Alright, now I've entitled this
message, A New Beginning in Christ. And I want you to see how this
connects with that passage that I read in the opening of our
service tonight in Romans 7, but I want to save that for the
end. But here it begins in verse 1,
and it came to pass on the 8th day. Leviticus 9 and verse 1,
the 8th day. Now that 8th day is so significant. You know, Aaron and his sons
had been shut up in the tabernacle for seven days in that week of
consecration. But that time is done. That time
is finished. They've been consecrated unto
the Lord in Christ. That's what that picture is,
the believer being consecrated, dedicated, set in the kingdom
of heaven as a jewel upon the priest's breast and his shoulder,
the breastplate, by the grace of God. And then here, after
that seven-week consecration, that ceremony that they went
through, that pictures and typifies our consecration to Christ, it
says it came to pass on the eighth day, the day after the seventh
day. That's a day of a new beginning.
Aaron and the priests, they've already been made ceremonially
pure. They've been set apart for their
divine service. They've gone through everything
that God had commanded through Moses that a priest should do
in order to prepare them for this day. And what we have here
is a great picture of our new beginning in Christ, too. When
Christ, by His Spirit, consecrates us to the priesthood, the priesthood
of the believer in our new birth, when he gives us life and shows
us the glory of Christ and brings us by personal experience into
his kingdom, into the knowledge of Christ and how God is just
to justify the ungodly. My friend, that's a day of new
beginnings. And you remember that, don't
you? You may not remember exact day. That's not what I'm talking
about. This day is a picture, you see. It's not that you or
I have to look back and say, now, I better look at the calendar
and find out what day it was. But you know there was a new
beginning for you when God the Holy Spirit brought you into
the kingdom and by new birth, by spiritual birth, by regeneration
and conversion, showed you the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ. That was a new day. That was
a new beginning. I mean, you think about it. In
that day of new beginnings, we were able to know things that
we did not know before. Isn't that right? We come to
see the glory of Christ, His person. We come to see the glory
of His finished work on Calvary, His blood for the forgiveness
of all of our sins, how God could be just and justify. We come
to see how everything in our salvation was owing unto a sovereign
God. We come to know that by experience,
not just doctrine, not just theology, but we entered into it with a
spiritual knowledge. It wasn't mysticism. I mean,
God worked through the mind and He operated on the heart and
He brought us, He drew us out with cords of love and comforted
us with the glory of Christ. In that day of new beginnings,
we were able to see things that we couldn't see before. puts
it forth this way, the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We may have known some doctrine,
some theology. We may have known some religion.
We may have known some scripture, been able to quote some scripture.
But we didn't see the glory of Christ until this new day of
beginnings, until the Holy Spirit showed us our sinfulness. And
that's another thing we saw that we never saw before. And I know
we continue to see these things. It's not just a one-time thing.
I mean, it's something we see daily, and as we grow in grace
and knowledge, we see it even more. But that day of new beginnings
was a day that I saw what I was in the sight of God based upon
my best efforts to keep the law, that I was a rotten, wretched,
depraved sinner who could not save himself, helpless, as we
say, beggars, you see. I thought I was clothed tight
in the religion of free will and works. But I found out that
before God, I was naked in the sight of God, just like Adam
and Eve trying to put on fig leaves. I didn't see that before. But in this eighth day, this
day of new beginnings, when the Spirit convicted me of sin, because
I didn't know Christ, I didn't know Him, I didn't know what,
I didn't know the power of His blood, I didn't know the power
of His righteousness, all I looked at Christ was just as a pedestal
that I could stand up on and boast about my free will. That's
all I knew. But you see, that ignorance went
away. And then we were able to hear
things that we never heard before. All the comforts of the gospel. That message. And I tell you
what, I can't pick out a day, and I'm not worried about that,
and I say that all the time. But I'll tell you what, I remember
when I hated it. I can remember. I can remember
sitting right back there about where Brother Clarence is. Just
wanting to get up and leave. I didn't want to hear any more
of it. And the only reason I stuck around is because of God's providence,
God's power. The only reason I stuck around
is because I wanted to prove it wrong. But on the eighth day,
on the eighth day, when God showed me His glory, then I began to
hear it with a different ear. God gave me ears to hear. And
that message which was so offensive to me, that message that I hated
so much, now I began to long after. I wanted to hear more.
