In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Leviticus 16

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10

This morning, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - continuing chapter fourteen - God Forgives and Removes Sin - covering Leviticus 16:1-34, looking specifically at the fifth theme for the chapter - Jesus is God's Offer of Atonement and Removal of Sin.  Here, although one might believe the commentary is stating the obvious, it is nonetheless important to see how the commentary uses New Testament scripture to demonstrate how Jesus's death on the cross represents the perfect sacrifice that has no equal relative to the sacrificial system laid out in Leviticus.  The commentary first points us to Hebrews 7-10, where we see how, "in detail how Jesus' death on the cross supersedes the Day of Atonement and all the old covenant sacrifices":

• Hebrews 9:12: because Jesus is eternal, His death on the cross represents an eternal redemption, not something that must be done repeatedly as described in Leviticus
  
• Hebrews 9:24: versus the Old Testament priests who entered an earthly tent to meet with God, Jesus offered Himself in the presence of God Himself
• Hebrews 9:7, 7:26-27: the Old Testament priests offered sacrifices for their own sins, but Jesus had no sin, so no sacrifice was necessary for sins that were not committed
• Hebrews 9:25-26, 10:11-12: Jesus died once and for all, eliminating the need for repeated sacrifices
• Hebrews 10:1, 8:13, 10:9: Jesus fulfilled the law and abolished the Old Testament sacrifices that were only a "shadow of the good things to come"

The commentary also refers us to 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 3:18, and 1 John 4:10 as additional scriptural examples of how Jesus serves as God's perfect offer of atonement and removal of sin. 

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who died for my sins - even though You led a perfect sinless life.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such a sacrifice - the greatest gift of grace.  My sin of harshness towards others continues as do other sins.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sins towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith. Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo. Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father's place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments. He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.

Leviticus 16

And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father's place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments. He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. Leviticus 16:32-33

This morning, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - continuing chapter fourteen - God Forgives and Removes Sin - covering Leviticus 16:1-34, looking specifically at the third theme for the chapter - God Offers Atonement for Sin.  Here, the commentary starts by stating that "atonement" appears fifteen times in Leviticus 16.  Atonement is required by God for our sin - it is, according to the commentary, "doing what God says is necessary to reconcile us to Him."  The commentary also talks about the role of judges in God's justice.  It first describes the role of judge in Israel's history (see Exodus 23:6-8 and Deuteronomy 1:16-17).  It then discusses how sin must be punished by the judge and it states that "[a] judge who lets a guilty person go free with no punishment for his wrongdoing is not a good judge; he is not upholding justice."  The commentary then moves to how God solves the "tension between His justice and mercy.  However, God must let guilty people go free if He is going to save guilty sinners like us.  God is merciful and loving, so He doesn't want us to perish for our sin....God expressed His justice against sin in the death of the sacrifice, and God expressed His mercy to the sinner by allowing the sacrifice to substitute for the sinner....The old covenant sacrifices atoned for sin, they taught the world the meaning of sacrificial atonement, and they prepared the world for the sacrifice of Jesus."  See also this post from DesiringGod.com.

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God and You provided the "once and for all" sacrifice for me and for all of humanity!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such an incredible gift of grace.  My sin of worry, etc. continues.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Leviticus 1

And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Hebrews 10:10

This afternoon, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - continuing a review 1:1-7, looking at the theme Jesus is the Final and Perfect Means of Atonement. Here, my commentary seeks to reinforce the takeaways from the previous five days of my study of Leviticus with this commentary (all looking at different aspects of v1:1-7). The commentary writes:

• "the sacrifices [required by God] were physical acts, but they pointed to spiritual realities"
• "they [the sacrifices] pointed to the holiness of God-sin must be removed in order for people to be in God's presence"
• "they pointed to the mercy of God--He provided the means for sin to be taken away, and He invited people into His presence"
• "they pointed to the desire of the worshipers to be right with God--they were obeying God's requirements for reconciliation"

The commentary then emphasizes how the sacrificial system required by God "pointed forward to Christ" and that God had already (in Genesis 3:15) prophesied how "the seed of Eve would strike the head of the serpent."  It then describes a distinction between Old Testament sacrifice - how God taught sacrifice - and New Testament sacrifice - how God, through Jesus, provided sacrifice for sin. 

Here, in Leviticus, we have a path to reconciliation with God as it describes the sacrificial system required by God to remove sin.  We are urged to see how God has always desired us to be in union with Him through sacrifice (to remove sin), and how Jesus' death on the cross serves as the perfect and final means of atonement. 

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, I love You and I am grateful that You provide a path to remove my sin and You of course have saved me and I am part of Your family - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such a gift - the greatest gift of all time.  My sin continues, worry, etc. Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.