Title: Christ our
Sin-Offering
Text: Ex 29: 10-14
Date: March 22, 2020
Place: SGBC, NJ
In order for a filthy
sinner to be received of God we must be “hallowed”—sanctified, made pure, made
holy. Included in that work is making us
righteous before the law. Theologians go
to great lengths to tells us there is a distinction between sanctification and
justification, between being made holy and being made righteous. But in order for us to be made holy and pure
within, we have to be made righteous before the law. “Grace reigns through righteousness unto
eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 5: 21)
Therefore, since
sanctification and righteousness are so vitally connected, as we look at how
God’s people are hallowed, God gives a picture of Christ Jesus, the Lamb of
God, who justified his people from all things from which you could not be
justified by the law of Moses.
Exodus 29: 1: And this is the thing that thou
shalt do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto me in the priest’s office:
Take one young bullock,…10: And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before
the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron and his sons shall put their
hands upon the head of the bullock. 11: And thou shalt kill the bullock before
the LORD, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 12: And
thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns
of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the
altar. 13: And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the
caul that is above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is
upon them, and burn them upon the altar. 14: But the flesh of the
bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the
camp: it is a sin offering.
Subject: Christ
our Sin-Offering
Proposition: Christ
Jesus is the sin-offering for his people by whom we are made holy and
righteous.
THE SPOTLESS LAMB
Exodus 29: 1:…Take one young bullock, and two rams without
blemish,…
The Lord Jesus Christ
is the spotless lamb of God.
John 1: 29…John seeth
Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world.
In order for Christ to be the sin-offering, he had to be
a Man without sin. No sinner can take
the place of another because we have sin of our own. I cannot bear the sin of others when I have a
sin-debt all my own.
The law made men
priests who had infirmities. Therefore,
they had to first make an offering for their own sin before they could make an
offering for the sins of Israel. But our
Lord Jesus was born of a virgin that he might be a Man without sin.
Hebrews 7: 26: For
such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; 27: Who needeth not
daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins,
and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. 28:
For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the
oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for
evermore.
TRANSFERENCE OF SIN
Exodus 29: 10: And thou shalt cause a bullock to be
brought before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron and his sons shall
put their hands upon the head of the bullock. 11: And thou shalt kill the
bullock before the LORD, by the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation. 12: And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it
upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the
bottom of the altar. 13: And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards,
and the caul that is above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is
upon them, and burn them upon the altar.
By laying their hands on the head of the bullock—in type,
in picture, in ceremony—showed two things.
They were one with the bullock and the bullock was made to bear their
sin.
One, all God’s elect are one with Christ—all God’s elect
were in Christ like all mankind was in Adam.
Hebrews 2: 11: For
both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for
which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,
This is why Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ.” We
were so one in Christ that Paul said, Ro 6:11: reckon ye also yourselves to be dead
indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Two, God made Christ the spotless Lamb to bear the sins
of his elect people.
Isaiah 53: 6: All we
like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the
LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
2 Corinthians 5:21: For
he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him.
Christ came to
manifest the righteousness of God—we see God’s righteousness typified
here. The bullock was not slain before
their sin was laid upon it. If it had
been slain before their sin was ceremonially transferred to the bullock that
would have declared God unjust.
The Lord Jesus had to
be without sin—he knew no sin; he came into this world holy and without sin. So our spotless Lord Jesus was not crucified until
our sins were laid on him. God is the
just Judge. He only condemns one on whom
sin is found but God never condemns one were sin is not found.
Proverbs 17: 15: He
that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are
abomination to the LORD.
Therefore, when their
sins were ceremonially laid on the bullock then bullock was killed. When the Lord laid on Christ the iniquity of
all his people then God was just to pour out the justice of the law upon Christ
instead of on his people.
How was Adam made
sin? Someone will say, “He broke God’s
commandment.” That was the cause but how
was he made sin. We know Christ never
broke a commandment of God. But what
made Adam see his nakedness and hide from God?—God removed his Spirit from Adam.
