Oct. 15, 2000

Leviticus 16

Why a Sacrifice for Sin?

1. Scripture Passage

A. Let’s read Leviticus 16:15-22 - "He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull’s blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. ¹⁶ In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been. He is to do the same for the Tent of Meeting, which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness. ¹⁷ No one is to be in the Tent of Meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he comes out, having made atonement for himself, his household and the whole community of Israel. ¹⁸ "Then he shall come out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He shall take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar. ¹⁹ He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and to consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites. ²⁰ "When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. ²¹ He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. ²² The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert."

B. Last week we talked a little bit about God using what we would consider to be unusual methods to accomplish miraculous things for the Israelites. What we are looking at today is in many ways even more unusual.

C.

2. Two Goats

1. We see in verse 15 that one of the goats is slaughtered and the blood used for a sin offering to make atonement for the tabernacle for the "uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites." Many of us have heard about animal sacrifices long enough that they don’t seem all that unusual to us. But we need for a moment to focus on the word "atonement."
2. Atonement appears twenty times in chapter sixteen in the NIV, out of 105 times in the entire Bible. We could on that basis state that atonement is the focus of the chapter. The New Bible Dictionary says The word ‘atonement’ is one of the few theological terms which derive basically from Anglo-Saxon. It means ‘a making at one’, and points to a process of bringing those who are estranged into a unity. The American Heritage Dictionary says that atonement is reparation made for an injury or wrong. What was the wrong that God said needed to be made right? What was the one thing that caused man to be estranged from God? Sin.
3. Smith’s Bible Dictionary has a vivid explanation of the significance of the two goats: He then presented the two goats before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle and cast lots upon them. On one lot "For Jehovah" was inscribed, and on the other "For Azazel." A phrase of unusual difficulty. The best modern scholars agree that it designates the personal being to whom the goat was sent, probably Satan. This goat was called the scapegoat. Why would one goat have to be slaughtered and its blood spattered in the tabernacle, and then all the sins of the people have to be confessed over the scapegoat, or goat of removal, and it be sent to Satan?
4. John Oswalt, in his book Called to Be Holy, says this: There is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood. That takes care of one goat. What about the other? I believe what Oswalt says next applies here: Unless God makes continual provision for our sin, known and unknown, we will be destroyed by his perfect holiness. Fellowship with God rests forever upon God’s provision of atonement. Oswalt states something further that bears reading: What must God’s people be if they were to live in covenant with him and enjoy his intimate presence? They must be holy! Speaking of Leviticus chapters 18 through 27, Oswalt adds: Over and over in this section we read those words which Peter quoted, "You must be holy, because I am holy"…It is precisely in the context of human behavior that God calls for his people to demonstrate their holiness. Furthermore, these are commands. If holiness was an automatic result of being brought into an exclusive relation with a holy God, then as soon as the covenant was sealed in Exodus 24, the nation would be holy and no more commands would be needed. But that is clearly not the case. The people are in an exclusive relationship with God, and yet they are commanded to be holy.

1. The Problem with Us

1. One of the problems we face today, as I alluded to last week, is that we are accustomed to everything being fast and easy. We have drive-though windows at restaurants and banks, one-hour photo processing, microwave dinners, instant financing for our cars and homes. The Internet brings the world to our computers almost instantly. But what do we do? We get angry and impatient with long lines at the drive-through windows, if our pictures come back in an hour and five minutes, if our food takes more than a minute to heat in the microwave, and if the images take more than two seconds to download to our computers.
2. It’s easy to get trapped into living for conveniences, especially as Christians. If anyone has any problems at all, we tend to think that it is as a result of their disobedience to God, rather than considering that maybe, just maybe, it could be one of the byproducts of living in a fallen world. But shouldn’t our Christianity be lived in every area of our lives, so that our attitudes and actions are markedly different from those around us? Oswalt thinks so: the holiness which God expects of his people is behavioral, and it is a behavior which cuts right across the grain of life, touching every aspect of it, whether personal, social, moral, civil, or religious. When God calls his people to be holy as he is holy, he is not merely asking them to live lives exclusively dedicated to him. Neither is he asking them to be especially religious. Rather, he is calling them to share his unique character, one that will alter how they approach every aspect of their lives. Here then is the goal of salvation: that God’s people should be holy, that they should share his character.
3. I know that is a long quote, but it gives us a tremendous truth: that God saved us so that His character can become our own! How does this happen?

