BIBLICAL SUMMARY SERIES-LEVITICUS

Craig’s Corner-September 22, 2018

Continuing our newsletter series through the Scriptures, we now come to the book of Leviticus. I know at first glance it seems that this book holds confusion for the Christian. Why do we read of all these sacrifices? These different foods? These odd and obscure laws? Well, it all boils down to one word that is just as important today as it was back in Israel’s day: holiness.

Holiness means that God has set apart someone or something to be used for his purposes. When He freed Israel from slavery in Egypt, it was for the purpose of showing them His love and they in turn was to show that love to all of the world by living in ways that mirrored God’s. As part of His grace, God not only granted Israel freedom but also gave them His laws. The purpose was so that they could learn these laws so completely that their behavior would display the power of God and would therefore attract peoples and nations to learn about Him and follow Him too!

Generally, I would categorize Leviticus into three sections: Sacrificial system, Moral Laws, and Celebration of Justice. Each of these can teach us about holiness. Yet, before we go further let me make one important point: Leviticus is not simply about ceremonial holiness, or “getting the ritual right”, rather it is about moral holiness and godly conduct.

Sacrificial System-God prescribes different animals to be sacrificed for different sins the people commit. While this may appear strange and bizarre to us, it is meant to show us some truths about God. First, God takes sin seriously. In an age where we are tempted to downplay our wrongs and the wrongs of others, God is perfectly just and holy, judging sin so seriously that something has to be punished. However and secondly, we also see God’s love. For rather than making every Israelite die for the sins they commit, God provides them a system where an animal is given so that they are spared. Sin still costs something, but God in His mercy provides them the animals needed so they may be spared and forgiven. This points us to the ultimate sacrifice God Himself provided (and in fact became): Jesus Christ, the sacrificial lamb of God that takes away all of our sins.

Moral Laws-God is the creator, and back in Genesis, He not only made the heavens and the earth but ordered them out of chaos. God sets out His order of holiness in Leviticus with the purpose of showing the world that there is another way of living. That our culture does not have “the final say” about what is good and evil and how we should be living our lives. These laws give us a glimpse into the heart and mind of the Lawgiver, showing us what are priorities in God’s sight. It also shows that the Bible is not simply a “rulebook” for how we ought to behave in church, but that God is concerned with every aspect of life. His desire is that each and every part of our lives would wholly reflect Him, so that we would be His holy people, attracting others by His grace and to His grace.

Celebration of Justice-Finally, Leviticus does not only deal with people as individuals, but also as a collective holy nation. It explains the festivals that the Israelites were to celebrate as a community to remember and enjoy the blessings they have received from God. They were to have joy in doing this! Additionally, Leviticus prescribes how economic fairness was to be achieved and preserved. Every so often, debts were to be cancelled, land was to be returned, and slaves were to go free. This was to teach the Israelites (and by extension us as Christians) that all good gifts come from God and we must use them responsibly, and that means using them for our neighbor’s good so that we can indeed, “Love our neighbor as ourselves” (Matt. 22:36-39, but Jesus quoted this from Lev. 19:18).

All ceremonies and offerings of Leviticus and the entire Old Testament are shadows and pictures of Jesus. He is in Leviticus but in symbol and signs so look carefully to see His image.

One final word must be said about holiness. Many believers think that to be holy, one must “shut oneself off completely from the world” and so holy people are often pictured as stuffy and uptight like somone dipped in vinegar and pickled. Yet Christ calls His followers to the opposite: we can and must live our lives of faith in the world, because Christ is our source of holiness and He dwells in our hearts wherever we go. I heard it once put like this, “Holiness simply says, ‘do what you see God doing.” Holiness means “wholeness”.

 

Your Brother,

 

Craig

BIBLICAL SUMMARY SERIES-EXODUS

Craig’s Corner-September 13, 2018

Most of us are familiar with the story. The sons of Jacob, God’s people the Israelites, became residents in the land of Egypt, and their families grew. However, by the time 400 years had passed the Egyptians had made the Israelites slavery under cruel masters. The story was not to end this way, for there was hope on the horizon. God sent Moses, a former prince-turned-outlaw back to Egypt to declare His word to Pharaoh, “Let My people go that they may worship me”. Sadly, Pharaoh did not know God and therefore did not heed His command. God, in turn, sent ten plagues, which were not random, but designed to show Israel and Egypt that the gods they feared were nothing and the one true God reigns supreme. After their release from bondage, the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, received the Law and the instructions for worship, attempted to enter the Promised Land once, were turned away, wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, and then a new generation of God’s people tried once more to enter the Promised Land under Joshua and were successful. The three facets of Exodus I wish to focus on in this article are: Grace, Law, & Worship.