I've got to hear more of this." Now that was a day of new beginnings.
We began to love things that we didn't love before. Love Christ
and love His people. Love His church. Love His Word. That's right. And the love of
the truth. Before it didn't mean anything to us. Now we can't
do without it. Isn't that right? Can't live
without it. That's right. You can take just
about anything else away, but you can't take away Christ and
His Word. That's a day of new beginnings.
Someone said it this way. On the seventh day, we enter
into his rest. That's when Christ finished the
work. On the eighth day, we sit and begin to serve him. And in
that service, it's a service of rest and grace and gratitude
and love. Now, that was a day of new beginnings.
Up until that time, up until that time, we were slaves to
the law. trying to work our way into God's
favor in some way, to some degree, at some stage. Isn't that right?
But on this day, having seen the finished work of Christ and
the glory of all that He accomplished on Calvary in His glorious person,
now it was just like, we've been born again. Isn't that right?
Well, that's what it is. We've been born again. That's
a day of new beginnings. Now, think about it back here
in Leviticus 9. having been fully consecrated to the ministry that
God had commissioned him and appointed him for, Aaron having
been fully consecrated, he's a picture of Christ completing
the work of redemption. He's a picture of Christ justifying
his people on the cross. You see, God had to deal with
Aaron first as a type. It says in verse 1, it came to
pass on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and
the elders of Israel, and he said unto Aaron." Now, you're
going to deal with Aaron. And he's a picture of Christ
being made perfect in what sense? Well, look over at Hebrews chapter
2. Now, let me show you this. Now, Christ in himself has always
been and will always be perfect. He knew no sin. He did no sin. He didn't contract any of the
contamination or depravity of sin. But there are scriptures
that speak of him being made perfect. Now, what do they mean?
Well, look at Hebrews 2 and verse 10. And we see this in Aaron. You see, Aaron himself had to
be cleansed. Aaron was a sinner. And that
shows you that the type was far insufficient, far insufficient
to Christ whom he typified. Christ is better than Aaron,
you say. We need one far better than Aaron
to save us from our sins. Aaron only typified the Lord
of Glory. But it says in verse 10, For
it became him, it was appropriate and required of him, for whom
are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many
sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect
through suffering. Now how was he made perfect?
Through suffering. Now what does that mean? Is he
talking about the moral nature and character and attributes
of Christ that he was contaminated and then he had to be made perfect?
No. What he's talking about is he had to complete his work.
That's what that means. In other words, the work that
he came to do through his obedience unto death had to be perfected
by what he did. And so it was completed. It was
finished. It was wrapped up, you see. And then look over at Hebrews
chapter 5. We read some of this last week,
but look down at verse 8. It's speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ here in verse 8 of Hebrews 5. It says, Though he were a
son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.
What that means literally is that he was obedient unto death,
and he experienced in his humanity through suffering things that
he had never experienced before. And that was the kind of obedience
he learned in his humanity. He'd never gone through those
things before. He's God. You see, God cannot suffer, bleed,
and die. But this person who is God did
suffer and bleed and did die. Now that's to be attributed to
his humanity. And you can't explain that, and
I can't explain that, and we can't climb into his mind and
figure out what all was going on. But I know this. I know this. He was sinlessly perfect the
whole time. Now he's going through things
he'd never gone through before. The pain and the sorrow and the
suffering. He'd gone through that in some way even before
the cross. Remember he wept. He sorrowed. He got hungry. He got tired. These were things he was learning
in his humanity because he had never experienced that before.
Can you picture God in glory getting hungry? It just doesn't
happen. He's all and in all, but when
Christ took into union that human nature without sin, he experienced
all of those things. But look on verse 9. It says,
and being made perfect, that is through the things which he
suffered, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all
them that obey him. How did he become perfect? He
completed the work that he was given to do. You see that? And
then one more, look over at Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9. Now all of
this in the book of Hebrews, you know the theme of the book
of Hebrews is Christ is better. Christ is better than Moses.
Christ is better than angels. Christ is better than Aaron.
So what we see in Aaron, in Leviticus, in the book of Leviticus, What
we see in his sinfulness and his insufficiency as a man, you
cannot attribute to Christ, because Christ is better than Aaron.
