The True Cost of Sin
Scripture: Leviticus 4:3, 13
“If the high priest sins, bringing guilt upon the entire community, he must give a sin offering for the sin he has committed. He must present to the Lord a young bull with no defects...If the entire Israelite community sins by violating one of the Lord’s commands, but the people don’t realize it, they are still guilty. 14 When they become aware of their sin, the people must bring a young bull as an offering for their sin and present it before the Tabernacle. 15 The elders of the community must then lay their hands on the bull’s head and slaughter it before the Lord."
Observations:
As God began to teach the Israelites how to worship Him and properly maintain a right relationship with Him one of the first instructions He gave was how to deal with sin. Part of the problem in worshiping a holy God was the understanding that God's presence and sin cannot coexist. For that reason God took the time to spell out in detail right from wrong so that there would be no question of guilt. However, God in his infinite wisdom also took into consideration the fact that humanity often fails to recognize or take responsibility for it's moral, ethical, and social failures and typically finds good reason to justify them. But what's amazing is that God took the first step and sought to find a way to forgive people for whatever they had done or might do without being asked!
Application:
God, even in the Old Testament was not looking for a reason to nail people for their sins. In fact, He was then and He is now trying to cover over our sins with the blood Jesus provided through His death on the cross to offer them forgivness for any and every sin to anyone willing to live in relationship with Him. For that very reason, because God does take sin seriously, so should we. The simple fact that nobody's perfect didn't let God's people off the hook then and it's no different today. Our sin are what still separate us from God and make us guilty before Him, and whether we did it on purpose doesn't negate its presence in our lives. The fact still remains that if we desire God's presence among us we have to acknowledge our sins, turn from them, and turn to Christ (our eternal sacrifice) to receive God's forgiveness. While God's forgivness is free, we must always remember that it was not cheap. We should strive to walk in the grace of God provided for us remembering that "without the shedding of blood there is no forgivness of sin" (Hebrews 9:22) and that "God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood...to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus." (Romans 3:25-26).
Prayer:
Father, thank you for providing for each of us the opportunity to be cleared of the wrongs we have done against you and against others at the expense of your Son's own life. May we never take our sins or Your sacrifice lightly as we strive to live in relationship with You. Cleanse our hearts and minds from anything that would separate us from You today and keep us in Your grace. Amen.
“If the high priest sins, bringing guilt upon the entire community, he must give a sin offering for the sin he has committed. He must present to the Lord a young bull with no defects...If the entire Israelite community sins by violating one of the Lord’s commands, but the people don’t realize it, they are still guilty. 14 When they become aware of their sin, the people must bring a young bull as an offering for their sin and present it before the Tabernacle. 15 The elders of the community must then lay their hands on the bull’s head and slaughter it before the Lord."
Observations:
As God began to teach the Israelites how to worship Him and properly maintain a right relationship with Him one of the first instructions He gave was how to deal with sin. Part of the problem in worshiping a holy God was the understanding that God's presence and sin cannot coexist. For that reason God took the time to spell out in detail right from wrong so that there would be no question of guilt. However, God in his infinite wisdom also took into consideration the fact that humanity often fails to recognize or take responsibility for it's moral, ethical, and social failures and typically finds good reason to justify them. But what's amazing is that God took the first step and sought to find a way to forgive people for whatever they had done or might do without being asked!
Application:
God, even in the Old Testament was not looking for a reason to nail people for their sins. In fact, He was then and He is now trying to cover over our sins with the blood Jesus provided through His death on the cross to offer them forgivness for any and every sin to anyone willing to live in relationship with Him. For that very reason, because God does take sin seriously, so should we. The simple fact that nobody's perfect didn't let God's people off the hook then and it's no different today. Our sin are what still separate us from God and make us guilty before Him, and whether we did it on purpose doesn't negate its presence in our lives. The fact still remains that if we desire God's presence among us we have to acknowledge our sins, turn from them, and turn to Christ (our eternal sacrifice) to receive God's forgiveness. While God's forgivness is free, we must always remember that it was not cheap. We should strive to walk in the grace of God provided for us remembering that "without the shedding of blood there is no forgivness of sin" (Hebrews 9:22) and that "God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood...to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus." (Romans 3:25-26).
Prayer:
Father, thank you for providing for each of us the opportunity to be cleared of the wrongs we have done against you and against others at the expense of your Son's own life. May we never take our sins or Your sacrifice lightly as we strive to live in relationship with You. Cleanse our hearts and minds from anything that would separate us from You today and keep us in Your grace. Amen.
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