Christ Our Sin Offering

Q: What does the Bible say about the sin offering?

The sin offering symbolizes the atonement for sin through the shedding of blood, pointing to Christ as the ultimate sacrifice. In the Old Testament, sin offerings were rituals where animals, such as a bullock without blemish, were sacrificed to make atonement for the sins of the people. This ritual highlights the seriousness of sin and foreshadows the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who, as the spotless Lamb of God, took on the sins of His people. Hebrews 7:26-28 emphasizes that Christ's priesthood is established not through human lineage but through an eternal oath, securing our redemption once for all. Thus, the sin offering points to our need for a substitute—Christ—who bears our sins and reconciles us to God.

Q: How do we know Christ's sacrifice is sufficient for our sins?

Christ's sacrifice is sufficient because He was the perfect, unblemished Lamb, fulfilling God's justice through His atoning death. The sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice is rooted in His identity as the perfect, sinless Lamb of God who bore our iniquities on the cross. Hebrews 9:26 and 1 Peter 1:18-20 affirm that Christ was foreordained to be our sacrificial offering and that His blood redeems us from sin. Unlike the temporary sacrifices of the Old Testament priests, Jesus' sacrifice was once for all, encompassing the full weight of our sin and God's wrath. Thus, we see that through Christ's total compliance with the Father's will and perfect obedience, He effectively dealt with sin and secured salvation for all who believe.

Q: Why is the concept of Christ bearing our sins important for Christians?

It assures us that Christ has fully resolved the penalty of sin, providing peace and reconciliation with God. Understanding that Christ bore our sins is foundational to the Christian faith because it assures us of our justification before God. As stated in 1 Peter 2:24, 'Who His own self bare our sins in His body on the tree,' highlighting that our guilt was transferred to Christ, enabling our reconciliation with God. This concept also emphasizes God's mercy and grace, dismantling any notion that we can earn favor with God through our own works. Instead, we rest in the truth that through faith, we are united with Christ, and His righteousness is imputed to us. This gives believers deep peace and security in their relationship with God.

SIN OFFERING. I could have titled it BLOOD, BLOOD, BLOOD. We have a bloody gospel. We have a bloody gospel to preach. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. His blood answers for my sins. I'M COVERED IN HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, I'M MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST, EVERYONE WHOM HE SAVES IS MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST, BUT IT'S THE BLOOD THAT WASHES AWAY OUR SINS. HIS BLOOD ANSWERS FOR OUR SINS.

Now we have seen Aaron, we saw this It might have been last week, I'm losing count of when I preached it from it, but we've seen Aaron and his sons chosen by God to minister in the priest's office unto Him. He said they shall minister unto Me. And as I pointed out the last time, Aaron represents the Lord Jesus Christ as the High Priest, and his sons represent all those who are saved in Christ. who've been made priests unto God. We have been made kings and priests unto God. That's why we can offer up this morning praise and thanksgiving and it's accepted in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And remember also when we looked at Aaron and his sons last week, how that all their clothes were changed.

These clothes that they wore, the high priest had a lot more to wear than the regular priest, but there were special clothes made for those priests. They could not officiate in their old clothes. They couldn't do it. God would not accept them. They had to put on the priestly garments in serving God.

WE SERVE GOD IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH AND IN THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. THE ROBE WE WEAR IS HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. BUT WE NOT ONLY WEAR IT, WE ARE MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST. WE ARE MADE HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. WE DO NOT SERVE GOD IN THE FLESH, We serve God in the Spirit. We do not serve God in self-righteousness. We serve God in His righteousness. The Lord our righteousness. This is how we serve God.

Now Moses, in a sense, is a picture of God the Father. In that he chose to sacrifice. Now God told him what to bring. A bullock and two rams. God told him. But Moses chose them. God the Father chose Christ to be our high priest, to be our substitute, to be our all-in-all. God the Father chose Him. Aaron received the bullock that Moses brought, and we as God's children as God's sons and daughters, we receive the Lord Jesus Christ. To as many as received Him, to them gave He power, the right to become the sons of God.

Moses chose the ram, he chose the bullock, and he chose the two rams, and he brought them before Aaron, and Aaron acknowledges them, him and his sons, and he does so by putting his hands on the head of this SIN OFFERING and he'll do the same thing to the other rams, we'll look at those later. But he shows here that he receives them by putting his hand and his sons put their hands on the head of this bullock. Now in verse 10, the SIN OFFERING comes before us first. And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation. He's speaking here to Moses. And Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of this bullock.

