Series: Leviticus
Title: Offering of the Mighty Bullock
Text: Leviticus 3: 3-9
Date: August 3, 2014
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Leviticus 3: 3: If his offering be a
burnt sacrifice of the herd,…
God is
holy. His holy nature is offended by transgression of his law. In his majestic holiness, God never regards
sin with indifference; it shall be punished in every sinner. God’s law must be
fulfilled. His justice must be satisfied. His wrath must be appeased. But by
God’s grace and love he provided the offering who accomplished this work for
God and his people.
Title: Offering
of the Mighty Bullock
Proposition:
The bullock in the ceremony of the burnt offering, like all other sacrifices
and offerings, was given by God to show a picture of Christ who accomplished
the work of satisfying God and his divine justice for his people.
Divisions:
As we go through verses 3-9, 1) First, we will behold Christ. 2) Next time, we
will behold the sinner coming to God through faith in Christ
I. FIRST, LET’S FOCUS OUR ATTENTION ON HOW
THIS OFFERING PICTURES CHRIST—Leviticus 3: 3: If his offering be a burnt
sacrifice of the herd,…Later he refers to
this animal as a “bullock.” Bullock is a generic name for all horned cattle
such as an ox or a bull.
The Bullock
The
bullock pictures Christ in many ways. It
was a most valuable offering, the very best one had to give. God requires the
very best. Christ is the only begotten Son of God.
The
bullock was the strongest of the offerings—God says of Christ, “I have laid
help on one that is mighty.” (Ps 89: 19) Christ is the Mighty God, the Mighty
Mediator, the Mighty Redeemer.
Hebrews 7:25: Wherefore he is able also to save them to
the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make
intercession for them.
Male without Blemish—Leviticus 1: 3:…let him
offer a male without blemish.
The
bullock typifies Christ because Christ is the Holy Man. The first representative, Adam,
was a male; found with blemish. He broke God’s law, plunging all those he
represented into sin and death. By Adam all died! The last Adam, Christ Jesus,
was that Holy GodMan, without blemish. Christ had to be holy and without sin, in
order to take the place of his sinful people before the bar of divine justice.
Voluntary Will—Leviticus 3: 3: he shall offer
it of his own voluntary will…
This
offering pictures Christ in that it had to be a voluntary, willing offering. God the Father willingly gave his
only begotten Son and Christ Jesus voluntarily offered himself.
John 10: 18: No man taketh [my life] from me, but I lay
it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power
to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
The Place—Leviticus 3: 3: at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD.
Even
the place of this offering typifies Christ.
The door of the tabernacle was the outer most part of the tabernacle. Since
the holiest of holies was the inner most part, typifying Christ’s work in
heaven in God’s presence, this outer part of the tabernacle represents this
earth, where Christ served the Father and offered himself.
It is where the brazen altar of
burnt-offerings stood, which sanctified the gift. Christ is the Altar--“We have
an altar.” (Heb 13: 10) Christ sacrificed his Humanity on the altar of his
eternal, holy Divinity. So his offering
to God is holy and eternal.
Christ
offered himself before the LORD. The
bullock is a type of Christ as he unreservedly served God on this earth, then
surrendered himself up to death, in love to his Father and his people, for the
glory of God.
Divine Transference—Leviticus 3: 4:
And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering;
Now, we
come to the picture of Christ presenting himself before the LORD his Father for
his cross work. After, the law found Christ to be spotless and perfect through
and through then Christ presented himself and God made a divine transference. This
is so important.
In
order for God to justly justify his people, God had to lay all the sins of all
his people on Christ and judge him in our room and stead. As Hebrews 10 says,
this ceremony was not the very image of the thing, it was only a ceremonial
type. But Christ is the very image which the ceremony foreshadowed (Heb 10:
1-2) God took all the sins of all his straying sheep, his elect and laid our
sins on Christ.
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.
Galatians 3:13: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that
hangeth on a tree:
Atonement for Us—Leviticus 3: 4:…and it shall
be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
The
purpose for this transference of our sin to Christ was so that Christ could
make atonement for the sins of his people. Christ was accepted of God for his
people—a fit substitute to stand in the room and stead of his people—to make
atonement for us.
The
word ‘atonement’ only occurs once in the New Testament but the picture we have
here of Christ’s substitution for the purpose of making atonement for his
people is spoken of throughout. For instance: Christ ‘bearing our sins in his
own body on the tree;’ ‘Christ our passover is sacrificed for us;’ ‘He was
delivered for our offences;’ ‘He was manifested to take away our sins.’ (1 Pet
2: 24; 1 Cor 5: 7; Rom 4: 25; 1 Jn 3: 5)
The
Hebrew word means “to cover and cancel” sins, “to make satisfaction for
offences.” Two things were included: the presenting of his blood to God and the
bearing away the sins of his people forever.
