HS Day 2 Evening

Good evening everyone.

I hope I have a few people who found Jesus in Exodus this morning.

He shows up in several places, and remember it’s not always in a person or a voice, sometimes it’s in a fulfillment.

Anyone care to share?

Great

Today we are going to hang out in Leviticus.

And if you’ve ever decided to read the Bible through cover to cover, Leviticus is where most bookmarks go to die.

I get it. There are a lot of laws and rules about priests and not a lot of narrative.

But when you look for Jesus in Leviticus, there are ways to enjoy it.

When I was in High School, I was a rule follower. I didn’t make waves, I kept my head down.

I went to detention all of twice in High School.

The first was deserved, the second less so.

In 11th grade English the teacher was handing out copies of a book called the Crucible.

The way the class was set up with the desks was if I wanted to get out people had to move. So I did not get up in class unless I had to.

She sets the book on my desk. I look at it and ask.

“What’s a crucible?”

Anyone know?

She replied by pointing across the room and saying the dictionary was on the shelf.

And then in completely uncharacteristic fashion. This is not something David ever did.

But these words came out of my mouth.

“Dictionaries aren’t paid to teach me.”

Well, I got to get up, and not to get a dictionary. And it was a day or two later before I finally learned that a crucible is a trial.

The other time I was pulling a wall partition closed and someone said I was throwing stuff out the 3rd floor window, which was by the partition.

We were under strict directions not to touch the partition door, which I did do, but I was not throwing stuff out the window.

So when it comes to doing the wrong thing on purpose, I’m pretty much shared everything I did in High School and we’re only on day 2.

But there is a lot of Law in Leviticus and there is a lot of Jesus.

And I think Leviticus can point us to answers to three really important questions about Jesus

If you were to read through Leviticus 4-7. You would see a list of ways to make sacrifices for sin. It was a thing to do to show that the people truly beleived that God was thier savior.

Now, it did turn into a work over time, but the question arises.

Why are the wages of sin death?

We get this from

Romans 6:23a

Romans 6:23a ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death,

And this comes from all the way back to the garden of Eden Where Adam and Eve disobeyed God and broke relationship with him.

God had said that to do that would mean death.

But the neat thing, to breifly back track to Genesis is that after Adam and Eve sinned, God killed an animal and covered the two with animal skin.

Something died in their place.

The wages for any sin is death, something has to die to pay for your sin.

Here is a little of what that looked like

Leviticus 4:32–34 ESV

32 “If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish 33 and lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. 34 Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar.

Since God is just punishment must happen.

And since sin is death, something’s gotta die.

If there were no consequences for our sins, then what would stop us from sinning. If I knew I could go into Walmart and just grab a PS5 and walk out with a bunch of accessories with out the fear of arrest. What would stop me.

After that day in my English class do you think I got smart with my teacher again?

I did not.

So, we know why death is the penalty for sin.

But here is all of Romans 6:23

Romans 6:23 ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

He paid it all.

Which in part answers the question

Why was there animal sacrifice and what did they do?

When Adam and Eve sinned the Bible says they were ashamed and wanted to cover their nakedness.

They sewed some leaves together, but they only last so long. God came in and killed an animal for them and covered them with the skin of the animal. This of course would last longer than the leaves, but it still can only cover them up for so long and then they need something new.

Hence we get into sacrifice.

When sacrifice first started happening it was with the understanding that only God saves us and the process of sacrifice was us putting that belief into action.

For example: When I sin under the old covenant. I must know that God is the one saving me. He has told me doing dot dot dot with the animal was the process I would go through in order to show my faith that he saved me.

Leviticus 4:27–29 ESV

27 “If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, 28 or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed. 29 And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering.

A sacrifice must be done for you individually. Your personal sin must be atoned for. We say Christ died for the sins of mankind, 100% true. But as an individual we must also recognize our need for his sacrifice.

Jesus got up on that cross and died, because God loved the world so much. But he also died for you individually. Think about that as you reflect on some of your life choices. Don’t feel overwhelmed, I did it too and it’s a long list of sins that Jesus died for me. And the list keeps growing.

But he died for you personally.

And the super crazy thing about it is that he wasn’t dying for the righteous, or the perfect people, there were none.

Jesus died for his enemies.

