Have you ever received a Cease and Desist order? I have. Apparently, years ago, I used the wrong graphic on our website and received a request to take down that image and a demand to pay for the use. So, what did I do? I ceased and desisted. I was in the wrong. It was clear. So I stopped using the image and continued to stop using the image. I also made it right with the one that I had inadvertently wronged.
The book of Leviticus is God's Cease and Desist order for His people. After 400 years in captivity, there was much that needed to change the lives of the Hebrew people. They were affected by their years in Egypt in ways that were negative, hurtful, and sinful. Now, God was leading them and meeting with them in the Tabernacle.
So that sinful people could meet with a holy God, sin must be atoned for. Sin must be paid for. Sin must be dealt with. Sin must be covered. That's why the opening chapters of Leviticus spell out a sacrificial system that includes: burnt offerings, grain offerings, fellowship offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. Each of these rituals teaches us about our relationship with God. What do we learn from each of these offerings about our relationship with God?
1. The burnt offering reminds us that God accepts sinful people because of His grace.
2. The grain offering reminds us to be grateful and generous because of God's grace.
3. The fellowship offering reminds us to celebrate together what God has done.
4. The sin offering covers unintentional sin and prepares to be clean to meet with God.
5. The guilt offering takes action to make wrongs right.
Each of these offerings points us to our need for a Savior - our need for atonement.
Now, for some things that I wish I said:
- The sacrificial rituals remind of our relationship with God.
- Rituals should never replace our relationship with God.
- More that religious-based rituals, God wants grace-based obedience.
- The specific laws and rules in the book of Leviticus remind us that God cares about every area of our life - our relationships, our diet, our worship, our family, our work, our attitude - everything matters to Him.
- If you think you need something or someone besides Jesus to see your life change, you are missing it. When Jesus died on the cross and rose again, the sacrificial system ended. It is finished. There is no other way to forgiveness. There is no other way to life. There is no other way to seeing a change in ourselves then the ONE TIME, perfect sacrifice of Jesus.
Comments