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Mark 3:21 (ESV)

 

And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

 

            Evidences abound for the authenticity of Scripture. Evidences also abound for the fact that the authors of Scripture, even early authors, understood the deity of Jesus. At times, the clearest proofs of these things are the Scriptural recordings of the weaknesses and failings of people in the text.

 

            In the verse above, we have recorded for us a very strange thing. Jesus’ family believed him to be out of his mind. Mary and Jesus’ half-brothers and half-sisters thought he was nuts at the beginning of his ministry. They came along to try to rein him in.

 

            How does this point to the authenticity of Scripture? No man-made holy book that is not inspired by God would dare record such a negative sentiment. No way would Mark have let us see Jesus’ family members thinking him to be crazy if Mark was not concerned to record for us the fullest and most accurate truth. I can tell you for sure that, if I were writing for you an account intended to convince you that a person is divine, I would not start with his own mother thinking him to have gone round the bend. No, this admission of the doubt of Jesus’ family members indicates to us that Scripture is honest, not hiding anything at all.

 

            Ok, so we can see how recording this negative view of Jesus on his family’s behalf in his early ministry speaks to the truthfulness of Scripture. How, then, does the same thing actually help us to be convinced that Jesus is divine, the Messiah, and the Savior of all who believe? It is quite simple. Mark recorded this, though we also know that later in the Scriptures, all of the people in Jesus’ family who thought he was nuts at first eventually believed. James, Jesus’ half-brother, believed and eventually became a leader of the early church in Jerusalem, even leading the Jerusalem counsel of Acts 15. In Galatians 2:9, Paul calls James, Jesus’ half-brother, an apostle. Jude, another half-brother of Jesus believed. Both of those men penned New Testament epistles. Both believed Jesus to be God in flesh and the risen Savior. 

 

            I have two brothers. I can easily imagine making them think I was nuts—that would not be hard at all. What I cannot imagine is somehow convincing them that I was God. That could not happen. They would not be willing to die trying to convince others that I am divine. That is because I am not divine, and they know it full well.

 

            What, then, would it have taken to convince Mary, James, Jude, and the rest that Jesus really is God in flesh? It must have been the miracles. It must have been the teaching. It must have been the authority. It must have been the resurrection of the Lord from the dead. It must have been that Jesus really is God, and that is how he convinced his own family along with those who knew him best that he is everything God ever promised.    

 

            Unlike other religions, Christianity does not have to hide the flaws of its leaders. We do not have to pretend that all in our past have been strong and perfect saints for all of their lives. Instead, we can tell the truth. We are sinners in need of grace. We can tell the truth that we did not all believe immediately and without reservation. Instead, we can tell the truth that we and those who have gone before us have been convinced by God and by the evidence that Jesus is God in flesh, that he died to pay for our sins, and that he lives again. This is how the doubt found in Mark 3:21 points us toward the authenticity of the Scripture and of the true, glorious identity of Christ.  

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

 

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

 

            Have you ever had someone ask you, “Do you think I’m going to hell?” I know that this question has been posed to me before, usually when I am trying to share the gospel with someone. Also, usually, the person who asks it has a pet sin, some part of their life that is against the will of God and to which they are clinging. They are looking for me to condemn them because of their particular sin so that they can be offended and ignore the gospel presentation.

 

            I think the passage above is helpful for us to consider when we are put on the spot and called on to pass a sort of judgment on another based on their lifestyle choices. Paul shows us that many people of many different kinds of lifestyles were at one point headed for the wrath of God, but were transformed by the gospel. And that means that we cannot answer anyone’s particular question about their eternal destination base on their particular sin.

 

            The truth is, any sin merits hell. My tendency to think too highly of myself, someone else’s tendency to twist the truth, another’s tendency to bully others, all of these merit hell. Any time in my life that I have ever ignored the right thing to do for the sake of laziness or comfort merits hell. And all the particular sins mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 merit hell. So, if a person is practicing any of those sins, or any other sin at all, the logical answer is that they are not going to heaven.

