Leviticus is one of those books I'm never that fond of reading. I often selfishly see it as something I need to get through, knowing full well that I'll get nothing out of it. Well, at least the first half about all the laws. They just all seem so dated and unnecessary.
But, it's still God's Word, which means there is truth to be found, so this week I chugged along and ended up discovering something amazing.
The gospel can be found in Leviticus! And it's not by a major or minor prophet predicting Jesus' coming, or telling others about it, it's just one of those amazing parallels that shows us just how long ago God planned to save us from ourselves.
There was the old covenant, but God knew there would be a new covenant. He knew He would send His son to die for our sins. He knew that no amount of animal sacrifices could atone for the evil we do, only the sacrifice of Jesus could truly carry our sins away.
In Moses' time, part of the day included bringing two male goats before God as a sin offering.
"And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, but the goat on which the lot fell for Azalel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azalel." Leviticus 16:9-10
Like our day of atonement, Jesus was presented to God as a sin offering, he was sacrificed so we could be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over, that our sins (past, present, and future) would be sent away into the wilderness.
"And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness." Leviticus 16:27
The difference of course is that in Moses' time, the day of atonement was an annual gig. Our sins could never fully be paid for. Jesus' sacrifice sends our sins into the wilderness forever. No other sacrifice is needed.
God laid his hands over his Son and over it confessed all of our iniquities, all our transgressions, all our sins, and he put them on the head of His Son. Jesus bore our iniquities and was killed on the cross as a sacrifice for us, to atone for our sins and send them free into the wilderness. He died to make us free (Romans 6:7, 8:2). Free from sin, free from ourselves, free to dance and free to run.
Ironically, us being free came at an enormous cost. What amazing grace.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
It's a Small World After All
For weeks I've been studying "the church." I've wanted to know about church doctrine, the importance of church, and what makes a church, well... a church. I even started reading the book "Stop Dating the Church," which has already began to change the way I look at attendance and membership. It's gotten me incredibly excited about going to church each week. But, sometimes there are obstacles.
Saturday night a group of friends and I drove down to Spring Hill, Florida for spring break. We drove through the night, and were set to arrive around 10 in the morning on Sunday. I tried to convince the rest of the crew to stop and go to church along the way, but my weary travelling friends did not seem as interested. I researched and found a church in Spring Hill that started at 10:30 and one at 10:50. Around 10:45am we were just pulling into Spring Hill and I knew church wasn't going to work out.
I'm not going to lie, I was a combination of disappointed and angry. I struggled to maintain patience the final 15 minutes of our trip.
Then something happened, as we pulled into the driveway of our vacation home, I looked to the left and saw a sign across the street, "Faith Evangelical Free Church." Their was going to be a service at 6pm. I was beyond excited!
But, a little nervous, too. I had no idea what to expect. Would it be a big church? A little church? Would I fit in? Would it be good teaching? Would I hear a false gospel? What if I wanted to leave halfway through?
Still, I felt called to go. I can't really explain it, I just knew I needed to be there.
I walked in and was shocked to find just about twenty other people present in the tiny church. It looked much bigger from the road.
The twenty-something odd people were all at least sixty years old or older. I stood out like a sore thumb.
Within a minute of arriving, the pastor came over to me to ask my name and welcome me to the church. It was odd, he was probably mid thirties, and (I mean this in the most respectful, appropriate way possible), he was very good looking for his age. I couldn't understand what it must have been like for him to preach here. Did he enjoy teaching here? Was he sad the congregation was so small?
His wife came in shortly after, she was a beautiful woman as well. I wonder how she handled seeing her husband up there on the pulpit. Was she still proud of him?
After a few wonderfully sung hymns, Pastor Slayden (great name!) was up to bat and I had no idea what was coming.
For 50 minutes he gave one of the most amazing sermons ever!! It was an exegetical study on Deuteronomy, and it was incredible. I learned so much, I was convicted, and I was challenged. I'm not going to lie, I did not expect that. Pastor Slayden was easily one of the most intelligent preachers I've ever heard, and he was downright joyful. Before long I realized the rest of the congregation was equally on their game. At one point, he asked the group a theological question that even I didn't know the answer to. Everyone else did. It was incredible.
After the service Kaitlin (Slayden's wife) came over to introduce herself to me and talk about what I was doing there. I shared why I was in Florida, what led me to their church, and how the group I'm with is involved with Campus Crusade for Christ back at Cru. Turns out, Kaitlin and Slayden met at Campus Crusade when they were in college!
Furthermore, Slayden went to Dallas Theological Seminary, the same six years I was in Texas, and we lived in the same town. Small world, right? The conversation continued with me practically drilling the two on Dallas Theological Seminary, as I've been debating going to seminary for Biblical counseling after I get my counseling license. Turns out, another member of their congregation actually started the Biblical counseling program there! We exchanged contact information so we can talk more about it and she can pass my name along.
