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Christian Dogma

How did the blood sacrifices prepare us for the sacrifice of the New Testament?

Q335 · The Fall of Humanity

The blood sacrifices that God showed to Adam and whose details were clarified in the Book of Leviticus are incapable, by themselves, of manifesting God’s love for sinful humanity. Humanity needs to return to the life of holiness, without which no one can see God or come into contact with Him. Humanity needs a conciliator capable of mediating between God and His children.

We needed the incarnation of the Son, the Word, the second Hypostasis. In His profound love for us, this incarnate God came forth, carrying our death in His body. But who can accept such a thing? The mind is incapable of comprehending the depths of God’s love for it. How could God the Word become flesh when his divinity fills all things? The Lord says, “[Am I not] the Lord, and there is no other God besides me? A just God and a Savior ; there is none besides Me” (Isa. 45:21), and “you shall know no God but Me; for there is no savior besides Me” (Hos. 13:4).

My Savior loves me; my Intercessor with the Father. He took flesh for my sake and died as an atoning sacrifice for my sins (1 John 2:1–2). This is the salvation offered by the Son, by the cooperation of the Holy Trinity, each Hypostasis completing the others, each Hypostasis proclaiming God’s love for us.

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