The Sacrifices and Christ

The Sacrifice of Christ.
Leviticus 6-10
“The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it.  It shall not go out, but the priests shall burn wood on it every morning; and he shall lay out the burnt offering on it, and offer up in smoke eth fat portions of the peace offerings on it.”

To understand how Leviticus points us to Christ, we need to understand the significance of the sacrifices but also the role of the priests.  Both pointed us to the person and ministry of Christ.  The sacrificial system points us to the significance of His death, but in the priesthood, we discover the importance of His ministry on our behalf.
 
In Leviticus, we discover five different types of sacrifices that the people were to offer up to God: The burnt offering, the grain offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering.   The first, and the most important, was the Burnt Offering.  It is not only listed first but receives the most attention, and the details are the most specific.  The first thing we notice about the sin offering is that it served to make atonement for the sins of the people (1:4).  This offering was most important because it was the one sacrifice necessary for people to have access to God.  However, unlike the other sacrifices, where a specific animal was required, for this offering, several animals could be used depending upon the wealth of the individual.  By allowing for various animals, including pigeons and turtledoves (which were relatively cheap), access to God was made available for all people.  The death of Christ was for all people, and by His death, the rich and poor now have equal access to God.

The Grain Offering, also called the loyalty offering, was a sacrifice that provided the means of maintaining a good standing before God.  It serves as an act of dedication and consecration to God.  While the burned offering brought atonement, thus making it possible for sinful man to be accepted by God, the grain offering was an expression of the people’s dedication to God and their trust in God for their daily provisions.  It reminds us that God desires more than just to save us from sin; he desires a personal relationship with us. But this relationship also comes at the cost of Christ’s death.

The third sacrifice was the Peace Offering. The peace offering celebrated our relationship with God and expressed the people’s gratitude to God and enjoyment of His presence. Through Christ's death, we are brought into a new relationship where we are regarded as God’s children and members of His household. God desires for us to enjoy him and to worship him. Christ, through His death, invites us into an ongoing relationship with God where we are no longer servants but participants of His household.  

The next offering listed in Chapter 4 is the Sin Offering or the purification offering.  While the burnt offering served to pay for the consequences of sin as a result of our sinful nature, the sin offering was to be offered up for specific sins we commit.  The point is that Christ not only redeemed us from the effect of sin universally, but he also paid the penalty for the particular sins that we commit.  

The last offering mentioned is called the Guilt Offering or the Reparation Offering.  This offering involves making restitution for our sins, for our sins not only violate God’s standard but rob God or thus by neglect or theft of what God has given us. Christ, in his death, paid our debt to God (Is. 53:10).  

However, because we were sinners, we cannot approach a holy God, even when offering our sacrifices. For a sinful man to come into the presence of a holy God was to invite judgment for his sin.  Therefore, we need an advocate who can represent us to God so we might gain access to His presence.  This was the role of the priests. However, Christ became our final high priest who, by His sacrifice, obtained complete and final forgiveness of our sins and restored us to a right relationship with God.  To understand what Christ accomplished on the cross and His role as our priest, we need to understand the Levitical laws regarding the sacrificial system and the function of the priests as representatives of the people.  This was, and is, the work of Christ.  He came to be our representative before God so that He might obtain our forgiveness and restore our relationship with God.

If we fail to see Christ in the message of Leviticus, we miss the point that God is making.  When reading this incredible book, we find the primer to teach us about the ministry of Christ.  Christ is more than just a good moral teacher; He is the one whose sacrifice enables us to have forgiveness and fellowship with God. He is our High Priest who is our advocate in the presence of God, the one that we can turn to in our struggles with life and sin (Hebrews 4:14-16).  Today, just reflect and give thanks for the sacrifice of Christ, for it by His death, and His death alone, our sins are forgiven, and we now have access to God.  This is a truth worth remembering and celebrating in our life.