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Volume. XXXVII, No. 35 Christ, Our Burnt Offering (Part 1) The death of Christ is seen in the New Testament as the fulfilment of all that was foreshadowed by the Old Testament sacrificial system. One key thought of New Testament writers is that the sacrifice made by Christ on the cross is the final perfect sacrifice for the atonement of sin and the salvation of men.
The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was typified in the various sacrifices of the Old Testament recorded particularly in the book of Leviticus which is the central theme of the book of Hebrews.
Of all the sacrifices, the most important was the burnt offering described in the book of Leviticus. Regardless of what the ancient Israelite understood of the symbolism of the burnt offering in terms of its future fulfilment in Christ, Christ was the ultimate fulfilment, the antitype of the burnt offering—Christ is our burnt offering!
John the Baptist indicated this at the very outset of our Lord’s ministry, when he greeted Him with the words, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ (John 1:29) What then is the significance of recognising Christ as the ultimate fulfilment of the Old Testament burnt offering? We shall consider these implications based on Leviticus 1:3-9.
Christ, the Burnt Offering Firstly, the offering of the burnt offering is a picture of Christ being offered as the ultimate burnt sacrifice. Leviticus 1:3 says, ‘If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd…’. The burnt offering has four distinctive aspects to it: 1) It is a sweet savour to God. He enjoys this offering. It is not given because of sin but because of devotion; 2) It is offered for acceptance in the stead of the offeror. The animal represents the offeror; 3) A life is given; 4) It is completely burned up. This is why the Scripture says it has to be ’consumed by the fire of God.’ Symbolically, this is a sacrifice upon which God poured out his wrath before the sinner could find acceptance with him — and that sacrifice is Christ, our LORD!
Christ, the Second Adam Secondly, the fact that the sacrifice must be a male, signifies Christ being the second Adam. Leviticus 1:3b says, ‘…Let [the offeror] him offer a male…’ The fact that the sacrifice had to be a male portrayed Christ, as the God-Man (i.e. a male), by whom righteousness has been brought in and by whom sin has been put away.
In the book of Romans 5:12, we read that the first Adam represented all mankind in the fall: he fell and so did the entire human race, but the second Adam passed the test by fulfilling all righteousness. Not only that, he paid the ransom for our sins. He also represents all those who look to Him in faith (Romans 5:19-21).
Christ, the Perfect Lamb of God Thirdly, the sacrifice must also be ‘…without blemish…’ (Leviticus 1:3c). The sacrifice was to be without blemish which means the animal was to be ideally perfect. This speaks of the perfections of Christ. The Scripture says that ‘… in him [Christ] is no sin’ (1 John 3:5); ‘who did no sin …’ (1 Peter 2:22); ‘… who knew no sin …’ (2 Corinthians 5:21); ‘who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners …’ (Hebrews 7:26). He is the beloved Son of whom the Father could say, ‘… I am well pleased’ (Matthew 3:17). Henceforth, Christ can make perfect atonement for sin because He offered Himself up on the altar which was the perfect sacrifice, for He was perfect!
Christ, the Perfect Atonement Fourthly, Leviticus 1:5a says, ‘And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD.’ As discussed in the previous point, since Christ is perfect, the atonement He made is naturally perfect. So, the offering of sacrifice also prefigures that Christ would make perfect atonement for sin once for all.
This verse pictures Christ's death by shedding His blood before the LORD. Christ indeed lived a perfectly sinless life for us. However, a holy, blameless life is not enough to make atonement for sin. His perfect righteousness was imputed upon His elect. The penalty for the sin of His people must also be paid. Therefore, blood must be shed, and Christ must die on our behalf.
Why blood? Because of the blood being considered the life, the effusion of it was the essential part of the sacrifice, not the meat; and the sprinkling of the blood on the altar signified that the application of the atonement made the person and services of the offeror or the sinner acceptable to God, ‘for without shedding of blood is no remission’ (Hebrews 9:22)
What then was the purpose of the Old Testament saints sacrificing all those sacrificial animals? Didn’t it take away their sin? No. The animal sacrifices did not take away their sin; it was their faith that counted them righteous!
Hebrews 10:4 says, ‘For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins...’ If we read down to chapter 11 of Hebrews, we would find the beautiful passage that is known as: ‘The hall of faith’.
The name perhaps understates the importance of this passage, as if these people were ‘special’ in themselves. There is nothing intrinsically special in these people, but it is ‘their faith’ that should be highlighted. For they looked ‘forward’ to the coming of the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus Christ!
This is why the author of Hebrews says, ‘And these all (i.e., the names aforementioned), having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise.’ (Hebrews 11:39) What is the promise? It is the promise that God would provide an ultimate burnt offering, His only begotten Son – the promised Messiah!
To be continued…
By Rev David Weng |
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