How did Christ become our peace offering? First, He was slain for bearing our sins. Leviticus 3:2 tells us that the sacrifice of the peace offering had to be slaughtered and shed its blood.
According to typology, after the sacrifice of the peace offering was slaughtered and its blood was shed, the blood was sprinkled on and around the altar instead of being brought into the tent of meeting. This is different from the blood of the sin offering, a portion of which had to be brought into the tent of meeting to make propitiation before God for our sins. The blood of the sacrifice of the peace offering, however, did not have to be brought before God; it needed only to be sprinkled on and around the altar. Why? It is because although there had been a problem between us and God, now at the altar we are at peace because of the blood shed by the sacrifice of the peace offering. Very often we have no peace within because of a problem between us and God. When in faith we see the precious blood shed on the cross and know that the Lord Jesus has solved the problem for us, within we are at peace. Therefore, in order to be our peace offering, Christ was firstly slaughtered for us; secondly, He shed His blood for us.
A part of the peace offering was offered to God as His food. The best part, the fattest part, including all the fat, had to be placed on the altar as God’s food for His satisfaction (vv. 9-11). We seldom realize that in the universe God also needs food and that God also has His food. We eat our food at the dining table, but God’s dining table is the altar, and His food is Christ. When Christ placed Himself on the altar, He became a food of fragrance for God’s enjoyment and satisfaction.
The remaining parts of the peace offering are for us, indicating that Christ has also become our enjoyment. Christ was slain and shed His blood not only to satisfy God’s need, but also to satisfy our need as well. God and we, we and God, are both satisfied; therefore, God and we, we and God, can be at peace with one another.
Christ has made peace between us and God. If Christ had not been killed, had not shed His blood for us, and had not become God’s food and our food, then God’s requirement upon us could not have been met, and our problem before God could not have been solved. Thus, there would have been no peace between God and us. Thank the Lord that He became our peace offering by dying and shedding His blood for us. On the one hand, He became God’s food to satisfy God’s need, and on the other hand, He became our food to satisfy our need. The result is that both God and we are fully satisfied and at peace with one another. This is the meaning of Christ as our peace offering.
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