“Jesus died to pay the penalty for my sinful actions.” That’s true, but that’s not all that Jesus’ sacrifice did for us. In fact, in the first three chapters of Leviticus, we see sacrifices offered for reasons other than to pay for the sins of the people.

In chapter 3, for example, we see the peace offering. This points to the way that our relationship with God is restored. God receives a portion of the offering (the fat, which was considered the best part in the ancient world – see 3:9-11). The priest receives a portion (7:30-32), and the worshipper and his family enjoy the rest (7:15-18). In a sense, the people and the priest were sitting down and enjoying table fellowship with God.

But notice that a sacrifice had to made: in order for the people to be acceptable in the sight of God, blood first had to be spilled. And the same thing is true for all of us, because sin isn’t just a list of do’s and don’ts: it’s a condition of the heart, an inborn tendency to pull away from God and from other people. In other words, we are all radically broken, cut off from the God Who is the only true source of life and light. The death of all these sacrificial animals thus illustrates that our sinful, rebellious nature always leads to death because death is all that we deserve.

But we find good news in these chapters as well: that there can be a substitute for sin. Just as the animals died so that the people could be brought back into a right relationship with God, Jesus offered up the perfect sacrifice, once on behalf of all His people (Hebrews 10:10), so that we might become the very children of God (Romans 8:15-17).

God’s Old Testament people gave thanks for this kind of reconciliation by bringing God some of their oil and flour (Leviticus chapter 2), and, of course, by offering up some of their livestock as whole burnt offerings (Leviticus chapter 1). As the smoke from these offerings ascended into Heaven, the people knew God accepted their gifts because of the blood that had been spilled.

May we go further today, offering ourselves as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1), giving all we are and all we have to the One Who gave up so much more than the blood of an animal – to the One Who gave His life for us.

Leviticus 3:1-5 (NASB)

‘Now if his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, if he is going to offer out of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without defect before the LORD.
2 ‘And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and slay it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood around on the altar.
3 ‘And from the sacrifice of the peace offerings, he shall present an offering by fire to the LORD, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails,
4 and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys.
5 ‘Then Aaron’s sons shall offer it up in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering, which is on the wood that is on the fire; it is an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD.