Transferred

Today’s Bible Reading: LEVITICUS 7:1-8:36

Leviticus 8:18 Then Moses presented the ram of the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. And he killed it.

We all sin. Every day we are lured and led into sin. It is an inevitable enticement that we cannot evade. It might be a passing thought that engulfs us or a lasting disobedience that devastates us, but we all sin. It is our daily dilemma. Yet God “knows our frame, he remembers that we are dust” (Ps. 103:14) and as such has provided a provision to pardon our sin. He has appointed an acceptable avenue to atone for our sins.

God’s path for our pardon is presented on this text. Here we see that He first selects the sacrifice (Lev 8:2). Moses was told by God what the appropriate sacrifice would be. The Lord set forth the criteria for choosing the sacrifice. Moses didn’t decide. God did. Moses didn’t determine what would be acceptable. God did. Moses picked what God proposed.

Then the sinner agrees with God’s selection. He chooses to accept what God has chosen. He doesn’t bring his selection to be sacrifice, but what God has selected. It is not for us to decide what is pleasing to God. It is for us to accept what God has declared acceptable. His choice cleanses us. His preference pardons us. It is through His selected substitute that our sins are forgiven. It is when we accept the sacrifice that He approves that we receive the atonement He offers.

This is followed by the act of acceptance of the sacrifice for sin. It is at the moment when the priest (sinner) lays his hands on the sin-offering that he approves of what God has appointed to bear his sins. It is when he transfers his transgression upon the substitute that he appropriates God’s sacrifice for his sins. It is then that God’s sacrifice becomes the sinner’s substitute. We place the load of our sins upon our sin-bearer. The offense that had been lying on us is now laid upon our offering. Our penalty for sin is laid upon our substitute. Our guilt is placed on them. The innocent now becomes guilty. They die the death we deserve. Our transgressions that had been transferred to them are punished through them and we are pardoned. The justice of God is met and we are justified before God.

Finally, our text tells of the application of the death to the pardoned sinner. Moses takes some of the blood of the substitute and sprinkles upon Aaron and his sons and their clothing. We transferred our death to the substitute and now the death of the substitute is transferred to us. Their blood placed upon us identifies us with them. Their death has been transferred to our account as if it had been our own. Their death was our death, we died with them. Our debt is paid by their death. The wages for our sin have been paid by another. Our blood-stained robes remind us of our redemption.

This brings great delight to daily sinners. God has selected a sacrifice for our sins. The Scriptures tell us that God’s choice is Christ (Luke 9:35). He is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). God’s provision is a person, Jesus. By His sinless life, sacrificial death and supernatural resurrection, He has secured salvation for all who will lay their sins upon Him. Like the ram in our text, Jesus becomes the sin-bearer for all those who through prayer will transfer their transgressions on to Him. His death pays our debt. His piercing provides our pardon. Our guilt is gone. We become the blood-stained believers whose garments are sprinkled with the blood of our Savior.

Today rejoice that Jesus is the selected sacrifice for your sins. Thank Him that those who transfer their transgression unto Jesus find forgiveness. Their sins are pardoned and their guilt is gone. Praise God that even though you daily sin, Christ’s once for all sacrifice cancels the debt for all your sins. Rejoice that your transgressions were transferred on Him. You died with Him, now live for Him.