Now this is the order in which God deals with us as sinners. Our sins have to be dealt with first. Our sins have to be dealt with. Now our sins are going to be dealt with in Christ or in us, one or the other. Right down to a thought. God would not let anything go. He cannot be indifferent to sin. He cannot be lukewarm or indifferent to sin. God has to punish sin. And so the first thing that has to be dealt with here is our sins. Our sins must be dealt with.

Now this bullock had to be without blemish. It had to be without blemish. I don't think we realize when the bullock was chosen and the two rams were chosen, how Moses scrutinized them. They had to be without blemish. I mean he had to look all over their bodies for any blemish, any blemish, before he could take it and offer it before God. Here's the reason why. This symbolized the perfection of our our substitute, our sin offering, the Lord Jesus Christ. It symbolizes His perfection.

He knew no sin. I cannot grasp this. I believe it, but I can't grasp that He never even had a thought of sin. You know, in the wilderness, when He was tempted in the wilderness by Satan, 40 days and 40 nights, not one time did he even have a thought did he even look that way you know when adam was tempted when adam was tempted in the garden as soon as he thought of eating that fruit the fall happened the thought of sin is foolishness as soon as he thought This is important because our Lord never even had a thought of doing any wrong.

This is how perfect our Lord is. He said, my meat is to do the will of Him that sent me. I live, I live to do His will. I desire my craving. You know what it's like when you're really hungry? and your stomach is growling, you know, you're craving something. He said, I craved to do His will. Oh, that we could just get some of that. Just to crave. Lord, Thy will be done. Have you ever been disappointed? You know why? Because your will's not getting done. There's where disappointment comes from.

In all reality, We should never be disappointed. When we plan on doing something and we're not able to do it, we should be able to say, it's the Lord's will. It's the Lord's will. Our Lord did that. He was never disappointed because His will was never against His Father's will. It was one and the same. But this perfect or this BULLOCK, that had to be without blemish, symbolizes the perfection of Christ, the spotless Lamb of God. Now God's chosen Lamb, as I said, knew no sin. Listen to this, Hebrews chapter 7 verses 26 through 28. I always want to back up what I say with Scripture. You know that I give you a lot of Scripture when I preach.

For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens, who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice first for his own sins." Aaron and his sons had to offer up sacrifice first for their own sins, and then for the people's. FOR THIS HE DID ONCE WHEN HE OFFERED UP HIMSELF. FOR THE LAW MAKETH MEN HIGH PRIESTS WHICH HAVE INFIRMITY, SIN. BUT THE WORD OF THE OATH WHICH WAS SINCE THE LAW MAKETH THE SON WHO IS CONSECRATED FOREVERMORE MAKETH HIM THE HIGH PRIEST." You see, he wasn't made high priest by a ceremony. He was made that high priest by an oath. God swore. after the order of Melchizedek that he would be the high priest.

And listen, and thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation. This was done openly first before God's presence. You see the tabernacle was the presence of God. God's presence was in that tabernacle. And it was to be done before the people as our Lord was crucified outside of Jerusalem, outside the gates on Golgotha.

And there was a crowd there. There was a crowd gathered around watching that. There was a crowd that actually watched Jesus Christ, the Son of God, crucified, put to death on a cross. There's actually some people watched that. They watched it. And this was to be done publicly for everybody to see. This was not done in a corner. This was done publicly.

And Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock. And the emphasis is, they shall put their hands and press down upon the head of that bullock. By laying their hands on the bullock's head, they become one with it. It's one of the things they're saying by doing this. They are one with it. But also their sins were symbolically transferred to that bullock. They confessed their sins and symbolically, ceremonially, their sins were to be transferred to that bullock.

That's a type. God has given us so many pictures to look at. And so He gave us, God in wisdom made this For those who have eyes to see, he gave us these things in such simple types. When I was reading this again this morning, I thought about my first grade. See, spot, run. Some of you older ones remember that. Dick and Jane, see, spot. This is what it is. This is so simple. This is so simple for those who have understanding. You see, this pictures our oneness with the Lord Jesus Christ, our Substitute, who is our SIN OFFERING.