 

            However, verse 11 above also offers us an important answer. The people of Corinth used to be like the people mentioned in verses 9-10. They used to be headed for hell; just like I used to be headed for hell. But God intervened. God washed, sanctified, and justified those sinful people. And God washed, sanctified, and justified me.

 

            How did people headed for hell change course? It is because of the action of the Father cleansing us through the perfect, saving work of Jesus. It is in the name of Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God we are washed, sanctified, and justified. It is by the finished work of Jesus that our sins are atoned for, covered, perfectly punished, and put away. God remains just. We become forgiven. And God’s Spirit begins working in us to change us, making us different than we were before. God begins to convict us of former sins and help us to turn from them. God moves us, step by step, away from our naturally sinful tendencies and toward a picture of his righteousness.

 

            So, when a person touting a particular sin asks you if they are going to hell, honestly tell them you do not know. Tell them that everyone you know is a sinner who deserves hell, including yourself. Then tell them that they can be washed, sanctified, and justified if they are willing to turn to Jesus, turn from sin, and ask for mercy.

 

            Our testimony has never been that we are good. Our testimony has always been the very same as what we see in 1 Corinthians 6. We used to be all sorts of sinful. We used to be headed for hell. But God cleanses all who come to him in Christ and sanctifies us all in the Spirit so that our entire eternity is secure.

1 Corinthians 2:1-2

 

1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

 

            The apostle Paul was brilliant. Anyone who has studied his life knows that this was his reputation. Even as he shared the gospel with Agrippa, Festus referred to Paul’s “great learning” even though he thought Paul was crazy (Acts 26:24). Paul had the ability to make lofty arguments and persuasive rhetorical presentations.

 

            Yet, as we look at Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, a people who would have certainly been impressed with high reasoning, Paul said that he was intentional among them not to make such arguments. While he was there, all he really wanted to focus on was Jesus Christ crucified.

 

            On Good Friday, I wonder how many of us are content to know nothing among the world other than Jesus Christ crucified. We do not need great and lofty arguments for the existence of God or the reliability of God’s word—though such arguments exist. We do not need wonderful philosophical rationales to respond to the problem of pain or evil, for God’s design for marriage, or for the age of the earth—though such rationales exist. What we need most of all is a grasp of the truth that Jesus Christ, God’s chosen and promised Rescuer, came to earth, lived a perfect life, and died in our place to pay the price for our sins. And, yes, he rose from the grave proving that he did all that he set out to do.

 

            What is there to know about Jesus Christ and him crucified? Jesus is God the Son. He was born of a virgin and never tainted by human original sin. He was fully God and fully man. He lived out a perfect human life, never failing and always perfectly pleasing God the Father. Then he willingly went to a Roman cross, but not to pay for any crime he committed. Jesus died on that cross, and while there, bore the wrath of God for every sin that God would ever forgive. Jesus was a perfect substitute, offering himself as the only acceptable sacrifice for our sins.

 

            Do you know Jesus and him crucified? Have you put your trust in his death on your behalf? Have you acknowledged your sin, believed in Jesus, surrendered to Christ’s lordship over your life, and asked him for mercy? If not, Good Friday would be a great day for you to trust in the crucified and risen Savior.   

1 Corinthians 1:18

 

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

 

            It is funny how often God tells his followers something very directly, and for some reason, we fail to believe him. In the Old Testament, God promised Israel judgment for disobeying his law, and the nation refused to believe. In the New Testament, Jesus told his disciples exactly what he would do including his death and resurrection, and they could not believe. And here, God tells us how a great portion of the world will view the cross of Christ, and we do not believe him.

 

            God is clear that the cross of Christ will have two dramatically different effects on those who hear about it. For some, those who are being saved by God, the cross of Christ will be the message of life and hope. Those whose hearts are awakened by God will see the cross as wonderful, glorious, the only hope they have to be forgiven by God.

