Sacrifices are meant to be symbolic, to teach Man the high price of evil. Always keep in mind that The Lord is the ultimate pragmatist... When he does something, it serves a very logical purpose.
Man has a strong propensity to commit evil, and just looking at statistics of repeat criminal offenders being arrested and incarcerated over and over again, should show how hard it is to deter Man's wicked nature.
But as a wise parent learns, spanking has its limits, and once the redness on the child's buttocks disappears, often, so too does the lesson... But when the parent takes away something of great value to the child, the missing thing acts as a constant reminder of the cost of being bad.
Man has been a child race for most of its time on Earth, and regularly gets divine spankings, but as you've witnessed firsthand, the lessons don't last, even when the devastation is catastrophic... So Man had to learn that "sin=loss", and in more extreme cases, "sin=death".
Prior to the industrial age, true food abundance has never been known among the developing societies, so to make people sacrifice their BEST food to God, whether it be their best crops or best livestock, had a strong and memorable impact on the community, and it kept them always considering the price of their transgressions.
This was fine for the more high-minded societies like the early Jews, but the more savage societies couldn't grasp this concept, so their sacrifices were much greater, and they were forced by lesser gods to sacrifice their children to drive the point home.
Eventually, early attempts at crop and livestock industrialisation in the ancient world took some of the sting out of sacrificing food, so Man was losing the constant reminder of why he should not sin, and he was quickly returning to his wicked ways... While the savages where breeding without restraint (much as you see today), so even their child sacrifices lost importance to them.
Both savage and civilised Man had to experience the ultimate "sin/guilt offering/sacrifice", they had to see that their transgressions were so great, they stacked to Heaven, and ONLY the greatest lamb/child could atone for it.
Our Lord became that sacrifice, and here's the important part... Those that "accepted him and his sacrifice", carried a constant reminder of how high the price of sin is, and therefore consciously set out to be good people, to make sure this ultimate sacrifice was not made in vain... In this way, the regular sacrifice was no longer important, because the lesson of the sacrifice was carried in the hearts of these adherents who were washed in the blood atonement.
Similarly, Jews were constantly breaking covenant with God, so they were made to carry a constant reminder of the cost of their actions, the "pain and loss of full pleasure" through their circumcision, but the Gentiles and Jews who accepted The Lord's blood atonement, and the lessons gained from it, were "circumcised of the heart". Now you know.
Written by: Alan Douglas, Imperial Regent Ecumenical Order of Christ
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References:
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2015/apr/29/bible-art-new-york-museum-biblical-art-close
[2] http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/salvation_webpages/09-blood_applied_in_heaven.htm