Do You See It?

Leviticus 1:9 - ... And the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.

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The Old Testament is so full of rich accounts...pictures of New Testament truths.

Take the above partial verse. That one sentence is repeated similarly several times times in several of the first chapters of Leviticus. Our pastor talked about it in a recent sermon. 

I've written before about Old Testament sacrifices. About how every person needed to offer certain sacrifices daily, weekly, monthly, yearly. But none of these sacrifices could ever take their sin fully away. It's why they needed to be repeated. Countless numbers of animals and birds were sacrificed. All were rituals to sacrifice for their sin. But...nothing ever took their sin completely away. It was only a ritual.

Some churches still require rituals. Rituals which imitate the ongoing rituals of the Old Testament. But...Jesus came and became the once for all sacrifice. Through His death, His blood, He abolished the sin of anyone...who comes into relationship with Him. Religion or denomination can't absolve our sins. Only Jesus. It's a mystery how this is, but it comes with complete faith in His atoning sacrifice.

When we come into the true knowledge of God and receive Him and acknowledge this great sacrifice He made to save our sorry souls, these Old Testament actions and words make a lot more sense. They definitely were written for this purpose. Our God is so amazing.

When we come into relationship with God, through Jesus Christ, we sacrifice ourselves also. We give up our old lives for a new one in and through Him. The sacrifices we make to learn of His ways and believe in His truths become a sweet aroma of sacrifice unto the Lord. This new life begins to revolve around Him. Do you see it? A sweet aroma because we have given ourselves to Him. A sweet aroma... 

The sacrifice Jesus made for us was the ultimate sacrifice. He died for our sins that all we would have to do is believe that He is.  But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews‬ ‭11:6‬)

He begins to purge us of our old ways. Sometimes it's fast, often it's a life-long process. But God is always doing a work in us. Many times this purging comes in the form of trials. These trials help us in patience, more wisdom IF we seek God in the midst of these trials. Purging is like a fire in our lives. If we are faithful to trust the Lord and continue to praise and worship Him, this is also a sweet aroma. 

I don't know if any of this makes sense. If you are a believer reading this, it will. Praise God. If it doesn't, seek God and ask for His wisdom to understand it. He is always willing to show the way to His wisdom and knowledge and the way of truth. He loves all mankind, even the worst of sinners. But there comes a time when He must make a judgment decision. If one does not come to the saving knowledge and personal sacrifice unto the Lord, He cannot and will not allow entrance into heaven. It's a hard word, but it is the truth.

Romans‬ ‭10:9-11‬ ‭- ...that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

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