Flawless sacrifice

Leviticus 22:17-23 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible (link on links page)

Flawless Animals for Sacrifice

¹⁷ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸ “Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘Any man of the house of Israel or of the aliens in Israel who presents his offering, whether it is any of their votive or any of their freewill offerings, which they present to the Lord for a burnt offering— ¹⁹ for you to be accepted—it must be a male without defect from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats. ²⁰ Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you. ²¹ When a man offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill a special vow or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it. ²² Those that are blind or fractured or maimed or having a running sore or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer to the Lord, nor make of them an offering by fire on the altar to the Lord. ²³ In respect to an ox or a lamb which has an overgrown or stunted member, you may present it for a freewill offering, but for a vow it will not be accepted.

Yesterday we read about the Levitical law pertaining to priests entering into the presence of God. We saw that a priest who had a sickness or defect was not permitted to minister in God's presence. Niether sin or sickness and disease can be in the presence of the Most Holy God. We then, who are encouraged to come boldly into God's presence, to the throne of grace, are seen not as sinful or sick, diseased or disabled, but rather as righteous and whole through the finished work of Christ on the cross.

In today's text we read about the instruction concerning the quality of animals that were to be used as sacrifices. They were to be flawless, perfect. In other parts of the law it was very precise as to what type of sacrifice was appropriate for specific sacrifices. Here it is saying that only what is flawless would be acceptable as an offering or sacrifice to God.      Jesus Himself became the perfect flawless sacrifice for us all.      John the baptist said of Him: The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!(John 1:29)       He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.( 2 Corinthians 5:21)    Because of Jesus perfect, flawless sacrifice we no longer live under the requirements of the law.He Himself is the fulfillment of the law.  After all those animal sacrifices were temporary and needed to be repeated regularly to cover sin. Jesus perfect sacrifice on the other hand is eternal and everlasting, there is no need to repeat it and nothing we do can add to it.

 Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit (1 Peter 3:18)

We are however still instructed to sacrifice to God. Romans 12:1-2 says:   Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. 

 Through Jesus sacrifice, His death on the cross, we who were sinful are now righteous, perfect in Him. So we no longer need to die for our sins but rather we live for Christ. Paul urges us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. We are made in the image of God. We are body, soul and spirit. Through Christ our souls are redeemed, eternally saved. Through Christ our spirits are one with His Spirit. We are filled with the Holy Spirit. It is our body, our flesh that still needs to be given to God. We give ourselves as a living sacrifice by dying to self, by not being conformed to the world. Paul says that this giving of ourselves is our "spiritual service of worship".   

Worship can be either a noun:

"the worship of God"   or a verb:to show reverence and adoration for God.  Our spiritual service of worship is a verb. It is something we do. It requires action. Our worship of God is more than just a thing. It is the action of our lives.

Hebrews 13:15-16 also speaks of the sacrifice we are to give to God.     Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. ¹⁶ And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.        We are to  continually offer up a sacrifice of praise. Sometimes it can be difficult to feel like praising God. We can be sick in body, overwhelmed by circumstances, simply tiered and beaten down by the things in this world. The scripture says that a sacrifice of praise is the fruit of lips that give thanks. So we then, when we are feeling beaten down, depressed, overwhelmed by life, when we don't feel like there is any praise in us, need to begin with lips that give thanks.

       If all we can thank God for is that He has saved our eternal souls, isn't that enough to begin to declare His praise.     

 As we speak forth thanks from our lips our hearts will turn to praise. Though things may be difficult, though we may not feel like it, a sacrifice of praise will come forth from our hearts as our lips declare our thanksgiving.

God gave us His very best. Jesus, the perfect flawless sacrifice for our sins. We should at least then give Him ourselves, our worship, the living sacrifice of our lives to Him.

Begin to worship, to praise Him today. Say thanks. Here is 10000 reasons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3K3roEF36k