3. Are we 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.” Also, the instructions which the Lord gave to Moses
saying; “Command the children of Israel, and say to them, 'My offering, My food
for My offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma to Me, you shall be careful to
offer to Me at their appointed time” (Psalms 96:8; Numbers 28:2).
We should bear in mind that in our New
Testament dispensation this sweet aroma is the sacrificial body of Jesus Christ
as clearly stated saying; “And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and
given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling
aroma” (Ephesians
5:2).
So, the multi-million question is,
what sort of an offering are we commanded to bring to the Lord when presenting
ourselves before Him?
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” (Exodus
29:38-40).
This pleasing aroma with all its
paraphernalia is called the burnt offering. It consists of the Lamb, with its
grain and drink offering. 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.
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” (Hebrews10:19-22).
The boldness or confidence which
one has to enter the most holy place is by the blood of Jesus which is
represented by the wine, the new and living way which is open for us through
the curtain, that is His body is represented by the bread and the High Priest
over the house of God which grants us access to the throne of grace is Jesus
Christ our Mediator and High Priest who intercedes on our behalf.
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” (Hebrews13:11-13).
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.
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With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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