 

            To others, the cross will be utter folly, foolishness. I do not think we use those words enough in our modern culture to get the significance. To those who are separated from the grace of God, the cross will be stupid, backward, idiocy, moronic—pick your pejorative term. Those who are not in Christ will, according to the Scripture, think it offensive and crazy.

 

            What happens when we finally believe God here? I suppose it depends on our own commitment to God and his glory. When committed to Christ, we will willingly and openly share the good news of salvation with everybody. We will know that many people in the world will think we are nuts. We will decide that this is OK if we can only speak the truth and glorify our God by sharing the story of our Savior and his offered grace.

 

            If we find ourselves wavering in our commitment to Christ, we will be more and more offended that those who are not in Christ think badly of us. We will be bothered deep down that the world calls us crazy. We will strive to be seen as smart, as sophisticated, and as appealing. We might, if we are not careful, try to play down the things about the cross that offend the world for the sake of being accepted by the world.

 

            Christians, let this day, as we approach the day when we most remember the crucifixion of our Lord, be a day when we believe our Savior. Yes, the world will think we are crazy. And, yes, by the grace of God, others will see that the cross is the only way for sinful humanity to enter the presence of God and be forgiven. Let us not hide from the scorn of the people who think us foolish. Instead, let us faithfully proclaim God’s word about God’s only plan of salvation, and let us do so without shame. God is still God. He knows the world will think his plan crazy. But, in the end, God will be glorified. In the end, all will see that Christ is the only Savior, that Jesus is the only name under heaven whereby people can be saved.   

Romans 6:5 (ESV)

 

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

 

        One of the weaknesses that I see in modern gospel presentations is a lack of emphasis on the resurrection. Those who are trying to give more than a simplistic presentation will discuss with great clarity the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, the atoning sacrifice of Christ, and our need to repent and believe. But, somehow, in the midst of our theologically rich discussions of faith in the person and finished work of Christ, we gloss over the resurrection. We will tell people who Jesus was, why he died, how that death is a propitiation, how Christ is our substitute, and many other elements of the atonement, and then we follow that up with, “and he was raised from the dead,” as if that is an afterthought.

 

        I understand the desire to focus on the atonement. I love a discussion of propitiation. But, I wonder how much we lose when we fail to remind people of the significance of the resurrection.

 

        The resurrection proves the claims of Christ. The way that we know the gospel is true is that Jesus is alive. The gospel is not about proving a philosophical point. The gospel is not about overcoming scientific opposition to young-earth creationism. The gospel is not about a discussion of popular morality. The gospel is about this simple fact: Jesus is alive! If Jesus is alive, his claims are true. If Jesus is alive, his work is finished. If Jesus is alive, there is no reason at all for any person not to bow down to him and call him Lord. 

 

            The resurrection proves the completion of the work of Christ. Death is the wages of sin. Christ paid that debt on our behalf. How do we know it was enough? How can we tell that God accepted Christ’s sacrifice on the behalf of others? How can we know that we do not have to add to the work of Jesus to get ourselves to heaven? We know, because Jesus finished with death and rose from the grave.

 

            In the verse above, we see that our entire hope for our entire eternity rests on the fact that Jesus is alive. Our unity with Jesus in his sacrificial death guarantees us a unity with Jesus in his resurrection life. We have hope of life after death because Jesus lives after he died. We have an eternity to look forward to that is far better than anything this life has to offer because Jesus is alive in that eternity now. We do not, as Randy Alcorn mentioned in a post the other day, need a “bucket list,” because when our earthly lives end in the here and now, we will enter into a living eternity because Jesus is alive after his crucifixion.

 

            Christians, let’s not forget the resurrection. Resurrection Sunday is approaching. We will soon be singing “Christ the Lord is risen today, hallelujah!” But let us see the significance of this truth. We have life and hope, not only because Jesus died, but because he also returned to life. If Jesus was not raised, we have no hope. Because Jesus is alive, we have infinite hope, peace, and joy.

