The sin offering also signifies that God, sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh on the cross of Christ (Rom. 8:3). Christ became flesh; that is, He came in the likeness of the flesh of sin (John 1:14). Furthermore, God made Christ, who did not know sin, sin on our behalf on the cross (2 Cor. 5:21). While Christ was on the cross, He was judged in the form of the serpent for our sin (John 3:14). In this way God condemned sin in the flesh on the cross of Christ.
The efficacy of the sin offering is not just in the fact that it deals with sin. The result is far greater. In the sin offering, the fallen man, the old man, included in the flesh of Christ, is dealt with (Rom. 6:6); sin in the nature of fallen man is condemned (Rom. 8:3); Satan, sin itself, is destroyed (Heb. 2:14); the world is judged; and the prince of the world is cast out (John 12:31). This is the revelation in the holy Word concerning the efficacy of the sin offering.
If we see this revelation, we will see that taking Christ as our sin offering is not simply a matter of confessing our sin and having it dealt with. Taking Christ as our sin offering also means that our old man, Satan, the world, and the struggle for power are dealt with. Since all these things are included in the sin offering, taking Christ as our sin offering is not a simple matter but a matter that involves the fallen man, sin in the nature of fallen man, Satan, the world, and the struggle for power.
In Leviticus 4 there are different kinds of cattle for the sin offering.
The sin offering may be a young bull, a buck of the goats, a ewe of the goats, or a female lamb (Lev. 4:3,14, 23, 28,32). This signifies that Christ as the sin offering is experienced by different people in different degrees. In Himself as the sin offering, Christ does not differ in size. He is always the same. However, our realization, presentation, and application of Christ as the sin offering may differ in degree.
The size of Christ as our sin offering depends on the degree to which we take Christ as our sin offering. We may take Christ as our sin offering to a lower degree or to a higher degree. One brother may take Christ as his sin offering to deal only with his sin, not realizing that sin implies the flesh. A second brother may realize that the sin offering implies the flesh but may not realize that it also implies dealing with Satan. If we see that as long as sin dwells in us, the flesh, Satan, the world, and the struggle for power are also present, we can offer Christ as a large bull.
Leviticus 4 tells us that the sin offering is without blemish (vv. 3, 23, 28, 32). This signifies that Christ is without sin (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15).
Leviticus 4 speaks of laying hands on the head of the offering (vv. 4,15, 24, 29, 33). This signifies the union of the offerer with the offering.
The sin offering was slaughtered before Jehovah (vv. 4, 15, 24). This signifies that Christ as the sin offering was slaughtered before God, that He was recognized by God (Isa. 53:10a).
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