Earlier this week in my devotions I was reading through Leviticus of all places, that’s the third book in your bible, and really felt convicted. The themes of sin, ransom, and atonement were everywhere. Back in the days before Christ had come sins still were sins and a price had to be paid.
Leviticus 4:7-10
“The priest shall then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting. The rest of the bull's blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He shall remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering—the fat that covers the inner parts or is connected to them, both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys- just as the fat is removed from the ox sacrificed as a fellowship offering. Then the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering”
That’s just an example of what we’re talking about here. For every sin, blood had to be paid, and the priest, as a mediator between God and man, would pay it by performing the right sacrifices which God gave to the Israelites through Moses. Now before you start freaking out (which I’m willing to bet most of you reading have, can’t imagine many of you find yourself in Leviticus during your daily devotionals), this isn’t anything new to you. Well, it shouldn’t be anything new to you. We, like the Israelites, are sinners. That sin has to be paid for so that we can receive that right standing with God. We aren’t able to pay that debt ourselves, so we require a priest to pay the penalty for us. And we have all of that in the person of Christ. Romans 3:23 defines our problem in saying that all have sinned and fallen short of the righteousness required by a holy God. 1 Timothy 2:5 says that Christ came as the one and only mediator between God and Man. 1 John 4:10 says that Jesus was sent as that sacrifice, thus cleansing us of our sin.
Now about that price, it says in Romans that the wages of sin is death. And in Mark 10:45 it says that Jesus came to be that ransom. We are all slaves to sin, held captive by our flesh, seekers of destruction in this desolate world. But Jesus’ sacrifice on that cross, his gruesome death pays the debt we owe for our sinfulness, bringing us into fellowship with a holy God, one that doesn’t tolerate sin. He sees us as clean because our flaws have already been paid in full by our Savior Redeemer Christ. This got me thinking about the whole idea of a ransom, and of atonement. The fact that God would willingly lay his life down, would endure 39 whips from a cat-of-nine-tails, would have three stakes driven through his wrists and his ankles, and have his side pierced, for us. God died so that we could be brought over from our communion with this world into a wholly giving of our souls to him. He paid the ultimate price.
What for? Think about this real fast, answer this question: How much time do you spend with God each day, ie. devos, prayer, biblestudies, etc. _____Got your answer? For me when this point was first given to me two weeks ago, I was deeply convicted, because my answer simply wasn’t enough. God died so we could experience an eternal relationship with him, so that we would give our lives over for him to use. He didn’t intend anything else. When God was in the garden and man was in perfect relationship with him, that was GOOD. He didn’t redeem us so that we could spend thirty minutes, an hour, even two with him a day. He requires our everything. Are we giving that to the Lord of Creation? We need to be.
So as an action step per se, can we not all commit to seek after God more earnestly, he deserves it. Let us repent, do a 180 degree turn from our sinfulness to the throne of Grace. Read His Word every day, for more than a few minutes. I urge you to take an hour before you start your day, yes a full hour, and give that to the Lord. It may seem like a lot, but how much time do we waste in front of the tv, video games, or Facebook? For parting words, a challenge: Ephesians 4:1; “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” God has bought us out of sin into full service to Him, Paul elsewhere describes himself as a bondservant and a slave. Live your life worthy of that calling, finish strong, have NO REGRETS.
-matt
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