Sacrifice and offerings you have not desired, but you have prepared for me a body. Psalm 40:6
FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN GOD, PROBABLY ONE OF THE FIRST QUESTIONS ASKED OF GOD IS WHAT DO YOU WANT OF ME, OR WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO. UPPERMOST IN THE MINDS OF MOST IS THAT GOD REQUIRES THAT I BE GOOD OR THAT I KEEP HIS LAW. BUT EVEN IF WE COULD OBEY THE LETTER OF THE LAW PERFECTLY, WOULD GOD BE SATISFIED WITH US?
PERHAPS A BETTER WAY TO PUT THE QUESTION IS, WHAT DOES GOD WANT. WHAT IS GOD REALLY SEEKING IN ME, IN MANKIND WHOM HE HAS CREATED?
THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION IS FOUND IN THE FIRST BOOK OF THE BIBLE, THE BOOK OF GENESIS, “LET US MAKE MAN IN OUR IMAGE AND AFTER OUR LIKENESS.” GOD IS SEEKING LIKENESS TO HIMSELF. ADAM REALIZED THIS FEELING WHEN GOD PROVIDED EVE TO BE WITH HIM. EVE WAS BONE OF HIS BONE AND FLESH OF HIS FLESH.
BUT IS NOT GOD SELF CONTAINED, DOES GOD NEED ANYTHING? YES, GOD DOES HAVE NEED. HOW DO I KNOW THAT? GOD IS LOVE, AND LOVE NEEDS LOVE AND LOVE DESIRES TO GIVE, AND LOVE DESIRES TO RECEIVE, AND LOVE BEARS FRUIT. WHEN A MAN AND A WOMAN LOVE ONE ANOTHER AND GET MARRIED, IT IS NATURAL FOR THEM TO WANT TO BRING FORTH A CHILD AFTER THEIR OWN LIKENESS. ALL OF NATURE PUTS FORTH ITS OWN SEED. THIS IS NATURAL AND THIS IS GOOD.
BUT DO IMPERFECT SINFUL HUMAN BEINGS WANT WHAT GOD WANTS FOR THEM? WE ARE AWARE OF OUR SINFULNESS AND HAVE A NATURAL TENDENCY TO KEEP GOD AT A SAFE DISTANCE. LIKE JOB’S FRIENDS, WORSHIP IS OFTEN LIMITED TO EULOGIZING GOD, KEEPING HIM WAY UP THERE, UNTOUCHABLE, DEMANDING, REQUIRING A CERTAIN PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR, EVEN VENGEFUL, READY TO PUNISH WHEN WE DEVIATE FROM HIS EXPECTATIONS.
BUT WHAT IS THE LAW OF GOD THAT HE SEEKS IN US? IS IT JUST A CODE, A SET OF RULES? THE LAW OF GOD’S BEING IS SO MUCH MORE. GOD’S LAW IS THE EXPRESSION OF HIS WHOLE BEING.
THE PROPHETS EZEKIEL AND JEREMIAH SPEAK OF GOD REMOVING THE HEART OF STONE AND GIVING A NEW HEART AND NEW SPIRIT. OUR PROBLEM IS NOT THAT WE DON’T TRY HARD ENOUGH OR DON’T WORK AT BEING GOOD ENOUGH. OUR PROBLEM IS WHAT THE APOSTLE PAUL STATES IN ROMANS 3:23, “ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD.” WE FALL SHORT. IT IS A MATTER OF LIFE, THE LACK OF IT. WE NEED THE HOLY ETERNAL LIFE OF GOD.
ADAM AND EVE WERE INNOCENT BEFORE THEY SINNED. BUT THEY SINNED BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT HOLY. GOD ALONE IS HOLY. IF GOD COULD HAVE CREATED HOLINESS, HE WOULD HAVE CREATED ADAM HOLY. WE NEED GOD’S LIFE. AND ADAM WAS DESIGNED FOR THAT VERY PURPOSE.
WHEN GOD DESIGNED MAN HE DID SO WITH THE PURPOSE OF BECOMING A MAN. ANGELS WERE NOT MADE TO CONTAIN GOD BUT MAN WAS. Hebrews 1&2 ADAM WAS INCOMPLETE. IT TOOK GOD’S LIFE TO FINISH ADAM. THAT IS WHY JESUS, THE WORD BECOME FLESH, IS CALLED THE SECOND ADAM, AND “IN HIM ALL THE FULLNESS OF DEITY LIVES IN BODILY FORM.” Colossians 2:9
THE LETTER OF THE LAW CAN ONLY CLEANSE THE OUTSIDE OF THE CUP. GOD IS NOT SEEKING SLAVES OR ROBOTS. HE WANTS TO CHANGE OUR INNER BEING SO THAT OUR OBEDIENCE COMES FROM THE HEART. THERE HAS BEEN ONLY ONE HUMAN BEING WHO COULD SAY, I ALWAYS DO THAT WHICH IS PLEASING TO THE FATHER, JESUS.