Due to
the transgression of our first head, Adam, Christ taking our sins and bearing
the justice we deserved is the only way God’s people could be reconciled to God
and God remain just, the only way our sins could be purged and justice be
carried out in full, the only way God’s people could be made “at-one” with God.
1 John 4:10 Herein
is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be
the propitiation for our sins.
The Demand of Divine Justice—Leviticus 1: 5:
And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD:
Once
the sins of those represented were transferred to the bullock then the justice
of God demanded the bullock be killed; once the sins of his people were laid on
Christ then justice demanded Christ be crucified. As we will see in a moment
Christ bore all the fire of divine wrath and judgment. He poured out his blood
on the cross as he bore that living death of hell.
A Solitary Work—Leviticus 1: 5:…and
the priests, Aaron’s sons,
We see
here, in type, Christ performed the whole work himself. This was the priests
work alone. We do not have to guess who the priests
represent.
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 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.
The
significance in the priests doing this work without the sinner’s help is that Christ
tread the winepress alone; Christ purged the sins of people all by himself; Christ
accomplished redemption for his people without the help of the sinner and Christ
gets the glory alone.
The Blood—Leviticus 1: 5:…shall bring the blood…
We do
not have to guess what the blood represents.
Leviticus 17:11: For the life of the flesh is in the
blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your
souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
The
wages of sin is death—so Christ paid his own blood—his own life. “Without
shedding of blood is no remission” of sins. (Heb 9: 22)
Two Sprinklings—Leviticus 1: 5: and
sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation.
“Round
about the altar” means there were two sprinklings of the blood, according to
Jewish tradition. This is where we see a significance foreshadowing of Christ
because Christ’s blood is sprinkled two places. I’ll give you one now and one
when we get to the next sermon.
First, there
was a sprinkling of blood in the holy place before God.
Hebrews 9: 12: Neither by the blood of goats and calves,
but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption for us.
By
presenting himself with his own blood in the holiest made without hands—the presence
of God in the heavens—Christ obtained eternal redemption for each of his blood
bought children.
Suffering of the Cross—Leviticus 1: 6: And
he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces.
Here we
see a shadow of what Christ suffered on the cross. Christ said, “This is my body which is broken for you.” (1 Cor 11:
24) As the body of this strong bullock was cut in pieces…
Isaiah 53: 8:…[Christ] was cut off out of the land of the
living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.”
Flesh and Spirit—Leviticus 1: 7: And the sons
of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order
upon the fire: 8: And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head,
and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is
upon the altar: 9: But
his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water:…
Here is
the beauty and wisdom of the cross typified. On the cross, in his own broken body,
Christ bore all the agonizing holy fire of God’s justice, the fire of God’s
wrath and the fire of that living hell, in the room and stead of his people.
“But his
inwards and his legs shall he wash in water.” The inwards and the legs symbolize
Christ’s inward heart obedience unto God. The inward parts were washed in
water. “Washing” is applied to God the Holy Spirit—“the washing of
regeneration.” and “water” represents
the word.
Here we
are reminded that while Christ bore our sins in his own body on the tree, while
the fire of divine justice burned against him, at the same time, inwardly, “through
the eternal Spirit, [Christ] offered himself without spot, to God.” (Heb 9: 14)
This is
the beauty and wisdom of the cross. Christ
bearing our sins and the fire of God’s indignation and justice outwardly in his
own body on the tree was, inwardly, perfect obedience unto the Father because it
was the Father’s will. While in his own
broken body, he satisfied the penalty of justice as he suffered the fire of
divine wrath for our sins, within his heart, he fulfilled the precept of
righteousness as he perfectly obeyed God his Father.
It is Finished—Leviticus 1: 9:…and the priest
shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made
by fire,…
What
did Christ accomplish by this work? In this shadow of good things to come, on
the altar, the fire consumed all the sacrifice.
But in the very image, on the cross, the Sacrifice consumed all the
fire.
When
Christ said, “I thirst” and said, “IT is finished!” Christ had consumed the
fire of divine wrath and justice against his people quenching it forever. Now there is nothing but mercy
reserved for thousands.
It is
because his offering went up to God “a
sweet savour unto the LORD.” God is pleased, the law honored, justice
satisfied, his people justified and God is glorified.
Christ
Jesus is the Mighty Bullock who offered himself for a sweet savour unto God. He
is the Righteousness of God, the Righteousness of his people, the Righteousness
of all who believe on him. Christ is only Way to God. Those who come to God through faith in Christ
are accepted in Christ as a sweet savour unto the LORD.
May God bless his word to our hearts.
Amen!