Numbers 15:32-36 (ESV)

 

32 While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. 33 And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation. 34 They put him in custody, because it had not been made clear what should be done to him. 35 And the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” 36 And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as the Lord commanded Moses.

 

Have you ever had someone tell you that they cannot imagine God being a certain way? Usually, that thing they cannot imagine involves the judgment and wrath of God. Most people who are making up their own picture of God in their minds cannot fathom a deity who would judge people, especially not one who would judge people for what we might consider the small stuff.

 

            What then do we do with a passage like the one above. God had made a law of Sabbath rest. The people of Israel were not to do any work on that seventh day, including something as simple as gathering sticks for the cooking fire. And when a man broke this regulation of God’s, the Lord commanded the people to put that man to death. That’s right, he was stoned to death for stick gathering.

 

        How in the world can this be right? It might help if we also knew the two verses which precede this passage, Numbers 15:30-31, which say, “But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.” So, the context of the passage where the man was judged for stick gathering is the discussion of “high-handed” sin, choosing intentionally to rebel against God’s commands.

 

        What we need to understand here is that Israel was at a formative time. The next two passages in Numbers will include two separate rebellions against the leadership of the nation. God chose at this point to show that he is in charge, and that his commands matter. So, when a man chose to ignore God’s clearly given law that he was not to go out and collect sticks on the Sabbath, his life was forfeit. He had, according to Scripture, reviled the Lord. It was as though the man said to God, “I don’t care about your rule. I will have my sticks.”

 

        But the bigger question for us today is just what do we do with a God who would judge people for stick gathering on the Sabbath? Well, we can, I suppose, choose to say that the revelation of God is inaccurate. We can decide that this is somehow not God. But once we do that, we deny his word, we deny any source of authoritative revelation, and our experience of the divine becomes completely subjective. Such a move is unchristian, and will not work. It would leave us with no understanding of the real God, but will replace the true picture of God with a god of our own imagining.

 

        We could, I suppose, try to sit in judgment of God and determine whether this move was really right or wrong, fair or foul. But to do so would be a dangerously arrogant position to take. Under no circumstances are you or I qualified to decide whether what the Creator of the universe has done is right. God has told us that his thoughts are as far above ours as the heavens are above the earth. He has shown us that he is holy, and thus his ways are not ours. It is not our place to approve or disapprove his actions. He is God. We are not.

 

        The alternative is to fear God, bow before him, and get under his mercy. This, of course, is the right move. When we see the man judged for stick gathering against God’s commands, we should see ourselves. How many times have we intentionally rebelled against the commands of God? Don’t be dishonest with yourself here. All of us, every last one of us, has done something easily as bad as what this man did in Numbers 15. We have all chosen at one point or another to throw off restraint and do things our way instead of God’s way. Now, we always think we have an excuse, but we have all chosen, at one point or another, to say to God that we will do things our way.

 

        We deserve the kind of judgment that the stick gatherer received. We deserve even worse. We have sinned with a high hand. And yet God has already shown us grace and mercy. He has given us good things in our lives. He has chosen not to destroy us at the moment of our first sin. And he offers us the mercy and grace of forgiveness through faith in Christ.

 

        The passage above is terrifying, and rightly so. But it is a portrait of us. We have sinned. We deserve death. But God offers us grace. He does not force us to die. He invites all people everywhere to turn from their sin and their self-reliance, to admit their sin, to believe in Jesus, and to ask him for mercy. Jesus took the death we deserve. Anyone who will come to Jesus in faith is counted as having died with Christ on the cross. Anyone who will put their entire hope for their entire eternity in Jesus will be raised with Christ to eternal life, eternal joy, eternal good.