• 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. God does the character change by sanctifying us, and it keeps us blameless before Him.
• In John 17:17, Jesus says, Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. Jesus prays that His Father would by His word make us holy.
• Luke 11:13: "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" We have to ask God to sanctify us.
• Romans 15:15: I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me ¹⁶ to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit sanctifies us.
• 1 Thessalonians 1:4-6 says: For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, ⁵ because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. ⁶ You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. Power to imitate Jesus in how He lived His life no matter what the circumstances comes when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. When we are made holy.
• 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13: May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. ¹³ May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. Being sanctified requires a change of heart, a strengthening, a cleansing by God. When this happens, our love for others will overflow!
• 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8: It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; ⁴ that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, ⁵ not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; ⁶ and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. ⁷ For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. ⁸ Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. It is the will of God for us to be sanctified. Why? So that we can live a holy life in fellowship with Him.
• 2 Timothy 2:20-21: In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. ²¹ If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. God does the sanctifying, but we have a part in it. We have to go along with His will by getting rid of unholy things in our lives.
• Hebrews 12:14: Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. This one speaks for itself.
• 1 Peter 1:14-16: As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." Being made holy requires a radical shift from the way we used to live.

1. Implications of Being Sanctified

1. What would life be like if you woke up tomorrow morning and were entirely sanctified: filled with the Holy Spirit and cleansed of sin?

1. You would be in the closest fellowship with God that you’ve ever been in.
2. You’re desires would be for what God wanted in every situation.
3. A new choice would be available to you – you would be free to choose not to sin.
4. You’re life would be lived under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit.
5. You would finally treat your family and friends like you’ve always wanted to.
6. You would be able to love those people you like the least.
7. Most importantly, you would be free to follow and serve and love God wholeheartedly.

1. Do all those things I just listed sound too good to be true? Well, they are not. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says that it is God’s will that we be sanctified. There are those who would say that what I’ve been preaching today is a bunch of hogwash, that we cannot in this life be totally sanctified and freed from the power of sin. Would Paul have written the letter to the Thessalonian Christians the way he did if that were not possible? Would the apostle John, in 1 John 2:1 have written My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin if it were not possible to not sin?
2. I suppose what it all boils down to is how much we want to believe the Word of God. Did you know that thirteen percent of born again Christians admit that they do not agree that "the Bible is totally accurate in all of its teachings"? Did you know that, among Bible readers in our country, the average amount of time during an entire week spent reading the Bible is 52 minutes? Many of us don’t even know what is in the Bible, and I believe that the percentage of those who call themselves born again Christians who don’t believe the Bible is totally accurate in all of its teachings is much higher that people would admit. Why do I believe that? Look at how people live their lives. If we truly believed the truth of God’s Word, our lives would be a lot different than they are now. Our values would be a lot different than they are now. Our impact on our culture would be a lot different than it is now.
3. So again, the issue becomes how much we are willing to believe God and His Word. Are we willing to believe that God wants to sanctify us through and through? Are we willing to believe that God wants to rip the sin out of our hearts and empower us to live a holy life? Part of the question should also be, do we want to live a holy life, or do we love sin too much?

1. Conclusion

1. Once again we are faced with a choice – the choice to believe God and His Word and act on that belief, or to go on our way like we were never here. That is the choice each one of us has to make right now.
2. Someone may be saying, "I don’t have to make a choice right now!" "I don’t need this – my life is fine just the way it is!" "Why should I change?" Or more importantly, "Why should I change my life to suit anyone but myself?" Or "Who is God to tell me how to live my life?" That last attitude is one that is prevalent in our culture, and we as Christians pick it up too. By not doing anything, we are making a choice.
3. We’ve seen that sacrifice for sin is necessary for us to be in close relationship with God, which is what we were created for. Jesus made the sacrifice for our sins so that we can live eternally. Shouldn’t the desire of our heart be to do whatever it takes to be close to Him and to follow Him wholeheartedly?
4. We’re going to take a few moments to listen quietly to what the Holy Spirit is saying to each one of us.
5. With every head bowed and every eye closed, what is your reaction to the Holy Spirit’s leading going to be? What are you going to do about what you’ve heard and learned? If you want God to sanctify you through and through by the power of the Holy Spirit, now is the time to take action. Come forward and kneel and pray. Or if you’ve been cleansed in the past and have fallen into sin and want to be filled again and get back into right relationship with God, now is the time to take action and come forward and pray. Or if you don’t know Jesus and want to, come forward and pray. A physical act puts the action into commitment. Take a stand for Jesus today.
6. Let’s pray.