THE LAW IS OUR GUIDE, OUR SCHOOLMASTER TO LEAD US TO THE FOUNT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, THE SOURCE OF LIFE. Galatians 3:24 THE LAW SHOWS US OUR NEED OF LIFE.
KING DAVID OF ISRAEL WAS “A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART,” BUT HE WRITES IN PSALM 40, VERSE 12, “MY SINS OVERTAKE ME SO I AM UNABLE TO SEE; THEY OUTNUMBER THE HAIRS OF MY HEAD SO MY STRENGTH FAILS ME.” IN VERSE 6 OF THAT SAME PSALM, DAVID ADMITS THAT SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS ARE NOT ADEQUATE TO SATISFY GOD, BUT THAT GOD HIMSELF HAS PREPARED FOR DAVID A BODY. WHEN DAVID DESIRED TO BUILD GOD A HOUSE, GOD ANSWERED DAVID BY TELLING HIM THAT HE HIMSELF WOULD BUILD DAVID A HOUSE.
THAT HOUSE WAS TO BE A MAN WHO WOULD PERFECTLY FULFILL THE WILL OF GOD. “BEHOLD I COME TO PERFORM YOUR WILL, O MY GOD, YOUR WILL, THAT LAW OF YOURS WITHIN MY HEART.” Psalm 40:7-8
WHAT WE LACK GOD GIVES. IN THE INCARNATION, GOD GAVE HIS OWN LIFE TO HUMANITY. BUT THAT LIFE HAD TO GROW AND DEVELOP AND BE PERFECTED. HAD GOD JUST BEEN SEEKING A DEATH OF A SPOTLESS SACRIFICE, HE COULD HAVE ALLOWED HEROD TO MURDER THE BABY JESUS.
GOD IS NOT SEEKING DEATH. GOD IS SEEKING LIFE! THE JEWISH OFFERINGS IN THE DEATH OF THE ANIMAL WITHOUT BLEMISH WERE BUT A SHADOW AND SYMBOL OF GOD’S PERFECT SACRIFICIAL OFFERING. IT WAS THE ANIMAL’S LIFE THAT WAS CENTRAL TO THE OFFERING. LEVITICUS 17:11 MAKES THAT CLEAR. THE BLOOD MAKES ATONEMENT BY REASON OF THE LIFE. THE LIFE OF THE FLESH IS IN THE BLOOD!
JESUS’ WHOLE LIFE WAS AN OFFERING TO GOD. IT WAS HIS PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS, HIS FAITHFULNESS, AND HIS ABSOLUTE DEVOTION TO GOD THAT SATISFIED THE FATHER, AND WAS CONFIRMED BY GOD’S OWN VOICE AT JESUS’ BAPTISM, “THIS IS MY BELOVED SON IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.”
BUT GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, AND HIS ULTIMATE PURPOSE IS TO GIVE HIS LIFE TO IMPERFECT, SINFUL HUMAN BEINGS. HOW CAN HE DO THIS? THROUGH HIS SON WHO WAS IN PERFECT ACCORD WITH HIS FATHER. JESUS’ PRAYER RECORDED IN JOHN 17 IS ALL ABOUT THIS DESIRE OF BOTH SON AND FATHER, FOR US.
JESUS WOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD HIS MISSION EARLY IN HIS LIFE. GOD HIDES FROM US THOSE EARLY YEARS, EXCEPT FOR JESUS’ APPEARANCE IN THE TEMPLE AT AGE 12 WHERE WE SEE HIM ASKING QUESTIONS OF THE JEWISH TEACHERS OF THE LAW. JESUS WASN’T ASKING THEM QUESTIONS AS A TEACHER DOES TO HIS STUDENTS. HE WAS A GENUINE BOY SEEKING TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THE WAYS OF HIS HEAVENLY FATHER. HIS WORDS TO HIS MOTHER REVEAL HIS GENUINE HUMAN IDENTITY WITH GOD HIS FATHER. “DID YOU NOT KNOW THAT I WOULD BE IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE.”
AFTER HIS BAPTISM AND ANOINTING BY THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD, AT AGE 30, JESUS IS VISITED BY NICODEMUS, A TEACHER AND RULER OF THE JEWS. THE HEART OF HIS MESSAGE TO NICODEMUS WAS, YOU MUST BE BORN FROM ABOVE. NICODEMUS’ RESPONSE REMINDS ME OF MARY’S RESPONSE TO THE ANGEL GABRIEL, HOW CAN THIS BE FOR I AM A VIRGIN? NICODEMUS ASKED JESUS, HOW CAN A MAN BE BORN AGAIN, CAN HE ENTER A SECOND TIME INTO HIS MOTHER’S WOMB?
