Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20000607.htm

LEVITICUS: GOD'S CALL FOR A SEPARATED WITNESS
Part I: The Path To Gaining Fellowship With God (Leviticus 1-10)
A. The Burnt Offering's Revelation Of The Basis Of Acceptable Dedication Unto God
(Leviticus 1:1-17)
  1. Introduction
    1. Various religions teach that if one dedicates himself unto God, God will be pleased with that activity.
    2. However, the Old Testament reveals the need for God's GRACE to handle our SIN so that we can even dedicate ourselves with an acceptable dedication unto a holy God (as follows):
  2. The Burnt Offering's Revelation Of The Basis Of Acceptable Dedication Unto God, Lev. 1:1-17.
    1. When a Hebrew approached God to dedicate himself to God, he was to use a burnt offering, Lev. 1:1-3a.
    2. This offering revealed the need for a substitutionary atonement for the offerer's sins as the basis for such a dedication to be acceptable before a holy God (as follows):
      1. Before the animal was slain, the offerer was to lay his hand upon the animal's head, Leviticus 1:4a.
      2. This would show the animal was offered as the offerer's "substitute," Ryrie St. Bib., KJV, ftn. Lev. 1:4
      3. This substitutionary death of the animal would atone for the sinner's sin before a holy God, 1:4c.
    3. The symbolism present in this sacrifice then expounds on Christ's substitutionary death for the sinner:
      1. Scripture reveals Christ as God's Lamb Who takes aways man's sins unlike what the blood of animals could not themselves do: the sacrifices only anticipated Christ's death, He. 10:5-10; John 1:29.
      2. Thus, we view the way the burnt offering anticipated the death of Christ for man's sin as follows:
        1. First, any man could offer the burnt offering, Leviticus 1:2a. This shows that the forgiveness of sins and salvation of the soul is available to all individuals on the earth, Revelation 22:17d.
        2. Second, the animal was to come from the offerer's own domesticated flock or herd, meaning it was prized or loved as was Jesus, the Beloved Son of God, Leviticus 1:2b with John 3:16a.
        3. Third, the animal was to be a male without defect, picturing the sinless Jesus, Lev. 1:3; 2 Cor. 5:21.
        4. Fourth, by the laying on of hands by the offerer, the animal became his substitute, Lev. 1:4. This function is predicted in Isaiah 53:10-12 where Jesus' soul is said to become a sin offering for man!
        5. Fifth, as every part of the animal was used in the sacrifice (Lev. 1:9b), so it took the complete death of Jesus Christ to make an atonement for our sins, cf. Hebrews 9:22. Anything less than the death of Christ such as man's self-help good works could not appease the wrath of a holy God against us!
        6. Sixth, since the burnt offering became an acceptable aroma to God (Lev. 1:9c), Christ's atonement fully appeased the wrath of a holy God for the sins of the world, Isa. 53:11a; 1 Jn. 2:2; 2 Cor. 5:19.
        7. Seventh, for those who could not afford to offer a bullock, a sheep would do, and for those who could not afford a sheep, an inexpensive bird would do, Leviticus 1:10; 1:14. Similarly, Jesus' atonement covers and applies to ALL men; He died for the sins of the whole world, 1 John 2:2.
Lesson: According to the typology of the Levitical Burnt Offering, the WAY to dedicate ourselves ACCEPTABLY unto the holy God revealed in Scripture is by God's grace: (a) God's salvation is open to every individual in the world (b) through the Beloved, (c) sinless Son of God. (d) Yet, ONLY by Christ's substitutionary and (e) full death in the sinner's place (f) that completely satisfied the wrath of a holy God against man's sin (g) could any and all people have grounds of acceptably RELATING with a holy God. (h) Since this relationships is attained by GOD'S GRACE, the animal signifying Christ as dying in place of the sinner, we are saved without any merit on our own, but by faith alone in Jesus Christ, Eph. 2:8-9, 10. (i) Accordingly, we can DEDICATE ourselves to God for life and service only through having accepted Christ as Savior by faith FIRST, becoming properly related to God, and THEN living by faith in His grace as a way of life en route to making that DEDICATION!

Application: Contrary to religious teachings to the contrary, consecration that is ACCEPTABLE to God must be PRECEEDED by dealing with the sinner's SIN. Only through faith in Christ and only by a life following that justification that is lived by faith in God's GRACE can a sinner THEN dedicate himself in a way that God accepts!