Grace-It is easy to think that the Old Testament was all about “the Law” and that the New Testament focuses on grace, but this is not true. In fact the same pattern we know in the New Testament has its origins in the Old. For when it comes to the Exodus, God acted first. He always takes the initiative to save people because His heart is one full of love. It is He who hears the groans and cries of His people in bondage, and sets the plan in motion for them to experience freedom and mercy. Like the Israelites of Old, God hears our cries under the bondage of what enslaves us today, whether it be worry, work, or anything else. He set His plan in motion for us to experience freedom and mercy by giving us His Son Jesus who died on the cross so that through faith, we would have forgiveness of sins and new life. Grace is the life-pattern for the Christian.

Law-It is only after God showed us grace in freeing His people from Egypt that He then gives them the moral code in which to live their lives. This law (the Ten Commandments and the like) were a reflection of a God who is perfectly just and desired His people to reflect His character. The Law was meant to ultimately point God’s people back to Him as well as introduce to the world a new society so that all people throughout the world would come to see that not only does God exist, but He is perfectly good. Today we Jesus Christ is the perfect reflection of God, and that He is our law. Today, Christians obey the “Law of Christ” which does not contradict, but rather fulfill, the Old Testament law. We strive to live the way Jesus lived.

Worship-Part of the law in the Old Testament included a portion that God gave to His people which outlined how they were to conduct worship after they had come out of Egypt. Because they had been in slavery for so long, they needed to know that there was a God who cared for them and wanted them to worship Him with their entire hearts, souls, and minds. This God did not want empty ritual but heartfelt worship that led to a changed life of goodness. Today, when we as believers experience God’s grace, we too are compelled to give thanksgiving to Him for what He has done for us, but releasing from the chains of sin and death! God does not desire empty ritual today either. He is calling all who would follow Him to offer up their entire selves in worship, which would lead to a life of goodness. Remember Exodus is not just ancient history, it is our story too!

Your Brother, Craig

Biblical Summary Series-Genesis

Craig’s Corner-September 7, 2018

Throughout these newsletter articles, I thought we could take a journey through the Scriptures. Genesis means “beginnings” and seeing as we are starting a new school year, I figured we could reflect on the beginning of Genesis, of God’s story, and ours. Genesis not only provides us with a narrative of how it all began, but a glimpse into how it will all conclude, and provides us some foundational truths along the way. These truths give us a way of viewing and understanding the world, a worldview. Everything we see or experience in our lives, whether they be local or international, natural or historical, fall into one of these three categories.

Creation (Gen. 1, 2)-”In the beginning, God created…” These words were spoken when the Apollo 8 shuttle orbited the moon on Dec. 24th, 1968. The truth is not only that God has created all, but that He did so peacefully, and designed humanity to live in peace and harmony with Him, one another, and the created world. It is written that God made man, “in His image” and therefore gave Adam and Eve a chance to live in loving relationship with Him, their loving Father.

Sin (Gen 3)-Sadly, a loving relationship requires both sides to freely choose to keep it. God always keeps His promise, but sadly humanity chose otherwise. Sin is a failure to trust God for everything in our lives. In Eden, the first two human saw what God had offered and said what we all do when we sin, “God, your best isn’t good enough for me so I will do better”. When sin entered the world, it was accompanied by chaos, disorder, and pain, and this touched every relationship we humans have: with each other, creation, and God. Praise the Lord we serve a determined God who loves us too much to lose us, because next came redemption.

Redemption (Gen 3, 4-Rev)-Almost immediately afterwards, God begins to reveal His plan to redeem humanity. He began by giving a prophecy to the crafty serpent (Gen. 3:15), then later preaches salvation to Cain (Gen. 4:6-7). He saved humanity using Noah and His family (Gen. 6-9). He blesses Abraham and his descendents, including Isaac and Jacob, and calls them to keep a loving relationship with Him. Jacob then has twelve sons, including Joseph who was similar to Jesus Christ in so many ways, including the forgiveness of his brothers who mistreated him so cruelly by stating, “Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good.” (Gen. 50:20). One could see parallels in the crucifixion and resurrection. Our sin is what put Jesus on the cross, and so what was once meant for evil, God redeemed and made it for good, and like Joseph, Jesus willingly and graciously forgives us and makes us his brothers and sisters. All throughout the Old and New Testaments, God drawing people to Himself to build a new humanity and set about his purpose to call a people who would be holy, reflecting His goodness and love. We are the inheritors and recipients of that grace. So, the next time you read Genesis, see yourself in the story as part of God’s plan that began with Adam, Noah, Abraham, and so much more and continues using you to bring about His purposes in the world.

Your Brother,

Craig