Long ago, God took Abraham outside under a dark sky and told him to count the stars. “So shall your offspring be,” God promised. Though Abraham had no children then, God declared that through him all nations would be blessed. And here we stand today, part of that great promise. We are the stars. We are the sand of the seashore. Each one of us, personally and particularly, is someone Jesus died to save. One star in all that heavenly host was lit just for you, and one was lit for me.
From the very beginning, God required a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. An innocent one must die for the guilty. Abel brought a lamb. The priests of Israel offered bulls and goats year after year. Yet those sacrifices were only shadows, dim pictures of something far greater to come. They could never truly wash away sin or quiet a guilty conscience. Something more was needed, someone eternal and perfect.
Then came Jesus, our great High Priest. He was not from the tribe of Levi like the old priests. He was like the mysterious Melchizedek, that ancient king of peace who blessed Abraham and then vanished from the story. Melchizedek had no recorded beginning or end, and so he points us to Christ, who is eternal. Jesus did not offer the blood of animals. He offered Himself, once and for all, a perfect sacrifice that never needs repeating.
After His death, Jesus carried His own blood into a heavenly place, a true tabernacle not made by human hands. There He secured our redemption forever. The angels must have watched in wonder as the Lamb who was slain returned to heaven, mission complete. His blood does what no animal’s blood could ever do. It cleanses our consciences, writes God’s laws on our hearts, and opens a way for us to walk boldly into the Father’s presence.
So we hold tightly to this hope without wavering. We encourage one another. We confess our sins and receive His forgiveness, trusting that He who began a good work will finish it. There is no other sacrifice for sin, no plan B, no second path. Jesus is the only way. And because of what He has done, we can walk with confidence, not wondering if we are forgiven, but knowing it. One star was lit for each of us, and the Light of the World Himself came down to make us His own.