Series: Route 66“Leviticus”

Leviticus 17:11; 20:7-8BL: God loves to be approached, but we must do so on His terms.

Intro…Video IntroI don’t know what you think of when you see or hear the word “Leviticus.” Maybe youthink of a pair of Levi’s jeans or maybe it draws your attention to a set of mind-numbinglist of obscure and legalistic rules. Leviticus is not a modern-day reader’s first choicewhen it comes to a Bible-reading plan. We are put off by the book’s lists of lawsregarding diet, sacrifice and social behavior…(ON SCREEN)Leviticus 19:27

Leviticus 11:20-23 (ON SCREEN)

Leviticus 20:9-10 (ON SCREEN)

Transition…What people don’t know, including Christ-followers, about Leviticus is that it ismentioned over 100x in the NT, Jesus reiterated the teaching of Leviticus…Hequoted 19:18, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” While Leviticus isoften among the last books of the Bible to be studied by Christians, it was the firstbook to be studied by a Jewish child. WHY?Because God desired to fellowship with His people once He delivered them from Egypt,He graciously established a plan for how His sinful people could approach His perfectHoliness…(ON SCREEN)BOTTOM LINE:God loves to be approached, but we must do so on His terms. In Genesis, we discovered how God led his people to Egypt…In Exodus, we saw

last week how God led His people out of Egypt. But Leviticus reveals how God gets Egypt out of His people. Exodus shows the way

out from slavery, but Leviticus shows us the way into the sanctuary of a Holy God.Why is Leviticus so important?

It establishes a compass for God’s newly redeemed people, showing them how toWORSHIP and WALK with Him as He leads them to the Promised Land. The book ofLeviticus communicates that receiving God’s redemption should be followed by responseof Holy Worship and a Holy Walk!Since all Scripture was given by inspiration of God, then all Scripture is profitablefor God’s people to use in developing Godly lives.TURN to BODY:Let me share with you the 2-main passages of Leviticus:(ON SCREEN)

The first establishes a HOLY WORSHIP of God and the second establishes aHOLY WALK with God.(ON SCREEN)1. Leviticus establishes a Holy Worship of God (17:11)Intro…Worship is one of the most wonderful privileges God has given to humanity, but there isa condition. It must be on God's terms. Worship, simply defined, is an expression ofone's ultimate love for God. Another dynamic of worship is meeting with God. Buthumanity, including the children of Israel and all of us, has a big problem…Our SIN Nature.

(ON SCREEN)1) Sin alienates worship.Sin has separated us from God…clearly taught in Scripture. Worshipping God should be our desire, but sin in one's life can be a hindrance. Many evangelicals do not understand the purpose of worship. In fact, many who

attend worship services will leave without the sense that they have met God. One reason may be that the worshipper is approaching God on their own terms and

they are unaware that sin alienates worship.God loves our worship Covenant but we must do so on His terms.God deserved all the praise and glory for redeeming His people from Egypt…He ledthem from slavery to Mount Sinai…He instructed them to build a place for His presence(tabernacle)…God desired intimacy with his people…He wanted to provide a means forHis people to worship Him but only on His terms…and the means for the people toworship the One True God was through SACRIFICE…(ON SCREEN)2) Sacrifice advocates worship.The entire section of chapters 1-17 of Leviticus teaches that God must beapproached by the sacrificial system…Leviticus reveals that God’s people are sinfuland therefore they should offer sacrifices…Sacrifice was needed because of Sin. The first 11 chapters provide instruction for offering sacrifices in the tabernacle. God commands the sinful to bring their offering into the tabernacle…they would tell

the priest why they were making a sacrifice…they would present the sacrifice… It would be the finest animal that they owned, animals “without defect.” The

sacrifices were to be valuable and costly to the one giving them.

The sacrifices taught the people that sin brings death, and that only shed blood bringsforgiveness.