In Galatians 2.20, Paul says this, and he shows, by saying this, he shows our identity and our oneness with Jesus Christ in His death.

He says, I am crucified with Christ. When Jesus Christ was crucified on that cross, John Chapman was crucified on that cross. Before God's law, before God's law, I was put to death. I was put to death. Paul said, I was crucified with Christ. I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, nevertheless, I live, yet not I, But Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." I think of it like this, He was executed in my place. I was a criminal.

Now if you really understand the cross, you really understand the cross, When you look at the cross, when you look at Jesus Christ and you see Him whose visage, whose appearance was marred, it says in Isaiah 52, whose appearance was marred more than any man, unrecognizable.

What does it say about me that such a one had to come from heaven and die such a death? What does that say about me? And what does it say about God? God's love, God's mercy, God's grace, that He would do that for an enemy? That He would do that for someone who was born with enmity in their heart and in their mind against God, hostile to God?

And yet He died on that cross. He died on that cross for me. And for all whom He shall save, He died for them. All the elect of God. Hebrews 2 11 this shows our oneness with Christ for both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one for which calls he's not ashamed to call them brethren he's not ashamed to call me this is my brother John's my brother I have sisters SISTERS, HE'S NOT ASHAMED! OUR SINS WERE TRULY LAID ON HIM.

It says in 1 Peter 2.24, WHO HIS OWN SELF BEAR OUR SINS IN HIS BODY ON THE TREE. My sins, they're innumerable, my sins are innumerable, but they were all laid on Him and He was nailed to that tree. Isaiah 53 6 all we like sheep have gone astray We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord Jehovah Hath laid on him the iniquity of us all the Lord Jehovah took only he can do this.

I can't do this personally But the Lord took my sins my guilt and Laid it on him That is absolute substitution. That's absolute substitution. You know I played football in high school and they would send a substitute in or I would go in and substitute for somebody and that person would come out. Well that's a form of substitution but I didn't become that person.

Our Lord He took my sins and they became His. Only God can do that! That is ABSOLUTE SUBSTITUTION! Only God can do that! This is TRUE SUBSTITUTION! CHRIST BEARING OUR SINS IN HIS BODY ON THE TREE! It says in 2 Corinthians 2.21 He was made SIN FOR US! He was made GUILTY for us! He had to be! He had to!

You know why? says in Proverbs 17 50 he that justifies the wicked and he that condemns the just even they both are abomination to the Lord so he had to be made guilty he had to take my guilt he had to take my guilt God said it's an abomination it's abomination if you justify the wicked and condemn the just Oh, this is how one He became with us. And I want to point something out here though that I think is very important.

In a sense, in a very real sense, our sins were laid on Christ before the foundation of the world when He became our surety. In that covenant of grace, when He became our surety, When He stood for me, and He stood for all whom God had chosen, which are nothing but sinners.

If God hadn't chosen anybody, we'd all perish. There's not one fallen angel that has ever asked God for mercy. And there's not one fallen sinner who had ever asked God for mercy if He didn't show mercy to them first. If He didn't show grace first, we'd never know what grace was. We don't want it.

Man drinks iniquity like water. That's what we love. To love God, the love of God has to be shared and brought in your heart. A new heart, not the old heart. Give God your heart. No, God needs to give you one. He needs to give me one. That's what He needs.

In a very real sense, our sins were laid on Christ before the foundation of the world. When Adam fell, if God hadn't done this, if He had not done this, He says in Isaiah, I have determined the end from the beginning. That's what God said in Isaiah 46. I've determined the end from the beginning.

Our thoughts of God are too human, they're way too human. God said you think I'm like you are and I think it's Psalm 56. You think I'm like you. That's sad. God is higher than the heavens. He said my thoughts higher than your thoughts and my ways higher than your ways.

Listen here in Revelation 13 A. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If God hadn't taken care of this matter of sin before the world began, when Adam fell, Joe Terrell said the Bible would only be three chapters long, and that would be the end of it. It would have been annihilated. But Adam heard the voice of God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, because this matter had already been taken care of before God created the first thing.

WE NEED TO HAVE HIGHER THOUGHTS OF GOD. Listen here in 1 Peter 1 chapter 1 verse 18 and 20 through 20. 20 Forasmuch as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by the tradition from your fathers, But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you."

