Crystallization-Study of Leviticus (1)
Message Nine
Appreciating Christ as the Reality of the Trespass Offering
Scripture Reading: John 1:29; 1 Cor. 15:3; 1 Pet. 3:18; 2:24; 1 John 2:2; 4:10; Gal. 1:4; Matt. 26:28; Heb. 1:3; 10:12
I. “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”—John 1:29:
A. Christ died on the cross as the Lamb of God to deal with sin and sins and to take away sin from the human race.
B. Christ as the Lamb of God fulfilled the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory—Gen. 3:24; Rom. 2:5; Heb. 12:29; 9:5.
C. Christ as the redeeming Lamb was foreknown before the foundation of the world, that is, before the creation of the universe, but was manifested for our sake—1 Pet. 1:20.
D. Christ is “the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world,” from the time creation came into existence—Rev. 13:8.
II. As the reality of the trespass offering, “Christ died for our sins”—1 Cor. 15:3:
A. The first thing Paul delivered to the saints in the gospel was that Christ died for our sins—v. 3.
B. The word for indicates that Christ died a vicarious death:
1. We needed Him to die as our Substitute.
2. As our Savior, He represented us to die for our sins in order to accomplish redemption—Matt. 1:21; Luke 2:11; Acts 13:23; 1 Tim. 1:15; Titus 2:14.
III. As the reality of the trespass offering, “Christ also has suffered once for sins, the Righteous on behalf of the unrighteous,” that He might bring us to God—1 Pet. 3:18:
A. Sins here refers to the sins we commit in our outward conduct—Heb. 9:28.
B. On behalf of indicates that Christ’s death was for redemption, not for martyrdom.
C. Christ, the righteous One, was judged on behalf of us, the unrighteous, by the righteous God so that He might remove the barrier of our sins and bring us to God.
D. Christ redeemed us from our sins back to God, from our unrighteous manner of life back to the righteous God.
IV. As the reality of the trespass offering, Christ “bore up our sins in His body on the tree, in order that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose bruise you were healed”—1 Pet. 2:24:
A. According to Isaiah 53:6, when Christ was on the cross, God took all our sins and put them upon the Lamb of God:
1. Hebrews 9:28 says that Christ has been “offered once to bear the sins of many.”
2. Christ died once to bear our sins, and He suffered the judgment for us on the cross—Isa. 53:5, 11.
B. When the Lord offered up Himself as a sacrifice on the cross, He bore up our sins in His body on the cross, the true altar for propitiation—Heb. 7:27.
C. In the death of Christ, we died to sins so that we might live to righteousness; this living to righteousness is in the resurrection of Christ—1 Pet. 2:24; Rom. 6:8, 10-11, 18; Eph. 2:6; John 14:19; 2 Tim. 2:11:
1. Righteousness is a matter of God’s government—Psa. 89:14.
2. We were saved so that we might live rightly under the government of God, that is, in a way that matches the righteous requirement of His government.
D. “By whose bruise you were healed”—1 Pet. 2:24b:
1. On the one hand, Christ’s bruise that heals us keeps us away from sins by His death.
2. On the other hand, this healing enlivens us so that we may live to righteousness.
V. As the reality of the trespass offering, Christ “Himself is the propitiation for our sins”—1 John 2:2:
A. “Herein is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins”—4:10.
B. The Lord Jesus is the propitiatory sacrifice for our sins:
1. Christ offered Himself to God as a sacrifice for our sins not only for our redemption but also for God’s satisfaction—Heb. 9:28.
2. Through Christ’s vicarious death and in Him as our Substitute, God is satisfied and appeased; hence, Christ is the propitiation between God and us.
C. Hebrews 2:17 reveals that Christ has made propitiation for our sins:
1. The Lord Jesus made propitiation for our sins to reconcile us to God by satisfying God’s righteous demands on us.
2. Through His work on the cross Christ made propitiation for our sins; this means that He appeased God for us.
3. By appeasing God’s righteousness and all His requirements on us, Christ has settled every problem between us and God.
VI. As the reality of the trespass offering, Christ “gave Himself for our sins that He might rescue us out of the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father”—Gal. 1:4:
A. Although Christ was crucified for our sins, the goal of His crucifixion was to rescue us out of the present evil age:
1. An age is a part of the world as the satanic system.
2. An age refers to a section, an aspect, the present or modern appearance, of the system of Satan, which is used by him to usurp and occupy people and to keep them away from God and His purpose.
3. The present age is the present section of Satan’s cosmos, his world system—1 John 2:15.
4. Whereas sins are devilish, the present age is satanic—Rom. 12:2.
B. Apart from the crucifixion of Christ, we have no way to deal with sins, behind which the devil hides, or the evil age, behind which Satan hides—Gal. 1:4:
1. Christ was crucified for our sins so that we might be delivered from the present evil age.
2. If we would be delivered from the present evil age, sins must be dealt with.
C. According to the context of the book of Galatians, the present evil age in 1:4 refers to the religious world, the religious course of the world:
1. This is confirmed by 6:14-15, where circumcision is considered part of the world—the religious world to which Paul was crucified.
2. Christ gave Himself for our sins for the purpose of rescuing us out of religion, the present evil age; this principle is the same with the believers in Paul’s time and with us today.
VII. As the reality of the trespass offering, the Lord Jesus said, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins”—Matt. 26:28:
A. The Lord’s blood was required by God’s righteousness for the forgiveness of sins.
B. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins—Heb. 9:22.
C. The Lord’s blood was poured out for the forgiveness of sins, and the new covenant has been enacted through His blood—Luke 22:20:
1. The blood of the Lord Jesus has made a complete redemption for us so that all our sins may be forgiven.
2. His blood satisfied God’s righteousness and redeemed us from our fallen condition back to God and to God’s blessing.
3. In His death on the cross as the trespass offering, Christ poured out His blood so that the new covenant may be enacted and the believers’ sins may be forgiven—Matt. 26:28.
4. “The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin,” and God is “faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness”—1 John 1:7, 9.
VIII. As the reality of the trespass offering, Christ, “having made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high”—Heb. 1:3:
A. “This One, having offered one sacrifice for sins, sat down forever on the right hand of God”—10:12:
1. Christ has put away sins by offering Himself to God as the sacrifice for sin.
2. His sitting down forever at the right hand of God is a sign and proof that the taking away of sins has been accomplished—v. 12.
B. Christ has made “purification of sins”—1:3:
1. In verse 3 purification indicates that our sins have been washed away.
2. Christ accomplished purification of sins once for all; He shed His blood once and accomplished an eternal cleansing.
3. According to the typology in Leviticus 16, the Lord Jesus brought His own blood into the Holy of Holies in the heavens and sprinkled it before God in order to make propitiation for our sins so that we might be cleansed and “from all…sins…be clean” before God—v. 30; Heb. 12:22, 24.
C. Because Christ offered Himself to God through the eternal Spirit, His offering of Himself was once for all, and the redemption accomplished through His death is eternal, having an eternal effect—7:27; 9:12, 14.