“Jesus died on the cross for you. If you accept Him into your heart, you will be saved from your sins.”
I don’t know how many times I heard this message growing up. Through many a Sunday School class, youth group lesson, camp session, and other church events, these words were drilled into my soul. I had John 3:16 memorized forwards, backwards, and upside down.
I’m not complaining! Of course, this is a true, life-giving message and I’m thankful I was raised to believe it. But I remember always being a bit perplexed. What did God’s Son being nailed to a cross have to do with my life? How did believing that it truly happened make my sins go away?
I was missing a big piece of the puzzle. Unless you read Leviticus, you’re missing out!
Leviticus contains the foundation of the gospel message. It may seem like nothing more than a list of rigid rules and ceremonial laws that don’t pertain to us today. But it contains the whole explanation behind what makes Christ’s death and resurrection so important and so wonderful!
Throughout Leviticus we get a detailed description of the sacrificial system. Bulls, rams, goats, birds, or grain were brought to the tabernacle. They had to be animals with no blemish, not just old crippled animals that didn’t have any value. Then the priest would lay his hands on the head of the animal, transferring the sin of the people to the animal, before it would be killed and taken apart, with certain parts burned on an altar. All had to be done in a specific place and in a specific way.
God had a purpose for this. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.” (Leviticus 17:11)
Here is the foundation of the gospel. Blood is life, and blood must be shed to take away sin. For hundreds of years, this was the system God’s people had to follow in order to be cleansed.
Without Leviticus, we cannot gain a full understanding of the gravity of our situation, the way sin separates us from God, the massive lengths people had to go to in the Old Testament to restore the relationship with Him, and the incredible way that Jesus fulfilled all the sacrificial requirements of the ceremonial law. Hebrews 10:10 tells us that now “we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
From the very beginning, God had a special purpose for His people. In Old Testament books that may seem archaic and out-dated, we see how the beautiful plan unfolds, and we feel His immense love for us resonating through every page.
So good!!! Just heard a sermon from Hebrews that touched on this and like you after hearing it for so long it really makes a difference when you truly understand and more thankful for the sacrifice that we desperately needed!!!! thank you for always sharing your wisdom!!!!!