The High Priest
from Lenae, GEMS Training ManagerAnd by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Hebrews 10:10-12
Be holy. That’s the theme of Leviticus. “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). We don’t have to look further than our bathroom mirror or our last thought to see the impossibility of that one. Our sin separates us from God. Our rebellion blocks and keeps the Holy One at a distance. That's true for all, including the Israelites who received God’s original command. So our Redeemer made a way.
God provided sacrifices as the means to approach Him, and He chose priests to perform those sacrifices. The details within Exodus and Leviticus were their guide. And of all the offerings and sacrifices, it was the annual Day of Atonement that was most significant.
Once a year the high priest was allowed access to God. Through meticulous care to God’s instructions he entered the Holy of Holies. To do so he first needed to make atonement (God making us right with Him through a sacrifice) for himself and his household, and then he made atonement for the people. It had to be repeated year after year, reiterating the insufficiency of the atonement. And year after year, the laws, feasts, and sacrifices were a great picture gallery preparing the world for Christ!
Jesus is our perfect atoning sacrifice. His death is our Day of Atonement! And because of our Great High Priest’s sacrifice the curtain of the temple that prevented access to God was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51)! Now we can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16)!
What’s your story? In Leviticus Jesus is The High Priest who makes us holy and gives us access to God (Leviticus 16:34). How does His Story help you tell your story?
Get in the Book: Read the book of Leviticus. If time, read the book of Hebrews, too. It is considered the New Testament commentary on Leviticus.
As the priest entered the holiest with the blood, so Christ entered heaven itself with His own blood for us. His blood makes the throne of God a mercy seat which otherwise must have been a throne of judgment. — Keith L. Brooks
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