Seriousness of Sin and Sweetness of Christ., Leviticus

The nomadic way of the Israelites is unrecognizable to us today. Not only is the nomadic way of life foreign to us, so is the everything about their culture. As a result we have to do some work to make sense of what the book talks about. It requires some study on our part to know what the meaning of some things are and to place the right significance on things.

Leviticus is not a stand-alone book.

As Jay Sklar says:

“Leviticus is part of a much larger story, especially the one told in Exodus. You could tell that story like this: In Exodus the Lord delivers his people from slavery with mighty signs and wonders (1-15) and brings them to Sinai (16-19), telling them there that they are to be his “kingdom of priests and holy nation.” He confirms their kingdom status by entering into a covenant with them as their king and giving them kingdom laws to follow (20-24). But that is not all! He is going to be a king who is near to them, dwelling in their very midst, and this is why he proceeds to give them directions for his tabernacle, his earthly palace (25-31, 35-40). And all of this leads to a very burning question if you’re an Israelite: How in the world can the holy and pure king of the universe dwell among his sinful and impure people? How can he live here—in our very midst—without his holiness melting us in our sin and impurity?!”

Leviticus (the law) is not a weight too bear, it is the new way of life for the recently redeemed people of Israel.

Throughout the Bible God delivers and then He demands. The law has a consistent place in God’s redemptive story, and that place is after grace or after redemption.

We often look at the book of Leviticus as a list of rules that we are grateful we don’t have to follow. But, for the Israelites the law of God was a blessing given to those in His kingdom. Think of it this way… here in America we have a set of laws. And the foundation of our laws is something bigger than any one law. The laws of our country are the way that we govern ourselves in a free and democratic republic. In fact, you may have heard someone say that those who don’t want to follow the laws of our country can go live someone where else. But, here in America our laws are representative of the what it means to belong to the land of the free and to be a part of the home of the brave.

Israel was the kingdom of God, they had been delivered by the one true God from their chains in Egypt. Once they were not a people, but now they are a people. And, not only are they a people, they are people with the presence of God in their midst. So for the Israelite the law wasn’t an evil thing, the law was a good thing that represented and confirmed the truth of God’s promises. In fact, the NT refers to the law as a guardian that watched over the people of God until the Messiah came. Galatians 3:24 says, “24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith.”

Leviticus is not the end, but we cannot fully understand the end without the beginning.

Understanding the sacrificial system in the book of Leviticus is necessary to grasp the weight of what Christ has done through the cross.

I was talking with one of our church members this past week about the sacrificial system. We were discussing what kind of impact it would make if we had to go and kill an animal on a regular basis for our sins. Would we think twice about committing a sin if we knew we had to kill something for what we did. We talked about how the sacrifices served to remind the Israelites that they had been delivered, and that as God’s people they were called to live as He is… to be holy as He is holy. And, when they were not holy they were to make sacrifices to atone for their sins and to cleanse the kingdom.

The NT teaches us that we no longer have the need to make atoning sacrifices for our sins to be right with God. Hebrews 1:3 (CSB) says, “3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

Two things here:

First, Jesus made an atoning sacrifice for sin through his death on the cross.

The words of the book of Hebrews draw straight from the book of Leviticus. Leviticus 16:30 (CSB) says, “30 Atonement will be made for you on this day to cleanse you, and you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord.” This is what Jesus did when it says that he made purification for sins.

The death of Christ was an atoning sacrifice for the sins of all who would believe. That’s why Jesus said in John 3:16–18 (CSB), “16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.”

Everyone who believes in Jesus will receive the results of His atoning sacrifice- purification for sin.

Second, Jesus isn’t going to make anymore sacrifices for the sins of the world.

Jesus made purification for sin and then He sat down. It’s important that Jesus sat down. Jesus sat down to signal that the sacrifice was complete. And, Jesus sat down on the throne to reign over the kingdom He delivered.

What Jesus did was enough for the sins of the world. Unlike the Israelites we are not required to go and make a sacrifice when we sin. But, be careful. I have noticed even in my own heart the temptation to think that what the Israelites were doing was worse or more significant. But, where the Israelites were instructed to go and kill a pigeon, pig, or cow to make up for their sins… the Son of God has been delivered up to the hands of sinful men to die as the sacrifice for your sin.

So, when you are standing in the moment of temptation and are considering whether or not it’s worth it… remember that it isn’t a small animal that’s blood was spilled for you… it was God Himself, Jesus Christ who’s blood was spilled so that you could be redeemed.

Like the Passover lambs that were killed in Egypt, Jesus was slain so that you could be saved from your sin but also so that you would be called to live for God. And this is the way in which we can learn from the book of Leviticus today. It is true that we are under the New covenant in Christ, and praise God for that! But, there are a few ways that Leviticus can be applied to our lives today.

To rightly apply the book of Leviticus we must go back to the context of the book. And by context I don’t mean just the date, author, etc. I mean to look at the place the book and it’s contents hold in the redemptive plan of God.

The context of Leviticus is redemption and deliverance.