Leviticus 17:11 (NIV)“For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonementfor yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.”Amplify…Once the sacrifice was brought into the courtyard, the people making the sacrificewould lay their hands on the head of the animal. By doing this, they publiclyidentified themselves with the offering itself, as if to say, “What happens to thisanimal should happen to me because of my sins.”Leviticus 1:4“Lay your hand on the animal's head, and the LORD will accept its death in your place to purifyyou, making you right with him.” The priests would then slaughter the animal then take the blood of the sacrifice and

sprinkle it on the altar for the sins of the one giving the sacrifice… What a clear picture of substitution…the blood of the innocent sacrificial animal

becomes the substitute for the life of the guilty offerer… This took place for centuries in the tabernacle and later in the Temple…Perhaps this

whole process shocks you… But Leviticus and every other book of the Bible clearly teaches that we deserve death

for our sins…Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death…”Apply…

Our righteousness is as filthy rags…our works are wretched…we can’t approach God onour terms. Religious rituals will not suffice…Our worship is alienated because of ourSIN…Covenant, we need an ADVOCATE! We need a sacrificial substitute…to findthat substitute, we turn to the book that could be called the NT commentary on Leviticus-the letter to the Hebrews.Hebrews 9:11-14; 22, 28“But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and moreperfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood ofgoats and calves, but with His own BLOOD He entered the Most Holy Place once for all,having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes ofa heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much moreshall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot toGod, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God…Without theshedding of blood, there is no remission of sins…so Christ was offered once to bear thesins of many…”Amplify…Leviticus was just a foreshadowing of a GREATER sacrifice that would be born of avirgin, live 33 years, give his life in our place, shed his blood so we might obtain eternallife. The many sacrifices in Leviticus ultimately points to a “once for all” sacrifice ofJESUS!Hebrews 10:10“…we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once forall.”

Many years after Moses wrote Leviticus, Jesus came to offer Himself as the ultimatesacrifice, holy and perfect, once for all, fulfilling the Law and rendering futureanimal sacrifices unnecessary and void… The bad news is that our holy worship of God is alienated by our sin but the Good

News is we have an advocate who died in our place enabling us to APPROACH ourheavenly Father on His terms.

"It is finished" means you are free from carrying the IMPOSSIBLE burden of having towork your way into God's acceptance .Transition…Leviticus establishes a Holy Worship of God.(ON SCREEN)2. Leviticus establishes a Holy Walk with God (20:7-8)Intro…Read 20:7-8God is concerned about our daily WALK with Him but we must do so on His terms.God loved His people but he required them to be holy because He is holy. It has beensaid that it took God only one night to get Israel out of Egypt, but it took 40 years to getEgypt out of Israel. Israel had been saved but now it was time for them to be sanctified.Chapters 18-27 are dedicated to sanctification and a handbook for a Holy Walk with God.Let me share with you 2-thoughts regarding this Holy Walk:(ON SCREEN)1) Learn to appreciate a holy walk.

The English word “holy” comes from an Old English word meaning “to be whole,to be healthy.” What health is to the body, holiness is to the inner person…God desires His people

to be healthy spiritually…He longs for us to have a healthy relationship withHim. The problem is most people, including Christ-followers, don’t APPRECIATE a holy

walk. In fact the chief pursuit of most people today is HAPPINESS, not HOLINESS. The children of Israel often remained spiritually unhealthy because they wanted God

to solve their problems and carry their burdens but they did not want Him to controltheir lives and change their character…they pursued HAPPINESS more thanHOLINESS!

(ON SCREEN)Quote…Jonathan Edwards“He that sees the beauty of holiness sees the greatest and most important thing in theworld.”Have you ever thought of personal holiness as the most important thing inthe world? Have we learned to appreciate a holy walk with God?But not only are we to appreciate a Holy Walk…(ON SCREEN)2) Live to assimilate a holy walk.

One of the overall themes of Leviticus is sanctification…the book communicatesthat receiving God’s forgiveness and acceptance should be followed by holy livingand spiritual growth.Does it matter to us that eight times in the Bible, God said to His people, “Be holy, for Iam Holy…”Covenant, in God’s kingdom, holiness isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity.Holiness is not the way to Christ, but Christ is the way to holiness.1Hebrews 12:14“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”Yes, God desires us to be happy but true happiness begins with holiness….that is whyJesus said…Matthew 5:6“Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled.”Amplify…But wasn’t the Book of Leviticus written only for the Jewish nation…the answer isYes…but the lessons in Leviticus aren’t limited to the Jews of ancient Israel. Thespiritual principles in this book apply to Christians in the church today.One of the key verses of Leviticus is 11:45…(ON SCREEN)“For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God.

You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” This principle is applied by Peter in I

Peter 1:15-16, “…but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all yourconduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.”Friends, God calls upon us to offer him more than a song of worship, we must giveHim our lives as living sacrifices!Remember, we cannot WALK with God and run with the devil…I firmly believethat God would never save us by GRACE we could live in DISGRACE.Conclusion…Are you worshipping God on His terms today? Is your walk with Goda reflection of something worth Christ dying for?