If the Wizard of Oz is lions, tigers and bears then Leviticus has to be blood, guts and fire oh my! Thus far in the book of Leviticus there has been a lot of all three. We have been shown the many details of the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering and today in chapter 4 we see the fine nuances of the sin offering. The sin offering is the longest and most complicated of them all, as you would probably imagine since it deals directly with personal sin.
Sin is a tricky deal. We all have it, yet we all deal with it very differently. (Rom 3:23) As a result, you see very different lives in the face of sin. Some are joyfully lived in the peace and freedom of God and some are spiraling out of control into an existence of turmoil, agony and bondage. So, what’s the difference and how do you claim a life like the first?
You see whether you like it or not, you’re a sinner. You can’t help it, you can’t stop it and you can’t control it. Not for a minute, not for an hour, not for a day. The real issue with sin is if it’s going to happen, what do you do with it? Imagine if I were to give you a kangaroo every day for a year. Very quickly you’ll realize you’ve got a problem, you’ve got kangaroos taking over your life. As you encounter sin in your life you can’t allow it to accumulate. You’ve got to deal with it before you’re eating your cereal one morning and find yourself looking across the table at 157 kangaroos!
As I studied the sin offering this morning, there were a few things that stuck out, let’s take a gander.
1) You have to be aware your sin. Unless you’re aware of and dealing with your sin, a sin offering would never occur. I mean, come on, you must see a need to deal with your sin before you will deal with your sin. Are you being honest with yourself about sin? The most common ways people deal with sin is justification and denial. We tell ourselves about the sin in our lives: it’s not really that bad, all my friends live this way, society condones it (it’s not against the law), I see it all over the movies and TV so it must be OK, and it’s my personal business and it hurts nobody. Or even worse, over time we develop a hard, calloused heart and we become flippant about sin our lives. I’ll do whatever I want, with anybody I want, anytime I want, it’s my life and I’ll live it any way I want. Folks, the first step in dealing with the sin in your life is awareness. You have to realize there’s a problem before you can deal with it.
2) Sin affects everybody. The sin offering in chapter 4 specifically addresses 4 parties, the common man, the religious leaders, the civil leaders and the congregation. God carefully points out that sin affects everybody and anybody. Sin affects Presidents, Pastors, CEO’s, moms and dads, movie stars, teachers, police and yes, even the Pope. I always think it’s ironic when somebody famous gets exposed because of sin in their lives. Why are we surprised? They’re sinners just like all of us except for the fact that their sin has been exposed by the media and ours has not. But notice also that God says sin can affect groups. You see sin does not just damage the individual, it can spread like cancer and cripple entire organizations and congregations. Many a pastor has lived in massive unconfessed sin and as it came to light, it destroyed entire church congregations. Your personal "secret" sin can and will affect many more people than just yourself.
3) Sin has to be dealt with personally. In every single one of the sin offerings in chapter 4 you’ll find this instruction, “they shall lay their hands on the head of the bull, sheep or goat.” Folks, here is where it gets personal. You see, when we sin it is a personal transgression against God. Sin is anything that you say, do or think that displeases God. Carefully notice the word “you” in that definition. As you sin against God, you have to deal with it, or it will break down your relationship with God through grieving His Holy Spirit. (Eph 4:30) Jesus paid the price for your sins, but you still have to deal with the repercussions of them in this life. You see, He saved us from sin, not to sin. Read this great quote about placing hands on the sacrifice from Samuel Kellogg’s study book, The Book of Leviticus:
“It symbolized a transfer according to God’s merciful provision, of an obligation to suffer for sin, from the offerer to the innocent victim. Henceforth, the victim stood in the offerer’s place, and was dealt with accordingly.”
In other words, when the man went to the temple altar and put his hand on that animal that was to be slain, he was designating this little animal to take his place. The man was admitting his personal sin and the fact that he deserved to die, but out of great mercy, God would accept a sacrifice instead.
Folks, there is no more powerful picture of the love, grace and mercy of God than this. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) You see, because of the sin in our lives, we deserve death. Our sin is ugly darkness before the perfect, pure light of God and as a result of this sin, we cannot ever be allowed in His presence. This unaltered state earns us an eternity in Hell, the complete absence of God. Our sin, if not dealt with permanently, will cause us to end up in the darkness and fires of a forever without the goodness, peace and love of Almighty God. This is not an eternity that anyone deserves.
But out of God’s infinite love, He made a way. A way that we could place our hand on the head of a perfect sacrifice, a perfect lamb. You see, we can personally identify with Jesus Christ. He came to be a sacrifice for you, for me, and for all of mankind. But you must make it personal. You must reach out and claim Him. It’s free, it’s instant and it will be the biggest decision you ever make. Reach out today, place your hand upon Jesus and claim Him as your offering. He and He alone can be the sacrifice that will appease God. He is “the way, the truth and the life and No one comes to the Father except through Him.” (John 14:6p)
I pray today that as you look at the reflection in your mirror, that you’ll be honest. Deal with the things in your life that displease God. Unconfessed sin will greatly distance you from God and that’s something you just can’t afford if you are desiring a life full of His peace, His freedom and His joy.
Get right with God and your life gets right.
Blessings.
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