Leviticus

Wow! I just finished reading the OT Book of Leviticus. Talk about heavy, detailed, interesting?. I think that my life as a pastor in the 21st Century is challenging. I cannot imagine being a Levitical Priest trying to follow all of God's instructions for worship and the offering of burnt sacrifices. I will not pretend to understand ALL that is in Leviticus, but it makes me thankful for a couple of things:

1. God is on my side. If God is for you, who can be against you? It is simply foolish to go against the Creator of the Universe who has unlimited power, knowledge, and resources. (And as a side note, as I think about God's nature and character...Why is our faith so small? Why do we pray little prayers?)

2. The "once and for all" substitutionary death and atonement of Jesus Christ. I am thankful that with the coming of Christ and the NT that we are no longer under the old covenant (Heb 9:11-22) but we are now under the new covenant. We are no longer under the law but grace.

I am so thankful for the cross. The wall directly in front of my desk is covered with crosses. The crosses are a constant reminder of God's love, grace, and forgiveness. I am so thankful for Jesus' "once and for all" sacrifice on the altar for my sins. He is the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world.

Today, the creative branch of our staff team worked several hours planning our upcoming Easter service. It looks like at some point in the service (probably as the opener), the band will play Creed's "My Sacrifice". Somewhere in the service we will sing, "Jesus Paid It All". As Christians, we should never get over the fact that Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. He is our sacrifice. He is "My Sacrifice". He died in our place. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Wow, we are righteous and holy through the blood of Jesus Christ. We no longer have to offer sacrifices to God every time we sin. Jesus was and is our "once and for all" offering for sin.

And once we accept his sacrifice for us, we are to offer ourselves to him as living sacrifices. We no longer burn animals on the altar to God. But we offer ourselves as living sacrifices to him through our love and obedience.

Well...I guess I got more out of Leviticus than I thought.