I had no idea what to expect going into church Sunday morning. I just knew God wanted me there. I thought it would be for them. I thought it might be a cool witness for them to see someone making church a priority over Spring Break. That's what I thought would happen when I felt called to go there.
But, my God is an amazing God, and instead of using me to reach the church, He used the church to reach me. Amazing!
Saturday night a group of friends and I drove down to Spring Hill, Florida for spring break. We drove through the night, and were set to arrive around 10 in the morning on Sunday. I tried to convince the rest of the crew to stop and go to church along the way, but my weary travelling friends did not seem as interested. I researched and found a church in Spring Hill that started at 10:30 and one at 10:50. Around 10:45am we were just pulling into Spring Hill and I knew church wasn't going to work out.
I'm not going to lie, I was a combination of disappointed and angry. I struggled to maintain patience the final 15 minutes of our trip.
Then something happened, as we pulled into the driveway of our vacation home, I looked to the left and saw a sign across the street, "Faith Evangelical Free Church." Their was going to be a service at 6pm. I was beyond excited!
But, a little nervous, too. I had no idea what to expect. Would it be a big church? A little church? Would I fit in? Would it be good teaching? Would I hear a false gospel? What if I wanted to leave halfway through?
Still, I felt called to go. I can't really explain it, I just knew I needed to be there.
I walked in and was shocked to find just about twenty other people present in the tiny church. It looked much bigger from the road.
The twenty-something odd people were all at least sixty years old or older. I stood out like a sore thumb.
Within a minute of arriving, the pastor came over to me to ask my name and welcome me to the church. It was odd, he was probably mid thirties, and (I mean this in the most respectful, appropriate way possible), he was very good looking for his age. I couldn't understand what it must have been like for him to preach here. Did he enjoy teaching here? Was he sad the congregation was so small?
His wife came in shortly after, she was a beautiful woman as well. I wonder how she handled seeing her husband up there on the pulpit. Was she still proud of him?
After a few wonderfully sung hymns, Pastor Slayden (great name!) was up to bat and I had no idea what was coming.
For 50 minutes he gave one of the most amazing sermons ever!! It was an exegetical study on Deuteronomy, and it was incredible. I learned so much, I was convicted, and I was challenged. I'm not going to lie, I did not expect that. Pastor Slayden was easily one of the most intelligent preachers I've ever heard, and he was downright joyful. Before long I realized the rest of the congregation was equally on their game. At one point, he asked the group a theological question that even I didn't know the answer to. Everyone else did. It was incredible.
After the service Kaitlin (Slayden's wife) came over to introduce herself to me and talk about what I was doing there. I shared why I was in Florida, what led me to their church, and how the group I'm with is involved with Campus Crusade for Christ back at Cru. Turns out, Kaitlin and Slayden met at Campus Crusade when they were in college!
Furthermore, Slayden went to Dallas Theological Seminary, the same six years I was in Texas, and we lived in the same town. Small world, right? The conversation continued with me practically drilling the two on Dallas Theological Seminary, as I've been debating going to seminary for Biblical counseling after I get my counseling license. Turns out, another member of their congregation actually started the Biblical counseling program there! We exchanged contact information so we can talk more about it and she can pass my name along.
I had no idea what to expect going into church Sunday morning. I just knew God wanted me there. I thought it would be for them. I thought it might be a cool witness for them to see someone making church a priority over Spring Break. That's what I thought would happen when I felt called to go there.
But, my God is an amazing God, and instead of using me to reach the church, He used the church to reach me. Amazing!
Monday, March 8, 2010
(Un)Righteous
A couple of days ago I was reading in Exodus 34, and I was struck by the very first verse I read.
"The Lord said to Moses, 'Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.'" (emphasis added)
I was immediately angry for Moses. Which he broke? Seriously, yeah he threw them down, but it was because Aaron and the people of Israel made a golden calf to worship!! God delivered them from bondage in Egypt. He literally parted a sea for them, and still they are so impatient that in the time Moses is up on the mountain speaking to the Lord, they turn to idol worship. I would've thrown down the tablets, too! But that's not MY fault, it's the people's fault. Their sin was bigger than mine.
But all sin is equal in the eyes of God.
James 2:10 says, "For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it."
In the gospel of Matthew Jesus is recorded saying, "'Or how can you say to your brother 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye?'"
Earlier in Exodus Moses' sin is exposed, "As soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain." Exodus 32:19
I'm not arguing that Moses was unjust in his anger. It's difficult to see anyone sin against the Lord, but even more so when they're people you love or people you lead. Sometimes these emotions are founded in righteous anger and a Godly sorrow, sometimes their founded in pride. But even righteous anger can be acted on in a sinful way.
I don't condone idol worship at all, but Moses was far from blame himself. He sinned so greatly in his anger that he literally threw the work of God in the dirt (Exodus 32:15), the writing was the writing of God (32:16), written in stone with the finger of God (31:18)... and he burned so hot that he broke the tablets that God himself just wrote on.
