Thank you Jesus!

Good evening friends...

Yes, another failed attempt at falling asleep and more great intimacy time with God. I think I'm seeing a pattern of when I think I am tired and I get into bed with my family, yet the next thing I know I am hearing the steady breathing of my sleeping bride next to me (and Beorn too...he's not yet upstairs in his bed...kinda working on that...) and that inward nudge to head to my Bible for some daily bread. It's kind of crazy, in a good way crazy, because today I actually spent many hours studying and working on my sermon, but I'm still hungry for God's Word...just can't get enough.

Well, to my devotion and through my four chapters tonight (Exodus 29-32) there was a lot of diversity in this reading. Some crazy stuff that just doesn't show up in the Hollywood retelling of the Exodus (read about it in Ex 32:19-35); some great leadership does and don't does (those don't does are from our good friend the High Priest Aaron who fails at leadership 101...he may be able to sacrifice animals, but he can't lead people to save their lives (actually he gets 3000 of them killed at the hands of the Levites by order of Moses, but that brings you back to Ex 32:19-35 and the part of the story that the cute cartoon movies leave out)); and some more of the always detailed directions from God to Moses on Mt. Sinai of how to build the Tabernacle, Altar, etc. All good stuff, not all easy to digest or understand or even begin to put into devotional thought. Some of it is absolutley horrifying and others of it is just too other worldly with the sacrificial system.

But that moves me to my devotion from Ex 29:36-37, "Each day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you shall purify the alter when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to consecrate it. For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it; then the altar shall be most holy, and whatever touches the altar shall be holy." We actually learn in the next few verses (38-42) that there are to be two sacrifices made on this altar every day (morning and twilight) continuously...a continual sacrifice of atonement.

This actually jumped out at me because I'm studying 1 John pretty deeply right now and this Sunday I am preaching 8 verses (1:5-2:2) and there is reference to the "blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7) and Jesus "Himself is the propitiation for our sins" (2:2). These are very theologically rich statements that we as Christians read through knowing what we know about the Cross of Calvary, atonement theory, NT Scripture references, etc. But ultimately, without a firm understanding of passages such as Ex. 29:36-37 we have don't get the full extent of how radically indebted to Jesus Christ we are for the freedom and the atonement that we have in Him and through Him. Just check out the absolute focus on holiness and ritualistic preparation that the priests of Israel had to go through in preparation of the altar to make the twice a day sacrifice that had to happen every day...not too mention the process of being ordained and properly dressed and the amazingly detailed and elaborate process for building the Tabernacle, altar, etc... This is the means God established for man to be able to deal with the sin that prevented them from having a relationship with God until by God's grace He sent His Son "Jesus Christ, the righteous" (2:1) to became the once and for all sin offering of atonement that dealt a final blow to the sin separation between man and God. Because of Jesus Christ, God's indescribable gift to us, all of humanity can now have a relationship with God...the most inclusive and extensive sacrifice of atonement possible and all we have to do is accept it and receive it and welcome Jesus Christ into our lives as Lord and Savior acknowledging He was the atoning sacrifice for my sins...Thank you Jesus!

It is my hope that as we dive into God's Word that we realize that we are truly just skimming the surface of God's infinite Truth. May we grow as students of the Old Testament to fully comprehend what Christ has done for us. And as we study, may our gratitude grow and may our obedience flow out of the deep understanding that we can never say "Thank you" enough or give of ourselves (Time, Treasures, and Talents) enough, or do anything to deserve the fullness of God's love and the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the unblemished Passover Lamb (that's another OT allusion found in Exodus...read your Bible and don't rely on Sunday School stories from year's past or Hollywood movies to teach you the eternal truths God has given us in the Bible.

Love to you as you give God all the glory for the indescribable gift of Jesus Christ...THANK YOU Jesus!

In His Service,
Jerry