My Atonement

Then the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When any man of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock. If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect; he shall offer it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord. He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, that it may be accepted for him to make up the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the doorway of the tent of meeting. He shall then skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces. The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head and the suet over the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar. Its entrails, however, and its legs he shall wash with water.  And the priest shall offer up in smoke all of it on the altar for a burnt offering, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord.   (Leviticus 1:1-9, NASB)

This Lenten Season, we remember Jesus’ sacrifice.  But in the Torah, we get a picture of sacrifices that Jesus eventually would fulfill.  The book of Leviticus has commandments which God passed through Moses, which were fulfilled by the sons of Levi, which were how to perform the sacrifices.  Let’s look for Jesus in God’s instructions. 

First, Jesus was “without defect.”  He lived a perfect life, free from sin, so that He was an acceptable sacrifice to the Father.  Next is the blood.  God demands blood for atonement of sins.  God commanded that the blood of the sacrifice be “sprinkle[d] around on the altar that is at the doorway of the tent of meeting.”  Jesus’ sacrifice had much blood.  We are cleansed  from all of our sins by His blood!  Finally, “the priest shall offer up in smoke all of it on the altar for a burnt offering, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord.”  Jesus is, indeed, that Soothing Aroma to the Lord! 

Per God’s command, sinners were required to repeat this process every time they sinned.  Believers in Christ Jesus have been forgiven.  Once we have called upon the name of the Lord to be saved, we only have to confess our sins to Him!  Jesus is my Atonement!