God had just delivered Israel and established a covenant with them through Moses. As His covenant people they were called to live according to God and His ways rather than the ways of the Egyptians or any other pagan culture they would encounter in the promised land.

Look again at Leviticus 11:44–45 (CSB):

“44 For I am the Lord your God, so you must consecrate yourselves and be holy because I am holy. Do not defile yourselves by any swarming creature that crawls on the ground. 45 For I am the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, so you must be holy because I am holy.”

The context of the Christian life is redemption and deliverance:

God is holy

To say that God is holy is to say that He is separate and distinct from everything and everyone. As 1 Samuel 2:2 (CSB) says, “2 There is no one holy like the Lord. There is no one besides you! And there is no rock like our God.”

God alone is without sin. That is the line of separation. God made the world and all that is in it. In Genesis he called it good, then Adam and Eve sinned and everything changed. God’s holiness is a mark and designation referring to the fact that He is the only God, and that He is without sin and the only who is righteous.

Isaiah 40:25 (CSB)

25 “To whom will you compare me, or who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.

There is no one like God!

Isaiah 5:16 (CSB)

16 But the Lord of Armies is exalted by his justice, and the holy God demonstrates his holiness through his righteousness.

His uniqueness is demonstrated in His righteousness.

Psalm 145:17 (CSB)

17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all his acts.

God is good and everything that He does is good.

Sin is serious

Romans 6:23 (CSB)

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

Sin deserves death, and it has always been this way. In Genesis 2:17 (CSB) God said, “17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”

Sin separates us from God.

Isaiah 59:1–2 (CSB)

Indeed, the Lord’s arm is not too weak to save, and his ear is not too deaf to hear. 2 But your iniquities are separating you from your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not listen.

The problem of sin is a problem of the heart

Jeremiah 17:9 (CSB)

9 The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?

Jesus said in Matthew 15:17–19 (CSB), “17 “Don’t you realize that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander.”

This means that your sin problem is internal and that you need a savior. And like Isaiah said in 59:1, “the Lord’s arm is not too week to save and his ear is not too deaf to hear.”

God heard Israel when they cried out for help in Exodus, and He has sent Jesus Christ to save us so that all who cry out to Him for mercy will be saved!

Romans 10:11–13 (CSB) says, “11 For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame,, 12 since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

And God saves through the eternal atoning sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ.

Jesus saves us from our sin, sets us apart to live for God, and sends us out to share the gospel.

Jesus saves us from our sin

Like we read in Hebrews earlier, Jesus died on the cross to make purification for our sins.

Jesus is the greater fulfillment of the sacrificial system that God gave the Israelites through Moses.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:3 (CSB), “3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 (CSB)

21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Galatians 1:3–4 (CSB)

3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.

Romans 5:6–8 (CSB)

6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. 8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus saves us from our sins so that everyone who believes in Him will be forgiven and made clean through the power of the Holy Spirit!

Like it says in John 3:16, we let me read the verses around 3:16, here’s John 3:14–18 (CSB):

“14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.” - John 3:14-18

Jesus sets us apart to live for God

The Christian life starts with the cross and never ends. Jesus saves you from your sin, but He also has a plan, purpose, and a life for you to live.

Jesus said that the life He came to give is abundant. John 10:10 (CSB) says, “10 A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.” And the abundant life is one that begins at the cross and carries through all the way through death and into eternity.

Baptism represents this. Baptism isn’t the end of the line, it’s the starting line. But, unfortunately too many people believe that the goal of the cross is just to save you from your sins. But, God did not just deliver Israel from Egypt. He delivered Israel from Egypt and then set them apart as a people to live for Him and to live to glorify Him by living according to His ways.

The same is true for those saved by Jesus. God has saved us to live for Him and to glorify Him by living according to His ways. That’s why it says in 1 Peter 1:13–16 (CSB), “13 Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. 15 But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; 16 for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.”

God saves you from former ignorance and sinful way of life to live according to His ways. And, like the Israelites who received the law to show them how to live… you have been given the example of Jesus, the Bible, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. God dwelled with Israel in the tabernacle or tent of meeting. But today God dwells in the life of each person He saves. God rules His kingdom from the throne room of heaven while at the same time being present in your life through the indwelling power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

It is a joy to follow the Lord’s will and His Word.. not a burden. It means that you belong to Him and that He is with you! My hope and my prayer regarding this is that you learn to see it that way.

God’s ways are not restrictive. You are not missing out if you follow the ways of God. It’s actually the opposite. Those who miss Christ are missing out. Those who follow the ways of God are the ones who are redeemed who will receive eternal life.

Jesus sends us out to share the gospel

Matthew 28:18–20 (CSB)

18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

You see same pattern of redemption preceding instruction here in the Great Commission. Jesus said to baptize them then teach them… but He also said that we are to go. God has sent you, me, and our entire church here to Tupelo to share the gospel with the people around us.

We need to go and share with them the good news that through Christ they can be saved and belong to the kingdom of God… and as we go and tell them about Jesus we are called to live as lights in the world.

The book of Leviticus prepares us and grounds us in the truth that, Jesus saves us from our sin, sets us apart to live for God, and sends us out to share the gospel.