Romans 5:8 ESV

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Imagine that bully you know at school. People run from them, avoid them. Stay clear. Imagine now sitting with them. Asking about their day. Befriending them. And even if they keep bullying you, you keep on trying to be their friend. That’s tough to do.

But that is what Jesus did for us.

John 15:13 ESV

13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Jesus gave his life for you so you don’t have to pay the price of death.

but why?

Why is Jesus, God in the flesh, the one who had to die?

One of the universal laws of nature is justice for wrong doing. Sin must be paid for. We may ask the question why can’t God just forgive. Just say everyone is forgiven and no payment is needed.

If there is no consequence for sin, if there is no forgiveness and no transformation, then what is heaven, but an eternally tainted place where eventually war would ravage and hate would reign.

No, sin has no place in heaven, so to get there, one must be changed, transformed, forgiven.

But on our part the wages of sin is death. That is the fate we buy for ourselves when we sin.

Apart from Jesus all we have within us is death.

What did both John the Baptist and Jesus call the Pharisees on a few occasions? Anyone know?

A brood of vipers. A viper is a snake filled with venom that will kill. Vipers are filled with death.

If you get bit by a venomous snake what will you need?

You will need anti-venom. you will need something put in your body to stop the death.

To make antivenom what you need is venom and an animal. And not just any animal will do. Three are commonly used. Horses, goats and sheep or lambs.

They inject a small amount of venom into the animal and the animal produces anti bodies, then we take the blood out, do some sciencey stuff to it and then you give it to the bitten person and they don’t die.

Horses were on the list, and it works, and can be mass produced because horses are big and have a lot of blood. But there are side effects that are a lot less unpleasant than death, but still uncomfortable.

But when you get antivenom that was made in a lamb, there are significantly less chance of side effects.

All that to say, when you have death raging in your body, only the blood of a lamb can save you.

Now, obviously, if you skim through Leviticus 4-7 a variety of animals are used.

Bulls for the masses. Why? Lots of blood. For the individuals, goats, lambs, and if the person is poor, two turtledoves Less blood.

Jesus is identified as the Lamb of God.

So how did Jesus’ blood become the answer to the death raging inside of us?

Isaiah 53:6–7 ESV

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

Sin was placed on Jesus. And verse 7 illustrates it beautifully. He took it, he didn’t fight against our sin being placed on him. Then Jesus died with our sin on him.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

When you make antivenom the animal you inject has to be healthy. You don’t want to be cured of the venom and then get botulism or something else that will kill you.

So, if by chance my blood could cure your sin, great right, nope, because along with the cure to your sin, carries mine. My blood can’t take away sin.

Jesus has no sin. But he took on ours and he died. Usually death is the end. The animal died the blood covered us, but it was temporary. A dead thing can only save you for a moment, but a living thing...

Jesus didn’t stay dead. His blood is alive and coursing in the veins of those who believe in him.

John 6:56 ESV

56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.

We have his blood in us, and not his dead blood, his living blood. Dead blood breaks down, you would need it again, but Jesus offers this:

Hebrews 9:12 ESV

12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

His own blood secured ETERNAL redemption. Only Jesus can do that because his blood was perfect to begin with. And when he died, with all our sin in him, our sin died with him, it broke down and decayed.

Then Jesus rose from the dead. The sin gone and dead, but the blood, pure and living.

The wages of sin is death. I showed that verse earlier, but I cut it off. Here’s the whole thing

Romans 6:23 ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If you know Jesus as your savior, then you have his blood in you. Eternally speaking, you will not die. Sin can happen, we still have decaying bodies, but sin cannot thrive in us. It dies in us.

If you depend on other things to save you, they might make you feel good for a while, they might even win you awards. They won’t save you for eternity. Only Jesus can.

Remember our prayer.

If you’re not there yet, don’t do it because I said so. It means nothing if you don’t mean it. If you don’t truly want God to transform your life.

God, do in me all that you need to do, so you can do through me all that you want to do.

So please be continuing to talk to Jesus about who is is in your life.

Because,

Animals were never meant to be our savior, they were meant to illustrate that only God can save you.

And Jesus died to saved you.

In social media, people out there create videos and content to entertain you, so that you will in turn “FOLLOW” them with a click or tap.

Jesus took your sin upon himself so that you wouldn’t have to die. God himself took your place, so that you could live forever.

Isn’t that worth a Follow?

Let’s pray