In this message we will consider further the consecration of Aaron and his sons.
In the consecration of the priesthood, the first thing carried out was the anointing of the priests. This indicates strongly that the consecration or anointing of the priesthood is to make God one with us, for the anointing oil signifies that whatever God is, whatever He does, and whatever He will do are ours. What God has done, what He is doing, and what He will do involve many things, such as Christ’s incarnation, human living, death, resurrection, ascension, and coming back. All this has been anointed upon us, that is, made one with us. This is the positive side of the ordination of the priesthood.
In the consecration of Aaron and his sons, the offerings immediately followed the anointing. The offerings remind us of who and what we are, and of what we should be yet are not.
The sin offering is the first to do such a reminding. Aaron had been anointed with the anointing oil, which signifies that the Triune God with all that He is, has done, and will do was now Aaron’s. This anointing also indicates that Aaron was one with the Triune God. However, this anointed one still needed a strong reminding that by himself and in himself he was sin, a sin-constituted sinner, and flesh with nothing good in him; that he was a natural man, a part of the old creation, which is absolutely saturated, possessed, usurped, and indwelt by the evil one; and that he was filled with the world and the power struggle.
The Triune God had ordained Aaron to be His serving one and had anointed him with Himself. However, Aaron still needed to realize what he was. Thus, God used the sin offering to remind him of what he was. On the first day of Aaron’s priesthood and every day thereafter, he had to offer the sin offering to God so that he would be reminded of what he was.
We today are God’s priests. He has chosen, appointed, and ordained us to be His holy priests. Whatever the Triune God has done, is doing, and will do is ours. He is one with us, and we are one with Him. However, we still need to be reminded that, in ourselves, we are sin, flesh, and the old man, that we are the old creation, which is saturated with Satan, the evil one, and that we are filled with the world and its power struggle. If every day and all during the day the brothers, co-workers, and elders would remember this, being reminded of what they are, the situation among us would be different.
Concerning our life and work, we need to ask ourselves whether the one moving, acting, and doing things is the old man or God’s priest. Do you have the assurance to say that whatever you are doing in the church life, in the Lord’s work, and in the recovery is of the divine priesthood and not of the flesh? Who can say that his hands are clean and that he is absolutely free from the flesh? Because we cannot say this, we need the sin offering as it is typified in Leviticus. We need this offering not only to be forgiven by God but also to be reminded of what we are. Even in loving others we need to be reminded that we are sin, flesh, the old man, and the old creation and that we are filled with worldliness. If we love others according to our flesh, taste, and choice, our love is sinful in the eyes of God, for such a love is linked to the evil one. Furthermore, as we pray and share in the meetings, we may have thoughts that come from the flesh, where sin is hidden and where Satan moves secretly. This is our actual situation. Thus, we need the sin offering not only at the time of our ordination as priests but also every time we practice our priesthood.
In the ordination of the priests a ram was used for a burnt offering. The burnt offering reminds us that we should be absolute for God yet we are not. As ordained priests of God, we should therefore receive His mercy and grace to be absolute for God in Christ, with Christ, and through Christ.
Since Aaron had been anointed by God, why did he still need the burnt offering? Aaron needed this offering because God wanted Aaron to be reminded that he should be absolute for God yet he was not. This should remind us that we today are likewise not absolute for God. It should also warn us that every day we need to offer a burnt offering. Daily we need to offer a burnt offering for our priesthood, for our priestly service. The elders and co-workers in particular should offer the burnt offering every morning. We should tell the Lord, “Lord, throughout this day remind me that I should be absolute for You. Yet, I realize that I am not and cannot be absolute for You. Lord, I trust in You and take You as my life, my person, and my absoluteness. My absoluteness for God is You, Lord.” This is to live Christ.
We may be familiar with the words “live Christ,” but we may not understand the real significance of living Christ. Do we live Christ at home and in the church life? In our family life and in our dealing with the saints, are we absolute for God? When our self-feeling or self-interest is touched by others, we may become offended. Does this not indicate that we are not absolute for God? We surely need to be reminded that, in ourselves, we are not absolute for God.
According to Leviticus, the burnt offering should be offered every morning (6:12-13). The burning of the burnt offering should not cease. “The burnt offering itself shall be upon the hearth on the altar all night until the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it” (6:9). This indicates that the burnt offering should burn through the dark night of this age until morning, until the Lord Jesus comes again.
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