You know what it says over in Romans 8.28, let's read that, you know it but I want to read it. FOR WE KNOW, AND WE KNOW, THAT ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THEM THAT LOVE GOD, TO THEM WHO ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE, THAT PURPOSE, THAT ETERNAL PURPOSE WHICH HE PURPOSED IN CHRIST, FOR WHOM HE DID FORKNOW HE ALSO DID PREDESTINATE TO BE CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON, THAT HE MIGHT BE THE FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called. Whom He called, them He also justified. Whom He justified, them He also glorified. Did you notice something about that? It's all in past tense. It's all in past tense. The Lord's taking care of it.

Who verily, He says there in verse 20, Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world for this purpose. of redeeming a people, a multitude of sinners no man could number. And then secondly, listen, our sins, in a very real sense, our sins were laid on Christ at Calvary. What God has purposed has to come to pass. So at Calvary, God laid on Him the iniquity of us all. That's what it says in the Scriptures in Isaiah 53. The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. And then thirdly, in a very real sense, in a very real sense, our sins were laid on Him when God has saved us and we confess our sins.

It was laid on Him in eternity past, laid on Him at Calvary, and when God saved those of us whom the Lord has saved, when He saved us, we by faith laid our hands on Christ our Head and we trust Him to put away all our sins. We must experience it. We must experience this.

And this to me is where you really get peace. Yes, He put our sins, He put the sins on Him in eternity. He put them on Him at Calvary. But I'll tell you where I get real peace, where real peace comes from. When by faith, God enables me to take all my sins and lay them on Christ. Lord, you're the sin bearer. You are the sin bearer. Take him away. I can't. But I trust you to do it. Because he said he would. He said he would. That's where real peace comes from.

And then this bullock must be killed. Underline that. It must be put to death. You know, our Lord came into this world, He kept the law, He was obedient, I mean, to the jot and tittle, He was obedient. But that's not the end of it, He has to die. The Bullock must be killed. The Bullock must be killed after the transference of sin, ceremonially here with Aaron. This shows here how the sinner must die. Somebody's going to die here. Do you know that something dies every day for something to live? We're going to have a chicken pot pie after this service and it's got chicken in it. Well those chickens had to die. They had to die.

Something has to die every day. for something else to live that is a that is a testimony to to the gospel every day every day somethings dying and something might live Christ must die that we might live it must be killed thou shalt thou shalt kill the bullet before the Lord by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation The scripture says in Hebrews 9.27, it's appointed unto men who wants to die.

Everybody! Every human being. There's a lot of things I don't have to do. I don't even have to pay taxes. I can go to jail. But I gotta die. And you gotta die. Now what's our hope in death? Christ died in my place, put my sins away, and death has no power over me. Death has no power over the sons of God, the sons and daughters of God. Death has no power. Its sting is gone, its victory is gone, the victory of the grave is gone.

But here's the sequence, and this sequence is important. Christ's offering is before the Lord, first of all, All the sins of all the elect were laid on Him, and then He was put to death in the flesh. Well, God's purpose has to come to pass. It has to come to pass.

He was put to death in the flesh. And when He was crucified, who did He offer Himself to? It wasn't to me and you. He offered up Himself to God for us. He offered Himself to God for us. That's what He did. Christ's offering is to God the Father to satisfy His justice. God is real and His justice is real. Jesus Christ is real and salvation in Him is real.

In verse 12, And thou shalt take the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar." The horns, take the blood and put it upon the horns of the altar. You know what this signifies? The power of the blood. Horns always signified power. This signifies the power of the blood of Jesus Christ. Paul said in Romans 1 16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. To everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

And it is to be poured, and listen, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar All the people that I read said there was a trough at the bottom of the altar and he poured it in that trough, it was collected in that trough. Here's what I know, his blood was shed, it was poured out. This is a thought I had this morning, and it won't do any damage to this scripture. But I thought of our Lord hanging on that cross, and here the blood is poured out at the bottom of the altar, and I thought of all that blood coming down and dripping off His feet.

Christ is our altar. We went over that not long ago. He's our altar. That was just a visual for me. and Leviticus says here in Leviticus 8 15 which is goes with this chapter here and Moses slew it and Moses took the blood and put it upon the horns of the altar round about with his finger and purified the altar and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar and sanctified it set it apart this is special special set apart to make reconciliation upon it Reconciliation was made for us upon Christ, our altar. He's our altar. He's our altar.

