Leviticus: Holiness
"You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have set you apart from the peoples to be mine"(20:26).How can a sinful man come to the Holy God? This is the answer given in Leviticus.
At first glance, Leviticus is a book full of laws. Since God is holy and infinitely distinct from all the creatures, it is natural that He requires much of man for holiness in order for Him to be with man who is polluted by sin. In Leviticus, God gives us various sacrificial rituals to approach God, priests who approach God on behalf of their people, ceremonial laws to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, the regulations for a holy life, and the feasts for his holy people. At he end of the book, God speaks of blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience and gives commandments for vows and offerings.
Is God pleased with the offerings themselves, in which animals are sacrificed? Even in the Old Testament, they were never good enough to please Him. They were not just lacking by themselves. They did not have any meaning in themselves, but all the sacrifices and offerings were the symbols of the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the true reality. The sin offering refers to Christ who died for the sins of God's people, the peace offering to Christ who is the reconciliation between God and sinners, and the burnt offering also to Christ who completely offered himself to God. They all are pictures showing that when we cannot establish a right relationship with God on our own, we can receive the forgiveness of sins, become reconciled to God, and fully devote ourselves to God only through faith in Christ, the true sacrifice for his people.
In the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, sacrifices and priests who offered sacrifices were distinguished. Jesus Christ, however, is not only the sacrifice itself, but also the high priest who stands before God on behalf of his people. Since Christ is the only mediator appointed by God between God and man from all eternity, God's people always come to God through him, and through him God bestows all the blessings and graces on his people.
The unclean itself is not a sin, but the unclean is distinct from the clean. Holiness does not simply mean being morally pure. It means belonging to God. Israel was not morally pure in themselves, but they became a holy people because God chose them to be his own. All Gentiles by nature are unclean, but Christ has broken down the barrier between Jews and Gentiles, and now whoever is in Jesus Christ, the Holy One of God, is a holy people of God.
Since God is holy, the people who live before God must also be holy, and many laws and regulations have been given for them and their lives. And before that holy God, sinners have no choice but to confess their wickedness and weaknesses. However, the gracious God gave them Jesus Christ, the holy Son of God, in order to make them holy and be with them. This shows wonderfully in the Day of Atonement in the chapter 16, at the very center of Leviticus, the middle book of the Five Books of Moses. There is Christ who took upon himself all the sins of his people and died on the cross as the Lamb of God. There is a sure promise that whoever believes in Christ shall be forgiven of all his or her sins. The Lord does not save us only from the penalty of sin, but also from the pollution of sin so that his people might live a holy life with a new heart in Christ.
