continuous sacrifice

It is a regular burnt offering, which was ordained at Mount Sinai for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

Numbers 28:6

 

Atonement for sin was a costly procedure in ancient Israel. Every day two lambs were offered to the Lord at the altar as public sacrifices. That does not even count private, individual offerings. In addition, on Sabbath, two more lambs were offered beyond this. Monthly on the first of the month (like today) two bulls, a ram, seven lambs, and a goat would be added to the tally. During feasts, that “first of the month” formula kicked off the the feast.

 

So sacrifice was a blood-soaked litany for Israel. It was part of the daily experience of worship at the altar. There was never a break from the constant atonement for sin. The tabernacle was a literal slaughterhouse where this occurred over and over, day after day, in obedience to God’s command.

 

This has led me to a significant Maundy Thursday reflection for this week. Jesus, my Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed once for all (1 Corinthians 5:7). I don’t need to have my focus fixed on how I will atone for my sin. Instead, I look to a Savior Who died and rose again to end my estrangement from God and forgive my sins.This is significant. I celebrate the completion and not the action of sacrifice. I trust in His saving work and celebrate it daily by offering Him the living sacrifice of my life (Romans 12:1-2).

 

Technorati Tags: Christianity,Discipleship,Religion

Atonement Day

“And this shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins." And Moses did as the LORD commanded him.

Leviticus 16:34

The regulations for the Day of Atonement were strict and demanding. You can quickly see that the priests worked hard, and the high priest was tasked with huge responsibility to make sure that God’s requirements for this vital yearly sacrifice were kept fully. At issue was the spiritual health and forgiveness of the entire nation. Obedience to this was crucial for God’s blessing and for spiritual progress to develop. God could continue His relationship with the struggling nation if they would offer the sacrifices for atonement of all their sins for that year.

But the levitical system was limited. A sacrifice for this event was made every year. In addition to that untold sacrifices for sin and guilt offerings were made day after day throughout the year. The altar was a bloody place that was constantly busy with the work of repentance, confession, sacrifice, and commitment.

This one day of the year all that halted for one special set of sacrifices that was meant to atone for all the sins of all the people. It was a day to celebrate fellowship with God through His willingness to forgive. As such, it became the high point of the Jewish Year, the start of a new year for the nation with God. Our atonement gives us a fresh start as well, only the affect is for a lifetime and not just the next twelve months. For that I am truly thankful.

Lord Jesus,

I thank You for being the final, complete, last sacrifice for sin. I can do nothing or offer nothing beyond what You have done. I trust in Your forgiveness and I experience it. Of all the things that I have right now for which to be thankful, this is the most significant.

Amen

Technorati Tags: Leviticus,atonement,sacrifice,holiness

The doctrine of the atonement is Most Holy.

This is the law of the guilt offering. It is most holy.

Leviticus 7:1

This is one of thirteen times in the book of Leviticus where the phrase “most holy” has described a practice for the priests and the nation. God wants to get the point across that certain attitudes must accompany the worship the nation offers to Him. When it came to the sacrificial system, the guilt offering was of highest priority. It was this offering that was meant to recognize and atone for guilt before a holy God.

Holiness is serious business. It is not something we should take lightly. It really is not a thing to joke about. We are dealing with the reason that death entered into the world. Humanity chose to sin, and with sin came death. That pretty much settles the question of “why” an awareness of the “most holy” nature of the guilt offering was needed. This was the most important need in any person’s life: to be made right before God.

It was this awareness of the extreme holiness of the guilt offering that became a point of comparison in the New Testament book of Hebrews. There the work of Jesus is contrasted with the work of the priests. And it is in chapter six of Hebrews that we are reminded of the ramifications and judgment of not taking the work of Jesus seriously. It is because what Jesus did is “most holy” that we cannot treat it with contempt (Hebrews 6:6). It is impossible to have contempt for the atonement on the cross and be a Christian. That is why we need to pray for the souls of those who would deny Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice or want to make the basis of our justification anything other than the cross of Christ. Even if they call themselves theologians. To declare what is “most holy” as evil, barbaric, or divine child abuse, is to have contempt for what is “most holy”.

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In Your Dark Day

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Matthew 27:45-46

As the sky went black
and as mockers laughed
You died for me
breathing your last

As all around
people joked and stared
You felt all alone
hanging there

And in God forsaken pain
My sin borne upon Your cross
Guilt weighed down Your soul
Innocence suffered my loss

Forgiving to the last
You yielded Your life
to reconcile God and man
and end the strife

They pulled Your body down
and carried it to a grave
but death would not win
because You came to save

In Your dark day
My victory won
a temporary grave
would not hold God's Son

And a bright morning came
to bring eternal dawn
breaking forth in my heart
Over death You have won.

Technorati Tags: Jesus,Atonement,Salvation,Crucifixion

Acceptance & Denial

But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant, and they said to him, "Do you hear what these are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read,
        " 'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise'?"
Matthew 21:15-16

Jesus' enemies were not acting out of ignorance when they challenged him. They saw the miraculous things that He did. They simply denied them... and Him. This passage shows them to be particularly bold in their confrontation. The crowds in Jerusalem that were gathered for the coming Passover celebration were enthusiastic in their reception of Jesus. The triumphal entry could only be seen as wild Messianic celebration. And people knew this. The title "Son of David" was reserved for the Messiah, and the crowd’s cry of "Hosanna to the the Son of David" indicates their desire to see Jesus act as Messiah.

The chief priests and scribes on the other hand saw the same miraculous results of Jesus' ministry and the adulation that came even from the words of children and were upset by it. They could not see Jesus for what He was. It upset them. And when they confronted Him, He quietly pointed out that even the chanting of children in the temple was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy about Him.

There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus confidently knew His mission. And I believe that the city of Jerusalem was characterized by people who were hoping to see Him deliver Israel as Messiah. They did not know He came as the suffering Servant. They did not know that as they began the celebration of saving blood at Passover, a greater saving blood was going to be shed for them and not only for the nation of Israel, but for the entire world. Their praise precedes the atonement. In less than a week they would be crying out for His execution. And a week from that day, they would be stirred with the news that the crucified Jesus was no longer to be found in a tomb.

Jesus surprises us. He surprises us with a love that is beyond our own. He surprises us with answers that we never saw coming. He surprises us by confronting our legalistic self-ruled religion. He surprises us with full atonement for our sin. He surprises us with new life and victory over death.

Technorati Tags: Jesus,Atonement,Messiah