EVEN THEN, AT THE BEGINNING OF JESUS’ PUBLIC MINISTRY, HE CAN SEE WHERE HIS HUMAN GODLIKENESS IN THE MIDST OF FALLEN HUMANITY IS GOING TO LEAD. HE SHARED WITH NICODEMUS, “JUST AS MOSES LIFTED UP THE SERPENT IN THE WILDERNESS, SO MUST THE SON OF MAN BE LIFTED UP, SO THAT EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM MAY HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.” John 3:14
WHEN ISRAEL WAS STILL IN THE WILDERNESS AND THE PEOPLE WERE DYING FROM THE BITE OF FIERY SERPENTS, GOD GAVE MOSES INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE A BRONZE SERPENT AND LIFT IT UP ON A POLE FOR ALL TO SEE. IF ONE WAS BITTEN, ALL HE WOULD HAVE TO DO TO LIVE WAS TURN AND LOOK AT THE IMAGE OF THE VERY THING THAT WAS CAUSING HIS DEATH. ISN’T IT INTERESTING THAT GOD SHOULD SAVE THEM IN THAT MANNER? THE SERPENT IN THE WILDERNESS WAS BUT AN IMAGE OF THE REALITY TO COME.
HOW DOES THE SERPENT IN THE WILDERNESS SPEAK OF JESUS BEING LIFTED UP ON A ROMAN CROSS? WHEN THE ONE BITTEN BY THE SERPENT TURNED AND LOOKED AT THE BRAZEN IMAGE OF THE FIERY SERPENT, HE WAS LOOKING AT THE CAUSE OF HIS DEATH.
WE DIE BECAUSE WE HAVE THE SINFUL SEED OF DEATH WITHIN OUR BEING. OUR SIN PUT JESUS ON THAT CROSS. JESUS HANGING ON THAT ROMAN CROSS IS A DISPLAY OF MAN’S SIN. JUST AS THE ONE WHO WAS DYING FROM THE BITE OF THE SERPENT HAD TO TURN AND LOOK AT THAT BRONZE SERPENT TO LIVE, SO WE MUST FACE THE REALITY OF OUR SIN IN ORDER TO BE SAVED FROM IT.
BUT WHEREIN LAY THE SOURCE OF LIFE? THE CROSS NOT ONLY SPEAKS OF OUR SIN IT ALSO SPEAKS OF OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, OURS IN THE SENSE THAT JESUS’ RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLY LIFE BELONG TO THE HUMAN RACE, FOR HE IS NOT ONLY THE SON OF GOD BUT THE SON OF MAN!
WHEN JESUS QUOTED DAVID’S WORDS FROM PSALM 22, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU ABANDONED ME,” HE WAS DECLARING HIS OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS AS A TRUE MAN. JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED AT 9 AM. AT 12 NOON DARKNESS DESCENDED. AS JESUS WAS DYING, SO WAS THE WORLD. NOTHING CAN LIVE WITHOUT LIGHT. THE DARKNESS LASTED THREE HOURS, BUT WHEN JESUS CRIED THAT CRY, THE DARKNESS LIFTED. “WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” AS A MEMBER OF OUR RACE, HIS LIFE MADE UP FOR, COVERED, AND ATONED FOR THE SIN OF THE WHOLE WORLD; AND THE POWER OF HIS HUMAN RIGHTEOUSNESS OVER DEATH WAS CONFIRMED BY GOD RAISING HIM FROM THE DEAD.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BELIEVE IN JESUS? REMEMBER WHAT HE TOLD NICODEMUS, YOU MUST BE BORN FROM ABOVE. HE ALSO SAID TO HIM, “NO ONE HAS ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN EXCEPT THE ONE WHO DESCENDED FROM HEAVEN, THE SON OF MAN.” John 3:13
THE APOSTLE JOHN WRITES, “IN HIM WAS LIFE, AND THE LIFE WAS THE LIGHT OF MANKIND.” John 1:4 ON THE CROSS, AFTER MAN HAD DONE THE WORST THAT SIN CAN DO, JESUS TURNED THE LIGHTS BACK ON. LOOK AND LIVE! LISTEN TO JESUS’ WORDS, “EVERYONE WHO LOOKS ON THE SON AND BELIEVES IN HIM TO HAVE ETERNAL LIFE, I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY.” John 6:40
JESUS IS THE PERFECT OFFERING TO GOD FOR OUR SIN. HE IS THE LIVING LAW OF GOD, IN HUMAN BODILY FORM. “SACRIFICE AND OFFERINGS YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME A BODY.” Psalm 40:6
Rosemary E Hyslop November 22, 2019