Our Substitute had the Spirit without measure before he
went to the Garden of Gethsemane and the cross.
After the cross the Spirit of Holiness was manifest by his resurrection and
by Christ entering the holiest of holies offering himself without spot to God
through the eternal Spirit. But in the
garden of Gethsemane we are told an angel strengthened him, not the Holy
Spirit. Why? Our Lord Jesus tread the winepress alone. In order to show us that that God did remove
his presence from our Substitute and take his Holy Spirit from him, Christ cried,
Psalm 51:11: Cast me
not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
That is what the
justice of God demands. The living deal
called hell is punishment for sin. Punishment
for sin is for God’s presence and power to be removed from us.
2 Thessalonians 1: 9: Who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory
of his power;” (2Th 1:9)
Psalm 22: 1: My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and
from the words of my roaring? 2: O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou
hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. [why] 3: But thou art
holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
When the Spirit of God’s presence and power were removed
from Adam, his nature was corrupted. But
Christ is superior to Adam. He is not
merely man but the GodMan. Christ’s
glory is that even when forsaken of God, Christ remained holy in heart. The Psalms reveal Christ never ceased to
faithfully trust the Father from his holy heart. We hear his pure heart of faith in Ps 22.
Psalm 22: 7: All they
that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8: He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver
him, seeing he delighted in him. 9: But thou art he that took me out of
the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.
10: I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s
belly. 11: Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is
none to help.
Why is this important?
It is because two things had to be accomplished on the cross in order
for the law to be fulfilled. One,
Christ’s people had to die the negative/passive side of the law by dying that
living death of hell so that justice is satisfied. Two, Christ’s people had to fulfill the
positive/active side of the law in perfect faith and perfect love from a holy
heart that the righteousness of the law be fulfilled. Both were accomplished in Christ for his
people on the cross. The perfection of our righteousness, of faith from a holy
heart is…
Revealtion 1:5…Jesus
Christ, who is the faithful witness. Rev
3:14: The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of
God.
Psalm 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell;
neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
The perfection of our
justification is Christ Jesus “that Just One”
Acts 22:14…The God of
our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that
Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.
Christ satisfied and
upheld God’s justice removing the sins of his people as far as the east is from
the west—by his blood poured out unto death for his people—"And thou
shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar
with thy finger [our strength of justification before the law is Christ our
Altar], and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar. [without
shedding of blood there is no remission of sins].”
Hebrews 1: 3: Who
being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,
and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Christ actively gave the law the perfect love from a holy
heart which is righteous obedience. That
is what we see by the inward parts burned upon the altar—"And thou
shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul that is above
the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and burn them
upon the altar.”
Isaiah 42: 21: The
LORD is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he [has] magnify the law, and
make it honourable.
Ephesians 5: 2: walk
in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering
and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
WITHOUT THE CAMP
Exodus 29: 14: But
the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire
without the camp: it is a sin offering.
We are told one significance of this in Hebrews 13.
Hebrews 13: 10: We
have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
11: For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary
by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. 12: Wherefore Jesus
also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without
the gate. 13: Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his
reproach. 14: For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. 15:
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that
is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Those priests offered
not themselves, but animals that could never take away sin. That is why their sacrifices had to be
repeated over and over. But Christ
offered himself—his whole human nature, soul and body, in union with his divine
nature. He did so freely and voluntarily
in place of his people. Christ our Lord satisfied
justice, fulfilled the law, took away sin, brought in complete righteousness
for each elect child for whom he died.
Hebrews 10: 11: And
every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12: But this man, after he had
offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down [work finished] on the right
hand of God; 13: From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. 14: For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are
sanctified.
Sinner believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is the
righteousness of God to everyone that believeth. You who believe on him, never cease believing
on Christ. Christ is our Perfection and
ye are complete in him
Amen!