His humanity, His human nature was offered upon the altar of His divine nature and in doing so, He reconciled us to God. We were enemies of God. In our minds it says by wicked works, and he has reconciled us to God. And that's why Paul in Corinthians said, be you reconciled to God. Brethren, as Scott Richardson would always say, lay down your shotgun. Just lay down your shotgun and be reconciled to God. He's reconciled us through the blood.

AND THOU SHALT TAKE ALL THE FAT THAT COVERS THE INWARDS, AND THE COAL THAT IS ABOVE THE LIVER, AND THE TWO KIDNEYS, AND THE FAT THAT IS UPON THEM, AND BURN THEM UPON THE ALTAR." I've had to look at these things for a good while. Everything about the Lord Jesus Christ came from within. His holiness, His character, Everything beautiful about him, everything acceptable about him, all came within. He loved God with all his heart and his neighbor as himself. This speaks of his holy character. Unlike the Pharisees, everything about them was all outward show.

He said, you're full of dead men's bones. Outwardly, you're whitewashed. outwardly you look good on the outside you know just like this cemetery over here it looks good, it's mowed, it's got flowers, it's got headstones, it looks nice doesn't it? well you don't want to see what's underneath all that that's the Pharisees that's human nature but our Lord all His beauty was on the inside it was on the inside and His human nature as I said was OFFERED UPON THE ALTAR OF HIS DIVINE NATURE.

And then listen, and I'm going to close. In verse 14, AND THE FLESH OF THE BULLOCK, AND HIS SKIN, AND HIS DUN, SHALT THOU BURN WITH FIRE WITHOUT THE CAMP. It's a SIN OFFERING. I got this part here from Henry, Henry's commentary. WE SEE IN THIS NOT ONLY THE SUFFERING OF OUR LORD FOR SIN, BUT THE SHAME AND REPROACH HE ENDURED AS OUR SIN OFFERING. BEARING OUR SINS, HE WAS UNCLEAN AND MUST DIE OUTSIDE THE CAMP, BECAUSE THE PEOPLE HE REPRESENTED WAS UNCLEAN. CHRIST MUST SUFFER IN THE FLESH AND BE PUT TO DEATH.

That's what it says in 1 Peter 3.18, FOR CHRIST ALSO HATH ONCE SUFFERED FOR SINS, FOR THE UNJUST, THAT HE MIGHT BRING US TO GOD, BEING PUT TO DEATH IN THE FLESH, BUT QUICKENED BY THE SPIRIT." He didn't stay dead, a dead Christ is not going to save you, the Living Lord will save you, but he had to die.

And now I'm going to read you Hebrews 13 verses 10 through 12, listen to this. WE HAVE AN ALTAR, WE HAVE AN ALTAR, WHEREOF THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO EAT WHICH SERVE THE TABERNACLE, WHICH SERVE THE LAW. THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO EAT. For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priests for sin are burned without the camp.

Wherefore Jesus also THAT HE MIGHT SANCTIFY THE PEOPLE WITH HIS OWN BLOOD, SUFFERED WITHOUT THE GATE. THEY TOOK HIM OUT AND NAILED HIM TO A CROSS. HANGING ON THAT CROSS IS MY SALVATION, NOT MY ACCEPTANCE OF IT, IT'S HIS ACCEPTANCE OF ME. Let's not make faith our salvation. Faith does not make what He did effectual to me. Who He is makes what He did effectual to me.

And faith is the gift of God. It's the gift of God. Faith and repentance is the gift of God. It's written in the book of Acts that God granted repentance to the Gentiles. He granted repentance to the Now we are going to get to see an example of this here in Cary s baptism. God granted repentance, faith and repentance. That s the gift of God. Cary is going to confess Christ this morning and believe baptism. So

Christ Our Sin Offering

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the sin offering?

How do we know Christ's sacrifice is sufficient for our sins?

Why is the concept of Christ bearing our sins important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

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Christ Our Sin Offering

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the sin offering?

How do we know Christ's sacrifice is sufficient for our sins?

Why is the concept of Christ bearing our sins important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About John Chapman

Comments

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