I can't even fathom an equivalent, the closest I can imagine is being angry at my roommates for sinning and rather than walking away and praying, or taking my anger to God, or rebuking them later when I was of the right mind, it would be like me ripping my Bible in two, right in front of them. As if to say, "The word of God? Psh. My anger and my feelings are more important than that."
But so often when I sin out of righteous anger I choose to forget the first part. It's righteous anger, not sin. I did it for you, God! They're worse than me. I did this for you!
And so when I receive my just punishment for my sin I want to throw a fit. I say I'm being persecuted for righteousness sake. But I'm not, I'm being punished and disciplined for my own sin. And more importantly, for my own good.
Praise God that I have a Savior whose sacrifice covered everyone's sins once and for all. Praise God that He gave us His one and only Son and saw him brutally hung on a cross like a criminal as atonement for all of our sins. Past, present, and future.
Romans 5:18-19 says, "Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous."
I am so thankful that despite my stubborn, angry, sinful nature, the Lord always uses His word to teach me and prune me and grow me. And I'm so thankful that the Lord still loves me even when I sin against him by judging his children (my fellow brothers and sisters) and thinking I'm better than them. And I'm thankful that when I'm too blind to see my own sin, or too stubborn and embarrassed to own up to it, that he bluntly reminds me, "You broke my tablets."
God doesn't sugarcoat this or try to appease Moses when he returns. He's not worried about Moses' feelings, he's worried about Moses' godliness. He doesn't say, "...the first tablets which you broke, because of this horrible Israelites." The full weight of the responsibility is put on Moses.
The full weight of responsibility for my actions is on me. Sometimes I break God's tablets. Sometimes I throw His written word into the dirt. Praise God that while my sin is my responsibility, Jesus already took care of it, and teaches me how to do the same everyday.
"The Lord said to Moses, 'Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.'" (emphasis added)
I was immediately angry for Moses. Which he broke? Seriously, yeah he threw them down, but it was because Aaron and the people of Israel made a golden calf to worship!! God delivered them from bondage in Egypt. He literally parted a sea for them, and still they are so impatient that in the time Moses is up on the mountain speaking to the Lord, they turn to idol worship. I would've thrown down the tablets, too! But that's not MY fault, it's the people's fault. Their sin was bigger than mine.
But all sin is equal in the eyes of God.
James 2:10 says, "For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it."
In the gospel of Matthew Jesus is recorded saying, "'Or how can you say to your brother 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye?'"
Earlier in Exodus Moses' sin is exposed, "As soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain." Exodus 32:19
I'm not arguing that Moses was unjust in his anger. It's difficult to see anyone sin against the Lord, but even more so when they're people you love or people you lead. Sometimes these emotions are founded in righteous anger and a Godly sorrow, sometimes their founded in pride. But even righteous anger can be acted on in a sinful way.
I don't condone idol worship at all, but Moses was far from blame himself. He sinned so greatly in his anger that he literally threw the work of God in the dirt (Exodus 32:15), the writing was the writing of God (32:16), written in stone with the finger of God (31:18)... and he burned so hot that he broke the tablets that God himself just wrote on.
I can't even fathom an equivalent, the closest I can imagine is being angry at my roommates for sinning and rather than walking away and praying, or taking my anger to God, or rebuking them later when I was of the right mind, it would be like me ripping my Bible in two, right in front of them. As if to say, "The word of God? Psh. My anger and my feelings are more important than that."
But so often when I sin out of righteous anger I choose to forget the first part. It's righteous anger, not sin. I did it for you, God! They're worse than me. I did this for you!
And so when I receive my just punishment for my sin I want to throw a fit. I say I'm being persecuted for righteousness sake. But I'm not, I'm being punished and disciplined for my own sin. And more importantly, for my own good.
Praise God that I have a Savior whose sacrifice covered everyone's sins once and for all. Praise God that He gave us His one and only Son and saw him brutally hung on a cross like a criminal as atonement for all of our sins. Past, present, and future.
Romans 5:18-19 says, "Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous."
I am so thankful that despite my stubborn, angry, sinful nature, the Lord always uses His word to teach me and prune me and grow me. And I'm so thankful that the Lord still loves me even when I sin against him by judging his children (my fellow brothers and sisters) and thinking I'm better than them. And I'm thankful that when I'm too blind to see my own sin, or too stubborn and embarrassed to own up to it, that he bluntly reminds me, "You broke my tablets."
God doesn't sugarcoat this or try to appease Moses when he returns. He's not worried about Moses' feelings, he's worried about Moses' godliness. He doesn't say, "...the first tablets which you broke, because of this horrible Israelites." The full weight of the responsibility is put on Moses.
The full weight of responsibility for my actions is on me. Sometimes I break God's tablets. Sometimes I throw His written word into the dirt. Praise God that while my sin is my responsibility, Jesus already took care of it, and teaches me how to do the same everyday.
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