 

        Yes, the passage before is strange. We do not like seeing a man die for stick gathering. But death is the penalty for rebelling against the real God of the universe. We cannot avoid that truthThat God has, however, given us a choice. We my continue to rebel against him and attempt to redefine him and his law, or we can be placed under his grace. Thus, I urge you, turn to Jesus before it is too late. I also urge all of us to see that God is holy, we are sinners, and his grace is truly amazing.

Numbers 14:1-3 (ESV)

 

1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”

 

            The story of the failure of Israel at the borders of the Promised Land is one of the saddest stories in the Old Testament. The people of God have seen his power and experienced his rescuing love, but they still do not know him or trust him. They grumble against Moses, God’s chosen leader for them. But even worse, they grumble against God himself.

 

            Looking at the words the people used, I am caught by the way that they ask, “Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword?” Their cry of “Why is the Lord” doing this is a big problem. They think God might be leading them to destruction on purpose. They do not trust God. They think he is not altogether good. They think he is not altogether trustworthy. They, as a nation, are doubting the character of God.

 

            In our human experience, we do not like it when someone doubts our character. We are insulted when people assume that we are bad people with bad motives and faulty thinking. But the truth is, we often are messed up. We often do make bad decisions based on bad motives and faulty reasoning. We fail, sometimes on accident and often on purpose. So, for someone to doubt us is not a huge shot off the mark, even if, in the particular circumstance, we are behaving well.

 

            But to doubt God, to question his character and wisdom, that is a much bigger problem. Remember that God is perfect. His perfection is infinite. There is no end to his wisdom or his goodness. Thus, to doubt him is to miss the mark of truth to an infinite degree. The insult is inconceivably large.

 

            What we might wish to learn from the grumbling of the people of Israel is to be very careful when we decide to act as though God has made a mistake. We do not ever want to present God as failing or untrustworthy. God is good. He has never treated us with the wrath that we deserve. Yes, some have gone through dreadful things, and I do not belittle that fact. Some are in difficult situations, and I get that too. But God is not bad. He is trustworthy. He is good. He is right. And we should be very careful not to pretend that he is otherwise.  

Psalm 50:21-23 (ESV)

 

21 These things you have done, and I have been silent;

you thought that I was one like yourself.

But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.

22 “Mark this, then, you who forget God,

lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!

23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;

to one who orders his way rightly

I will show the salvation of God!”

 

            “you thought that I was one like yourself,” says God to the wicked. What a true thing. It is common to find those who do not desire to follow God reshaping the personality and character of God in their own minds.

 

            Mark Dever tells a story of a conversation that he once had with a student. The student was disagreeing with Dever on his understanding of God. Beginning his description by saying things like, “I prefer to think of God as…,” the student denied key doctrines of the faith such as God’s holiness, justice, or his plan for atoning for sin. When the student finished, Dever said to him, “Thank you for telling me so much about yourself.” Dever knew that the student had revealed his own notions to the class, but the student had done nothing to tell the class what God is really like.

 

            The tendency to redefine God is something that  happens inside and outside of the local church. Just watch as people run up against doctrines that do not fit what they want to do at the present time. You will suddenly see people who redefine God’s standards. Who should be baptized? Who should be married? Who goes to heaven? What does God require? These all can change in a person’s view based on what they want at the time.

 

            But God shows us from Psalm 50 that we are not allowed to redefine him. We may think he is altogether like us, but we are wrong. He is who he is. Remember, God even spoke is name to Moses as “I Am Who I Am.” We have no more right to redefine God than we have the right to redefine gravity, the sun, or oxygen. These things are what they are. No matter whether we agree with them or not, they do not change. God is who he is, and our definition of him or our opinion of him will not change him.

 

     At the end of this psalm, God says, “to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!” To one who does not assume that his ways are God’s ways, God will bring salvation. To one who does not think that he has the right to tell God what God must be or to do what he thinks God should do, God brings grace. God is great. He does not need us. And we have no right to define God as anything other than what God has revealed himself to be. Only when we see God as he really is will we understand our sinfulness, our need for his mercy, and his perfection. Only when we see God rightly will we repent of sin, cry out to Jesus for mercy, and find the salvation of God.

