Different countries around the world have differing traditions about when to put up and take down Christmas decorations. In our house, there is always more help for putting the decorations up than taking them down. I think this is because when we take them down, everything needs a good clean, and that’s not much fun!
Today’s readings are about cleaning, the cleaning of our lives from the consequences of sin with Christ’s blood. Hebrews 9:22 says, “according to the law almost everything was purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
If, like me, you aren’t a fan of blood and love animals, then animal sacrifice can be gruesome and ugly. And it should be. Animal sacrifice is serious and costly. Sin leads to death.
God told Moses in Leviticus 17:11, “for the life of every living thing is in the blood. So I myself have assigned it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives, for the blood makes atonement by means of the life.”
Cleansing in the Day of Atonement
In Exodus, as the people wandered in the desert God dwelled at the very center of the camp in the tabernacle. Even though God’s presence was with the people, the Israelites could not approach His glory due to their sin. God is perfectly holy, pure, and without fault; however, His people are not.
To cleanse His people, God provided a day once a year called the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur. On this day, the people would gather and one person – the High Priest – would enter the area behind the big heavy curtain called the Most Holy Place. It housed God’s presence in the tabernacle and later, the temple.
Leviticus 16 highlights all of the requirements for the High Priest to complete the yearly atonement for himself and for the people of Israel. The High Priest made a cloud with incense, so as not to see God, and sprinkled blood around the temple. There were rules about what he must wear and the sacrifices he should provide for his sin before he could provide a sacrifice for all the people. This reminds us that God is pure and holy.
The priest had to pick two goats: one to offer as a sin offering and the other to be let go. This scapegoat had the sins of the people symbolically placed on it and released into the wilderness. This was a visual reminder of sin being removed from the whole community. The sins they knew about and the sins they were unaware of, all covered by God.
“For on this day atonement is to be made for you to cleanse you from all your sins; you must be clean before the Lord.”
– Leviticus 16:30
God isn’t just holy. He also loves His people.
While there were daily sacrifices, this annual sacrifice was lovingly provided by God so the whole community would know His forgiveness. God wanted His people to know they were forgiven and to live differently as a result – to be the people He called them to be. God has always desired a relationship with His people.
Jesus’ Complete Sacrifice
As great as the Day of Atonement was, it was limited. It had to happen yearly, as the people’s sins continued day after day and year after year. The sacrifices allowed the people to draw near to God, but this drawing near was incomplete. Only one person, once a year, could enter into God’s presence, yet he also had to provide a sacrifice in order to approach God. A gap remained.
As Hebrew 10:1 states, “the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come” and is unable “to perfect those who come to worship.” The sacrifices were pointing forward to something much greater, our perfect sacrifice.
Jesus is both our great High Priest and our perfect sacrifice. Jesus didn’t have to offer sacrifices for His own sin, because He was without sin, but chose to offer Himself on our behalf. We are made clean through Jesus’ blood. What amazing mercy and love!
Through Jesus’ sacrifice and our confession of faith in Him, we are then indwelled with the Holy Spirit. We no longer have to approach God through a sacrifice or priest. Rather, we can enter God’s presence anytime, anywhere.
It is God’s desire that, through Jesus, we would be restored into a right relationship with Him. Take a moment to reflect on Jesus sitting down (Hebrews 1:3) – His work is finished. Our debt is fully paid. We can rest in this truth.
True and Lasting Forgiveness
God’s forgiveness transforms us, and we are free to live differently. While we still need to regularly come to Jesus to ask for forgiveness, as we aren’t perfect yet – we can be sure of His forgiveness. Through Jesus’ perfect sacrifice, we can live in a relationship with our loving God now, which is only a shadow of how we’ll live with Him in eternity! We can also show God’s love and forgiveness to others.
If there is some sin in your life, don’t allow it to cause a gap in your relationship with God. Ask for His forgiveness and receive it. Trust that Christ’s perfect sacrifice is enough to cover your sin. Allow yourself to be cleansed.
“Let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy.”
– Hebrews 10:22-23
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