Now, if Christ is no better than Aaron, then he cannot be our
great high priest. He cannot be our Savior. He must
be better, you see. He's the mediator of a better
covenant. And if it's no better than what
they had, then we're in a mess. Look at Hebrews chapter 9. And
look at verse 12. It says, Neither by the blood
of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once
into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. And that's how he was made perfect. He obtained eternal redemption
for us. He completed the work. He finished
it. He made an end of sin. He finished
the transgression. He brought in everlasting righteousness.
He sealed up the vision and the prophecy. He brought it all to
its completion. Christ did. Now look back at
Leviticus 9. Now the work of the high priest
on behalf of the people assured them of two things. Number one,
it assured them of God's glorious and gracious presence. Three
times it said here, as I read through these scriptures, you
may have noticed, three times it talked about the Lord will
appear unto you. That's because of the glorious
work of the high priest. The Lord will appear unto you.
And secondly, it assured them of their acceptance with God. That they would be accepted.
Over in verse 7, look at it. It says, Moses said unto Aaron,
go unto the altar, offer thy sin offering, thy burnt offering,
and make an atonement for thyself and for the people. You see,
this was going to make an atonement. In the Old Testament, that means
a covering for sin. It represents God's looking over,
God's long-suffering, God's forbearance of their sins, all pointing toward
the one time in history when the Lord of Glory would come
into this world and bless this earth with his presence and walk
this earth in strict obedience to the law and go to the cross
and fulfill all these times. And so we see that and then look
at verse 24. It says the last verse there,
there came a fire out from before the Lord and consumed upon the
altar the burnt offering and the fat. Now what was consumed?
The burnt offering and the fat. Which when all the people saw,
they shouted and fell on their faces. They worshiped God. The
people weren't consumed. The burnt offering was. And that's
being accepted in the beloved. You see, Christ on the cross
was the one who was consumed with the wrath of God. And you
who are in him, we who are in him, won't be consumed. So therefore,
when we hear about God's presence, we don't have to fear. Now think
about that. You know, when Adam and Eve fell,
They hid from God. And you know what they feared?
They feared His presence. Before then, Adam walked with
God, talked with God. He had sweet fellowship with
God. He wasn't afraid of the presence
of God. But when he fell, he knew. He knew that he was under
the wrath of God. He knew that God was angry with
the wicked. He knew the soul that sin must
surely die. God told him that. In the day
that ye eat thereof, ye shall surely die. So what did they
do? He hid from God. And you remember when God came
down, I believe that was an appearance of Christ pre-incarnate. He said,
Adam, where art thou? God wasn't asking questions for
information. He was making a point. Look at
where you are now, Adam. Now you fear his presence. And
there's so many times in the Old Testament where the presence
of God meant wrath. Look at God's presence to the
world, to Cain, when Cain brought the works of his hand. Cain was
seeking God's presence, but he didn't know what presence, but
he didn't know what he was asking for. Look at God's presence upon the
world when the floods came down and destroyed the earth. Look
at God's presence in Sodom and Gomorrah. So many times His presence
has been, but here, but here, there's no wrath. Here, there's
no, there's no, there's no anger. Here, there's nothing but God's
gracious presence because of the high priest and the sacrifice. And what a great picture of Christ,
our great high priest, who offered himself without spot unto God. You see, Israel was accepted
because Aaron was accepted. And that's a great testimony
of how we are accepted in the Beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ. For Aaron and Israel, it was
only a temporal, temporary, ceremonial acceptance. But you know, in
Christ, for us, for spiritual Israel, it's eternal. That's
right, it's everlasting, it's spiritual. Look at Hebrews chapter
9, let me show you that. That's what this verse over here
means. You see, in Aaron, and based on the sacrifice, the blood
of bulls and goats, God did sanctify them, that is, now not eternally,
not spiritually, but he sanctified them civilly, that is as a nation,
and ceremonially, in a temporal, earthly way. And that means this,
it means he set them apart. God for 1,500 years now, what
you're reading tonight here in Leviticus 9, that's the beginning
of a 1,500 year period where God accepted their services and
their persons as a nation based on the blood of animals offered
by the high priest and the other priest. But it wasn't eternal. It wasn't spiritual, you see. These things, because the blood
of bulls and goats cannot take away sin. And these high priests,
Aaron. Now, Aaron, there's coming a
point where Aaron's going to have to lay down the mantle and somebody
else is going to have to take it up. There's a change in that
priesthood, you see. He's a man. He's dying. He has
to die. He's a sinful man. That's why he had to appear before
the Lord first for his own sins, and then he was qualified to
represent the people. So that's the beginning of a
1,500-year period. Well, God, during that time,
He did set that nation apart in a civil, temporal, ceremonial
way. And that's what this verse here
means. Look at verse 13 of Hebrews chapter 9. For if the blood of
bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean
sanctify to the purifying of the flesh, that is, set them
apart as to the flesh, not in heart now, not in heart. Well, verse 14, how much more
shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit, you
see what Christ did is eternal, not fleshly, not earthly, not
temporary. The eternal spirit offered himself
without spot or without blemish or without fault to God, purge
your consciences from dead works to serve the living God. What
Christ did is eternal. What Christ did is spiritual.
