both Buddhist ceremonies. 

During the wake, the Buddhist priest said some interesting things.  Namely that it was through the love and grace of Amida Buddha that people could go to heaven. 

It sounded so similar to the Christian message that my wife remarked on it later.

I remember thinking the same thing when I was attending university, and I heard my religion professor speak about the worship of Amida Buddha. 

He said it was through Amida Buddha’s love and mercy that people would go to heaven. 

It was the first time I’d ever heard of a religion say something so similar to Christianity, and I started wondering how Christianity differed then from Amida Buddhism. 

The answer came fairly quickly. 

The problem of sin is never dealt with in Amida Buddhism.

It’s forgiven, but justice is never truly done.  Sin is never really punished. 

Christianity is different. 

Yes, there is forgiveness. 

But there was a price that had to be paid in order for justice to be done.

And so in the Old Testament, God required that sacrifices be made for sin. 

When a person walked into the courtyard of the tabernacle, the first thing that a person would see was the altar for making sacrifices. 

There was only one doorway to the courtyard, and only one altar, again pointing out there is only one way to God and only one way for our sin to be dealt with. 

Bulls or goats would be brought to the altar and sacrificed there. 

It was a reminder of two things. 

First, all of us sin, and that sin is so serious, that the result is always death. 

Second, it pointed to the day when a more perfect sacrifice would be made for the sins of the whole world. 

What made the sacrifice of Jesus more perfect?

For one, it was never the bull’s choice to die.  It was led to slaughter. 

For another, a bull has no concept of sin or righteousness.  Its sinlessness is due to ignorance, not to choice. 

Finally, no matter how perfect an animal is, the life of an animal is not the equal to the life of a man or woman.

But when Jesus came to his earth, he came as a man. 

Not only was he equal to us as a man, but as God, he was much greater.  And he offered his greater life for our lesser one. 

Not only that, he knew what sin and righteousness were and always chose the path of righteousness.  His sinlessness was due to choice, not ignorance. 

And finally, his sacrifice was his choice.  He didn’t have to die.  But he chose to out of his love for us.

In all these ways, his was a more perfect sacrifice, and when he died, he took the punishment for our sin once for all. 

As Hebrews 10:14 says,

For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

The altar in the court of the tabernacle was a reminder of the problem of sin. 

Amida Buddhism never deals with it.  Other religions try to deal with it by requiring people to do good deeds. 

But just as there was only one way into the courtyard of God and only one altar to deal with sin, there is only one way for our sin to be dealt with, and that’s through Jesus Christ. 

Only through him can our sins be forgiven.

How about your sin?  Has it been dealt with?  As it says in Romans 6:23,

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.