Faith in God seems to come easy when reading the Gospel accounts of Jesus healing the sick and proclaiming the good news. It is these New Testament stories that make us think that God could work in our broken lives.
But when we read the Old Testament we often find our faith on shaky ground. As we read how God rained down judgment on sinners we find ourselves putting more distance between us and Him.
Fear sets in that turns into doubt. And this doubt if gone unchecked can produce unnecessary separation from the God that wants to be near to us.
So we need to know that grace, forgiveness, and hope go all the way back to the beginning of scripture. Read on below to find three lessons from Leviticus that can revolutionize your faith in God.
Come as you are has always been gods most attractive policy
Did you catch that? In just the third book of the Bible God shows His heart for people. Speaking about sacrifice for sin and uncleanliness God uses the phrase ” what he can afford”.
This is important because it shows that God did not want forgiveness to be out of reach of anybody. No matter what their sins were. This also shows us that God put great emphasis on the heart behind the sacrifice.
God knew that if someone couldn’t afford the price for the sacrificial animal that would put forgiveness out of reach for them. So He uses the clause whatever a person can afford.
So we can take heart because we can come as we are to God. Put our faith in Jesus and what He has done on the cross for a sure salvation.
Forgiveness is not impossible
Sin has a way of making forgiveness seem impossible. It can seem as though the stain of our sin has seeped through so deep in our soul that no amount of repentance can cleanse us.
But God..........
Even in the book of Leviticus. A book about how we are to be holy and set apart for God. The Lord provides a way for forgiveness. And most importantly a confirmation. In the last part of verse 7, God confirmed to His people if they did what they were supposed to do then they would be forgiven.
So let this be a message of hope for us. If we confess our sins to God. If we trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ. If we commit to follow Him. Then we can know we are forgiven.
When we believe we are forgiven then we can have a faithful future.
Feed the right fire
This fire on the altar was to be kept burning at all times. In order to do this a continual provision of wood had to be brought to feed the fire.
This fire would consume the sacrifices offered. So what can we gain from this? It should tell us that we have to work on our relationship with God.
- We can't accidentally call down fire from heaven like Elijah.
- We can't accidentally slay a giant like David did.
- We can't accidentally see God do great works.
We have to invest our time, treasure, and heart into a relationship with God. The more we give God to work with the more we can see Him do.
We can do this by praying more, reading His Word more, and giving more. If we do this I think we will all be pleasantly surprised about how bright the fire of our hearts is burning brightly for Him.
This is a great sermon