That's why God revealed to the prophets that there's coming
a better covenant than this covenant that he's made here with the
children of Israel through Moses. That covenant, which didn't reach
to the heart now, he said there's coming a better covenant, better
promises, a better mediator, you see. And he said, I'm going
to I'm going to put my spirit within them. I'm going to write
my law on their hearts. It's going to be a heart matter.
Now, look back at Leviticus 9. You see, there is therefore now
no condemnation in Christ. And I'll tell you, when God opens
our minds and our hearts to his glory in the face of Jesus Christ,
it's truly a day of new beginning for us. In these first verses,
he brings out offerings for Aaron and the people. Look at verse
2. He said, and he said unto Aaron, take thee a young calf
for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering without
blemish and offer them before the Lord. You see, neither Aaron
nor his sons could approach God without sacrifice. Oh, I'll tell
you, you couldn't do it without the shedding of blood. There
is no remission, no forgiveness. And he brought the sin offering
that showed the sinfulness and need of man is set forth clearly
here. It's a picture of our need of
mercy. our need of grace in Christ. Oh, I tell you, if God doesn't
save us, there's no salvation. If salvation is not of the Lord,
there's no salvation. And this was in addition to all
the offerings that Moses had offered in the previous seven
days. And you know what that proved? It proved that all that
was offered in the blood of animals that previous seven days was
insufficient to bring about eternal salvation. These offerings had
to keep being offered. You know that. There were offerings
daily, weekly, monthly, and then there was the offering on the
Day of Atonement, that one great offering when the priest one
time a year would go into the holiest of all. Had to keep doing
that for 1,500 years. Think about that. Why? Because
the blood of bulls and goats can't take away sin. They're
only pointing these people to one who can take away sin. They're insufficient. of these
Levitical offerings to provide a permanent cure. They're just
a shadow of better things to come. You see, these were signs. These were types. These were
pictures. You don't find salvation in the sign, in the type, in
the picture. You find salvation eternally,
spiritually, in the one to whom they point, you see. And that's
what Christ meant when he said, Moses wrote of me. Moses wasn't
talking about himself. He wasn't talking about salvation
by the law. What the priest had to do, he
had to bring a sin offering. What does that mean? Well, that
shows he's confessing his utter depravity. His utter sinfulness
and his need of mercy. Here's the high priest saying,
I'm a sinner. I need to be cleansed. I need to be forgiven. Aaron
was himself a sinner and he had to offer sacrifices. The Bible
says first for his own sins. Aaron was a type of Christ, but
he was no more than that. Christ far outshone Aaron. And
in all that he did here, Aaron was preaching forth the gospel
of grace in type, in picture. Think about it that way. This
is the gospel in picture, in type. Here's a sinner coming
before God with a sacrifice. He had a ram for the burnt offering.
That was confessing his hope in the finished work of Christ.
That was law and justice satisfied by the blood of Christ. That's
what that picture. And both of them had to be without
blemish. That picture is the sin of the people charged or
accounted to the innocent sacrifice. The one who is our true sacrifice
must be without fault. He must be without blemish. And
after this atonement, after this ceremonial cleansing, Aaron was
ready to represent and serve the people. Look at verse 3.
