And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
(Lev 1:1-4 KJV)
How clear is your understanding of your sin and God’s grace?
Most people today have no clear understanding of the grace of God found in our salvation in Jesus Christ. Part of this is our shallow understanding of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Part is our shallow understanding of Christ and His work. Romans 5:20 makes a statement that indicates that sin super abounds. But it also indicates that the grace of God exceedingly overflows and overwhelms our sin.
Until we have a clear picture of our sin and sinfulness, our wonder and gratitude to the Lord for our salvation will be little. Jesus spoke as much when he spoke to the Pharisee that those who are forgiven much, love much, while those who are forgiven little, love little. The real implication there was not that the Pharisee had less sin than the woman and thus loved less, but that, unlike the woman, the Pharisee did not see the depth of his sin. This is the state of many Christians today. We do not see the depth of our sin, because we do not want to, and thus we have little love for the Lord.
The sacrificial offerings in Leviticus vividly paint pictures of the sinfulness of sin, the great wrath of God, and the exceeding grace of God. The first of these offerings is the whole burnt offering, which is the foundational offering. This offering shows us several things:
- The sovereignty and judgment of God
- Total sacrifice is required of us
- The need for righteousness in the inward man
- Our total inability
- The great substitutionary atonement of Christ
We’ll explore these things in further posts.