 

     What then do we do? Allow the word of God to show us who God is. Let Scripture show us a God who is holy and just, merciful and gracious. Allow the Scriptures to show us that we are sinners who cannot add one single thing to God or his kingdom. We cannot do anything for him on our own. Then allow the word to show us that God offers us salvation in Christ alone, by grace alone through faith alone. Let the Scriptures call us to cry out to Jesus for mercy. Then, when all is said and done, be amazed that this very same God allows us to join him on mission as we live out our lives for his glory in his grace.

Leviticus 4:22-26 (ESV)

 

22 “When a leader sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the Lord his God ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, 23 or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish, 24 and shall lay his hand on the head of the goat and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord; it is a sin offering. 25 Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26 And all its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. So the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin, and he shall be forgiven.

 

           Often we skim through the laws of Leviticus and the sacrificial system without applying much thought to our lives. This morning, I battled my own temptation to let these words just fly by as I continued my daily reading plan. But, in walking through Leviticus 1-4, I found the common pattern in the way God allowed his people to make atonement for sin very helpful in understanding the work of Jesus, the perfect sin offering.

 

           In the discussion of sin offerings, there are a few points that continually arise:

·         The sacrifice is without blemish.

·         There is a transfer of guilt, a substitution.

·         The animal dies.

·         The sin is atoned for.

 

The Sacrifice is Without Blemish

 

                In all of the discussions of sin offering in Leviticus, the animal to be sacrificed is to be without blemish. God demands perfection. Only the perfect could cover for the sin of the imperfect.

 

There is a Transfer of Guilt, a Substitution

 

                In all of these offerings, the guilty party or a representative of the guilty people was to lay his hands on the head of the animal being sacrificed. This was a move in which the person was placing the burden of their guilt on the animal being presented before the Lord. It was a way to ask God to count the animal as guilty of what the people had done.

 

The Animal Dies

 

                The next item in the discussion that repeatedly comes is that the animal is slaughtered and its blood is poured out and put before the Lord. Death is the punishment for the sin of the people. God will not allow his justice to be mocked. It is a bloody and ugly business to deal with sin.

 

The Sin is Atoned For

 

                In the end, there is a declaration of atonement. The person who had sinned before God is now declared to be back in a right relationship with God. Something has happened that made up for the guilt of the sin. A reconciliation has occurred.

 

These are True of Jesus

 

                When we look at the person and work of Jesus in his atoning work on our behalf, all the things we have just seen are present. Jesus was unblemished. Where the animals were only outwardly perfect-looking Jesus was actually holy before the Lord. He is God. He is perfect. He is without sin. He is able to therefore be a sacrifice that no other human could have been.

 

                Jesus stood in our stead as our substitute. He allowed the Father to place on him the penalty for all of the sins of all of God’s children. Jesus allowed the Father to count him as guilty of things that he had not done in order to pay a penalty that none of us could have ever paid.

 

                Jesus died. The perfect Son of God allowed his blood to be shed, poured out as a sin offering. It was a bloody and ugly business. However, only through that blood of Jesus could we have our sins forgiven.

 

                Jesus made atonement for us. All who are in Christ have their sins atoned for. There is no longer any condemnation left for us. God has covered our sin by fully punishing it in Jesus. He can now welcome us into a fully reconciled relationship with him.

 

                And, gloriously, Jesus rose from the dead after making this atonement proving that the work is fully finished once and for all. Our Savior is, of course, infinitely better than the bulls, lambs, goats, and birds that were used in the Old Testament sacrificial system. All that blood and sacrifice pointed to Jesus’ perfect work of substitutionary atonement.

 

                Yes, it is easy to let Leviticus fly by in your daily readings. But, I have found that slowing down and taking a closer look at how this shows us God’s holiness and Christ’s sacrifice help to make this time spent in God’s word very sweet indeed.