He says, Under the children of Israel thou shalt speak. saying,
take ye a kid of the goats for a sin offering, and a calf and
a lamb, both of the first year without fault, without blemish,
for a burn offering. Verse 4, a bullock, a ram, and
a ram for a peace offering to sacrifice before the Lord, and
meat offering mingled with oil. You see, all showing their relationship
with God through sacrifice. That's the way it is with us.
The only relationship we have with God at all is through Christ. our sacrifice, our sin. We don't
have anything with God apart from Christ. Without Christ,
there's nothing but wrath, you see. And you notice these offerings
that the people had to bring. First of all, a kid of the goats
for a sin offering. Now, you know, we're going to
be talking about in the book of Leviticus about the scapegoat,
where they brought the two goats and one was killed and one was
They laid their hands on him and led him out into the wilderness.
Well, a goat, usually, for a sin offering, that's their confession
of sin and depravity, and it's a picture of Christ bearing our
guilt and our sins by amputation. They were laid on him. That's
what this goat was for. We're sinners, and our only hope
is to have a substitute who can take our sinful account unto
himself and pay for those sins. And then he mentions a calf and
a lamb. There were two burnt offerings here. And I believe
together they picture Christ. First of all, the calf, the young
bullock. And that pictures Christ in his
strength. He is able to save to the uttermost
them that come unto God by him. Don't ever doubt his abilities.
He did get the job done. Somebody says, well, I don't
doubt him, I doubt me. Well, you ought to doubt you.
I ought to doubt me. Where does the gospel say that
we're ever to look to you and to look to me? It doesn't say
that. You say, look unto him who is able. Remember, he told
those blind men, he said when they said, Jesus, thou son of
David, heal us. And he said they wanted sight.
And he said, do you believe that I'm able? They said, yeah. You see, it wasn't in their It
wasn't in the degree or power of their faith or their act of
believing. It was their faith in the ability
of the one who gives sight. And that's the way it is. He's
like a young bullock in that sense. He's strong and he's powerful. And he can get the job done.
He can save us from our sins. He can give us what we need,
what God requires to eternally bring us into favor with God. Never to lose it. He's able to
keep us. He said, I'll never cast you
out. He said, no man can pluck him from my hand. His hand is
powerful. He's Abel. And then here's the
lamb. That pictures Christ in his innocence. A lamb to the slaughter. Open
not his mouth. The sacrificial lamb. Abel's
lamb. The Lamb of God which beareth
away the sin of the world. And then it says they were to
bring a bullock and a ram for peace offerings. That pictures
the finished work of Christ, both in his work on the cross
as the bullock offered unto God to bring peace, to reconcile
God to sinners, and also as a ram for the peace offering, the ram
of consecration where sinners see peace made. In other words,
what I'm saying is this. God is reconciled to the sinner
and the sinner is reconciled to God. They're brought together
on the same ground. the blood of offering, the blood
of sacrifice. Peace is made. Peace is made. It was made in Christ on the
cross. God was in Christ, the scripture says in 2 Corinthians
5, 18, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them. Now, he said, be ye reconciled
to God. Now, when were you reconciled
to God? When the Holy Spirit brought you under the preaching
of the gospel and gave you eyes to see and ears to hear. and
hearts and minds to know and understand. Then, as Brother
Richardson used to say, you lay down your shotgun, make your
headquarters in the dust, and beg for mercy. You're reconciled
to God through the blood of Christ. Then they were to bring a meat
offering. That's an offering of thanksgiving and dedication. Thank you, Lord, for saving my
soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me
whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to me thy great salvation so
rich And in that meal offering that typifies Christ, they were
to dedicate themselves to the service of God. And he said in
verse 4, for today the Lord will appear unto you, God's gracious
presence, based on the work of the high priest and the sacrifice.
