The Sacrifices of God’s People Part 3

In our last post, we saw that blood sacrifices were necessary for atonement.  We also considered how the Old Testament sacrificial system foreshadowed Christ’s atoning sacrifice as well as our responsory sacrifices of gratitude, generosity, and service (Hebrews 13:11-16). Now that Christ has forever atoned for our sins, we no longer need priests to bring our responsory sacrifices before the Lord.

During the establishment of the Mosaic Covenant, God appointed the tribe of the Levites to act as priests.  The office of the priesthood was mediatorial.  Because God is holy and humanity is sinful, the people could not survive coming before the Lord directly.  The Scripture is filled with warnings in this regard (cf. Exodus 19:12, 33:20; 1 Timothy 6:16).  Therefore, the priests served as the Lord’s representatives to Israel and Israel’s representatives before the Lord.  The priests offered sacrifices on behalf of the people.

Under the Old covenant, the Lord’s glory was manifested over the ark of the covenant in the most holy place, first within the tabernacle and then within Solomon’s temple.  There was a heavy veil at the entrance of the most holy place to protect the people from deadly exposure to God’s holy presence.  Of all the priests, only the high priest could enter the holy of holies and then, just once a year.  The high priest spent days in meticulous preparation for Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).  It would be a death sentence for the high priest to pass through the veil of the most holy place, ill-prepared.  When the day arrived, He reverently entered the most holy place to sprinkle sacrificial blood upon the mercy seat.  Then, on behalf of the people, he sacrificed a goat upon the altar signifying the necessity of death to atone for sin.  He would take a second goat and lay his hands upon its head while confessing the sins of the people over the animal. Finally, this goat was sent off into the wilderness, symbolically bearing the people’s iniquities and carrying them away.

"Because God is holy and humanity is sinful, the people could not survive coming before the Lord directly."

All of this was in anticipation of Christ, the true High Priest who was to come.  On the cross, He offered Himself as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of His people.  When Christ died, the veil in the Temple that acted as a barrier separating God from His people was torn into (Matthew 27:51).   Now that our Great High Priest has offered Himself as the once-for-all atoning sacrifice, all of His people have been granted direct access to the Father through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:18; Hebrews 4:16).  Through the work of our Great High Priest, all who are in Christ have become priests before the Lord (1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6).

Having been justified by faith in the work of Christ, we no longer need priests, human or angelic, to represent us before God.  We are now a kingdom of priests who need no other mediator than Jesus, our Great High Priest (1 Timothy 2:5).  When we come before the Lord in thankfulness and humility, He will not turn us away because the One who redeemed us continually intercedes on our behalf (Hebrews 7:25) and leads us in worship, presenting us before the Father as His family (Hebrews 2:10-13).

When we come before the Lord in thankfulness and humility, He will not turn us away because the One who redeemed us continually intercedes on our behalf…
Even though all who are in Christ are priests unto our God, there is still a need for particular offices within the body of Christ.  God has given gifts to His people and appointed pastors and teachers for equipping and edifying the church (Ephesians 4:11-12).  However, every believer has access to the Father through Christ.  We pray to the Father in the name of Jesus through the power of the Spirit.  And we are permitted to bring our sacrifices of praise, generosity and good works to God for Christ now dwells within us through the Holy Spirit who has come to abide with us forever.

In our next post, we will look specifically at our priestly duties of bringing spiritual sacrifices before the Father.

You can listen to Pastor Stan McGehee's series on Philippians under the "Media" section of the website or app.