THE FINAL SACRIFICE

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

Leviticus 1 The Burnt Offering
Leviticus 2 The Grain Offering
Leviticus 3 The Fellowship Offering
Leviticus 4 The Sin Offering
Leviticus 5 The Guilt Offering
Leviticus 6 Further directions on the Burnt, Grain and Sin Offerings
Leviticus 7 Further directions on the Guilt and Fellowship Offerings and the Priest’s Share

Now that the tabernacle (now also referred to as the "tent of meeting") was completed, the Lord directs Moses on the matter of sacrifices. And this direction is not brief. As you can see above, the first seven chapters of Leviticus deal with the matter of sacrifices or offerings to God. You’ll see where there was more than one type and each had their own separate criteria as to how they were to be performed as spelled out in their respective chapters.

Yet, despite their distinctive meanings, each sacrifice had a common theme: atonement.

Man had been infected with sin ever since Adam and we have already seen how much God hates sin. God expected His people to sanctify themselves and seek righteousness through the way they lived. They would not be able to achieve this however unless they lived in accordance with His will and word. God was always standing by to guide Israel and we see over and over again how they succeeded when they remained obedient and failed miserably when they didn’t.

And when they failed and fell into sin, God expected them to restore their relationship with Him and atone for their sins. Animal sacrifice was the vehicle through which this was done. The animal would be slain, paying the price in blood for the sin of its owner and bring him or her forgiveness.

Can you imagine if this system of atonement was still in place today? We would all regularly be heading to altars with our animals and an awful lot of blood would be shed each and every day. It certainly wouldn’t be a good time to be an animal! So what changed things? I can answer this with one holy, blessed word: Jesus.

For Jesus, the unblemished, sinless, Lamb of God, was the final sacrifice and His blood shed on Calvary was redemption for all the sins of mankind. (Ephesians 1:7) Consider these words from Paul’s letter to the Hebrews:

"The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.' "First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." Hebrews 10:1-14

Truly, "…Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." (Hebrews 9:24-28)

This Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior…the sacrificed perfect Lamb of God…is risen and alive. He died for our sins as a living sacrifice…then conquered death to rise to heaven where He sits on God’s right hand to intercede for us forever. Jesus was God’s one final sacrifice...once and for all…a single holy atonement for now and forever. As we continue to rejoice in His resurrection, let us not forget His crucifixion…where He paid the price for us all…and He did so because He loved us as much then as He does this very moment. Thank you Jesus.

In Christ,

Mark

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