16 September Leviticus 7

The blood of Jesus as the final sacrifice

Leviticus 7:1-2 (NIV) “‘These are the regulations for the guilt offering, which is most holy: The guilt offering is to be slaughtered in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, and its blood is to be splashed against the sides of the altar.

With both the burnt and guilt offerings, the priest’s first task was to sprinkle the blood of the “most holy” offering at the altar. This process required faith in the power of the blood. A sacrifice made without faith was not acceptable to God. The Psalmists proclaim this in:

Psalm 4:5 (NIV) Offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the Lord.

Psalm 51:16-19 (AMP) “For You do not delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. My [only] sacrifice [acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; A broken and contrite heart [broken with sorrow for sin, thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise. By Your favour do good to Zion; May You rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Then will You delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, In burnt offering and whole burnt offering; Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar”.

Today, our sins keep us separated from God. The Bible says that sins can’t be forgiven without the shedding of blood: “Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.” This means we must have faith in Christ’s blood’s power to forgive our sins. If we believe in the power of Christ’s blood, sin won’t control us anymore. If we don’t recognise Christ every day in all we do, our actions become more about ourselves than about God. So, keeping Christ at the centre of everything we do is the first and most crucial step in having a close relationship with Him.

Hebrews 9:22-26 (AMP) In fact under the Law almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness [neither release from sin and its guilt, nor cancellation of the merited punishment]. 23 Therefore it was necessary for the [earthly] copies of the heavenly things to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves required far better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but [He entered] into heaven itself, now to appear in the very presence of God on our behalf; 25 nor did He [enter into the heavenly sanctuary to] offer Himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer over and over since the foundation of the world; but now once for all at the consummation of the ages He has appeared and been publicly manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

Romans 6:14 (AMP) For sin will no longer be a master over you, since you are not under Law [as slaves], but under [unmerited] grace [as recipients of God’s favour and mercy].

In conclusion, the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, as described in Leviticus, required the shedding of blood to atone for sin, symbolising the need for a pure and holy offering. However, these sacrifices merely foreshadowed the ultimate sacrifice to come. Jesus Christ, through His death on the cross, became the final and perfect sacrifice, offering His blood to cleanse us from sin once and for all. Unlike the repeated sacrifices of the Old Covenant, Christ's sacrifice was a singular, all-sufficient act that fully satisfied the requirements of the Law and brought about the possibility of reconciliation with God.

As we reflect on the power of Christ's blood, it becomes clear that our faith must rest in Him alone to forgive sins and break sin's dominion over our lives. The righteousness that God desires is not found in external rituals or offerings but in a heart transformed by His grace, fully surrendered to His will. By keeping Christ at the centre of our lives, we acknowledge that His sacrifice grants us the freedom to live in the fullness of God's favour and mercy, no longer bound by the law but embraced by His unmerited grace. This understanding calls us to live each day in humble recognition of the price paid for our redemption, ensuring that our actions reflect our commitment to the One who gave His life for us.