2.
Are
you appearing before God without presenting to Him His food for His offerings?
Remember what is written in the
Psalms. “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name; bring an offering and
come into His courts” (Psalms 96:8).
But what sort of an offering are we
supposed to bring to the Lord when presenting ourselves before Him? Well, this is what the Lord said to Moses,
“This is what you are to offer on the altar regularly each day – a pleasing
aroma, an offering made to the Lord by fire (zeal)” (Exodus
29:38-40).
This pleasing aroma with all its
paraphernalia in the Old Testament is called the burnt offering. It consists of
the Lamb, with its grain and drink offering which was a copy and shadow of the
reality. The Lamb is figurative to Jesus Christ Himself, the grain offering is
figurative to the broken body of Jesus Christ in the form of the Unleavened
Bread, and the drink offering is figurative to the shed blood of Jesus Christ
in the form of the wine. This is the expression of Christ’s love for us who
“Gave Himself up for us, an offering, and a sacrifice to God as a sweet-
smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:2).
Concerning this offering, the Lord
said to Moses, “For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made
regularly (continuously, often) at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before
the Lord. There I will meet you and speak to you; there also I will meet with
the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by My glory. So, I will
consecrate the tent of Meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his
sons to serve Me as priests. Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be
their God.
They will know that I am the Lord
their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am
the Lord their God” (Exodus 29:42-46).
As clearly shown, this offering is
the prerequisite, the pass code so to speak, to present one’s self before God,
before He speaks to His servants, before the place of meeting is consecrated,
and before the Lord takes residence among His people.
The Apostle Paul expressed a
similar sentiment when he wrote; “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence
to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way
open for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great
priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in
full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a
guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water”
(Hebrews 10:19-22).
In concluding religious directives,
the apostle Paul gave the following instructions; “The high priest carries the
blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are
burned outside the camp. And so, Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to
make the people holy through His own blood. Let us, then, go to Him outside the
camp, bearing the disgrace He bore” (Hebrews 13:11-13).
This offering is of paramount
importance. It is the offering which the High Priest is appointed to offer on
behalf of man’s sins, and it is the offering which only can cleanse the
worshiper from a guilty conscience, and present him/her holy, blameless, and
irreproachable in the sight of God (Hebrews 5:1; 8:3;
Colossians .1:14, 22, 1John 1:7).
This offering is so important to
God that He instructed Moses saying; “Give this command to the Israelites and
say to them; “ My offering, My food for My offerings by fire (zeal), My
pleasing odor, you shall take heed [be careful] to offer to Me at its due
season”
(Numbers 28:1-2).
Not only can it be confirmed that
Jesus Christ is indeed that fragrant offering and sacrifice to God, but Jesus
Christ also confirmed the fact that He is the bread of God which comes down
from heaven and gives life to the world. (John 6:33).
The irony of truth is, since no one
can say “I have no sin” or “I have not sinned:” No one therefore can present
him/herself before the Father without a sin offering being offered on his/her
behalf. This offering is not offered automatically, but by the individual’s
free will. (Leviticus 1:3-4).
The appointed times to offer to God
His food, the bread for His offering, His sweet-smelling aroma has not been
left to chance, or left in limbo as to how often is often, but it is clearly
defined as morning and evening for the regular daily offering, on the seventh
Day Weekly Sabbath, on the New Moons, and on the annual Festivals which the
Lord regards as My Feasts (Read Numbers Chapters 28 and 29).
A common mistake make by most
believers is that, they do not realize that forgiveness, and cleansing of sin,
are entirely two different processes that are intertwined to each other. It is written; “If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness.
Understanding spiritual things are
not beyond man’s comprehension since, “What may be known about God is plain to
them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities –His
eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from
what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans
1:20).
If a person who spills milk on the
floor broke the glass, begs for forgiveness, and grants forgiveness, will
he/she be automatically negated from cleaning the messy floor? Absolutely not!
Without picking up the broken pieces of glass, clean the floor with water and
detergent, the floor remains unclean and hazardous. In like manner, confession
without the application of the blood of Christ through the cup of the new
covenant which Christ instituted on the night before He was led to be
crucified, there is no forgiveness and cleansing.
Also, an offense or a transgression
is not resolved simply by acknowledging one’s guilt and confessing to a Lawyer.
The matter is resolved only when it is brought before the Magistrate or Judge,
where the lawyer intercedes or pleads on behalf of the offender.
In like manner, sins are not
forgiven and cleansed unless Jesus Christ intercedes on our behalf. He does not
need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own
sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up
Himself. But like every high priest He is appointed to offer both gifts and
sacrifices on behalf of our sins, and this offering is the bread of God and the
cup of the new covenant of His blood which only can satisfies the will of God.
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With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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