Look at verse 5, they brought that which Moses commanded before
the tabernacle of the congregation. And all the congregation drew
near and stood before the Lord. And Moses said, this is the thing
which the Lord commanded that you should do, and the glory
of the Lord shall appear unto you." Here's an expectation,
you see. This is not standing in a mystery,
wondering what's going to happen next. This is not ignorant worship
or ignorant service. This is an expectation of the
people because God has made a promise and showed them the way. You
see, it's like this. I can tell anybody who listens
to me, that God promises to save any and every sinner who comes
to him begging for mercy, pleading the blood and righteousness of
Christ. I can tell you that without faith. Somebody said, well, shouldn't
we say come to Christ? I don't know if God will save
you or not. No, sir, that's not the promise. The promise is he'll
save you for Christ's sake. You come on. He said, come on
to me, all you that labor in heaven and heavy laden. And he
said, what? I'll give you rest. He didn't say, I might give it
to you. You say, well, isn't he sovereign? Yes, he is. He's
sovereign to give rest unto all he brings to himself. He'll save
you. This is expectation. Beginning
at verse seven, when he says to Aaron, go to the altar, offer
thy sin offering, thy burn offering, make an atonement for thyself
and for the people and offer the offering of the people, make
an atonement for them. as the Lord commanded. And then
from there it talks about how Aaron does exactly what Moses
tells him to do. Moses representing the law of
God, the covenant. He's the mediator. Aaron in his
obedience again pictures our great Savior who obeyed his Father
perfectly. Who always did the will of his
Father. Who always did that which was
pleasing in his Father's sight. Who was always going about in
everything that he thought and did. to fulfill all righteousness
on behalf of his people. The Bible says he was obedient
even unto death, even the death of the cross. And it says here
in these verses that Aaron first offered a sin offering and a
burnt offering for himself, again confessing that he himself was
a sinner. He needed forgiveness, pardon,
mercy, and grace. But always remember this, Christ
is better than Aaron. He who is our great high priest
before God. must be without sin. And therefore
Aaron first makes atonement for himself and then for the people.
Christ in himself was always sinless, much greater than Aaron.
And he offers according to the offerings that God gave him,
he offers always the best unto God, the fat always goes to God,
the burnt offering always goes up as a sweet savor unto God.
And then beginning at verse 15, he begins to offer for the people.
See, Aaron, having been consecrated himself, having been purified
ceremonially himself, he can now represent the people. Christ,
when He came into the world, He represented the people from
eternity. He was set up from eternity.
The Bible says our salvation was in Him from eternity. Isn't
that right? Our election was in Christ. Our
election was in Christ. God didn't just choose you randomly,
arbitrarily. He chose you in Christ, you see.
And all the blessings of salvation were given to us in purpose by
God in Christ. Now, Christ in time, He was made
incarnate, made of a woman, made under the law, and He represented
us then. In His earthly walk, He kept
the law. For what? For Himself? No, sir. He represented his people. And
when he went to the cross of Calvary and suffered, he didn't
do it for himself, the scripture says that, he did it for his
people. And when he was buried, he was putting away the sins
of his people. And when he arose again from the dead, he arose
again because of our justification. And when he ascended unto the
Father, he sat down at the right hand of the Father to make intercession
for who? For himself? No sir, for us. And He lives, and He reigns,
and He rules, and He disposes over all things for His people. And when He comes again in glory,
you know who He's coming for? For His people. All right? And
you know what? When we live in glory in eternity,
it'll be in Him, by Him, for Him, and unto Him, and He for
His people. That'll never stop. So here you
have the sins of the people imputed to the innocent sacrifice. Oh,
I tell you, the Bible teaches this over and over again. Let
me show you this in Isaiah 53. Let's read this to you beginning
at verse 4. Here's God's word concerning
the promised Messiah. Verse 4, Surely he hath borne
our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet did we esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted." That was our view of him and
our sin. But he was wounded, tormented is what that is. He
was tormented for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace,
the punishment that would bring about our peace was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed. He was tormented for our sins,
and we're healed by his stripes as substitution, representation,
satisfaction, all of it here. He says in verse 6, for all we
like sheep have gone astray, we've turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all,
or literally made the iniquity of us all to meet on him. He bore them. He bore our sins. And because of that, we stand
right now before God as accepted and blessed. Look back at Leviticus
9. Look at the last few verses.
Now, here's the blessing of God upon the people. Look at verse
22. Aaron lifted up his hand. Now,
this is after the sacrifices have all been made. And Aaron
lifted up his hand toward the people and blessed them. What
a great picture of our blessedness in Christ, our great high priest. Aaron, the high priest, blessed.
Well, we have all, we're blessed with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ. And he came down from the offering,
from offering of the sin offering and the burnt offering and the
peace offering, just like Christ on the cross. He was brought
down from the cross. He was buried. And look at verse
23. It says that Moses and Aaron
went into the tabernacle of the congregation. They went in and
they came out and they blessed the people. They went back into
the tabernacle. What a great picture. There's
the law and there's the high priest, the gospel. Christ kept
the law. He satisfied law and justice.
And he went back into the tabernacle where he went into the holiest
of all. And the Bible says he didn't enter into that earthly
tabernacle. You know, he didn't have any right to enter into
an earthly tabernacle because he wasn't a descendant of Aaron. He wasn't of the tribe of Levi.
He was of the tribe of Judah. But the tabernacle, the holy
place, the holiest of all that he entered was the very presence
of God. And then he came out, it says,
and blessed the people. What a picture of Christ blessing
us. And it says the Lord appeared unto all the people. God's going
to appear unto every sinner for whom Christ lived, died, was
buried, and raised again, for whom He ascended and sat down
at the right hand of the Father. He's going to appear to every
one of them. And it's going to be a brand
new day for them. That's right. It's going to be a new beginning.
Look over at Romans 7. That's what this is talking about. Everything that was pictured
back there, look at verse 4. Romans 7 verse 4. Wherefore,
my brethren, you also are become dead to the law. What does that
mean, dead to the law? That means the law can no longer
condemn you. The sentence of death has already
been carried out. The law cannot kill you. The
law cannot condemn you. The law cannot send you to hell. You're dead to the law. How? Look here. By the body of Christ. By his taking your place under
the law and keeping its precept perfectly and satisfying its
justice for your sins. That's how. Now, where do you
come into play here? He's the one, you're the many.
Where do your works come in there? They're not there. You didn't
become dead to the law by anything you've done, anything you will
do, anything done in you. Somebody says, well, the Holy
Spirit does a great work in you. That's exactly right. It's a
miracle. Without it, you will not be saved. But it did not
come into play in your becoming dead to the law. That's justification,
what he's talking about here. That's redemption here. You were
redeemed by the body of Christ, by his blood. You were justified
by his work on the cross. his obedience unto death. Now,
look at it, that you should be married to another, that you
should be united to him, even to him who is raised from the
dead. For what purpose? That we should bring forth fruit
unto God. Now that's what's happening here
in Leviticus chapter 9. You remember there in the last
verse, what happened when Moses and Aaron, they went into the
tabernacle when they came out and they blessed the people.
They didn't listen now. They didn't go into the tabernacle
and come out and say now, now every eye closed and every head
bowed and let's sing just as I am 50 times. That's not what
they did. They didn't say now anybody who
wants to come forward, And accept Jesus as their personal Savior.
They didn't do that. They went in, they came out,
and they blessed the people. That's right. And that's how
it happens. And you know what happened? There's
fruit. There's a new beginning. The people shouted, Hallelujah! Amen! And they fell on their
face and they worshiped God. That's what happened. And that's
the way it happened with you and me. who know Christ, that
we should bring forth fruit unto God. Look at verse 5, for when
we were in the flesh, when we were in an unregenerate state,
that's what that means, the motions of sins which were by the law
did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. Trying
to save ourselves by works of the law, trying to establish
a righteousness of our own, trying to earn our way into God's favor,
what were we doing? We were just bringing forth fruit
unto death. That's right. But now we are
delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were
held, that we should serve in newness of spirit, serving God
out of love, out of grace, out of gratitude, having been blessed
because of the work of our high priest in bringing the sacrifice
of himself Blessed with all spiritual blessings, now we serve in newness
of spirit. We're not trying to work our
way into God's faith. We're not legalists. We're not mercenaries.
We're not religionists. We're sinners saved by the grace
of God. And we serve in newness of spirit.
That's what Israel had, you see, when Aaron made the sacrifice.
And the sacrifice, the people brought their sacrifice. And
they worshiped God. And not in oldness of the latter.
You see that? That's a great new day. The Bible
says we sing a new song. The song of the redeemed. That's
the way it is.