DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- LIVING IN FREEDOM

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – LIVING IN FREEDOM

" 'If a person sins, and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD, though he does not know it, yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity. And he shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation, as a trespass offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him regarding his ignorance in which he erred and did not know it, and it shall be forgiven him." (Leviticus 5:19)

God says that we all fall short of the glory of God, even if we don't realize it at the time. What about sins we commit that we are not aware of? Our verses for today's meditation summarize chapters 4 and 5 of Leviticus. These chapters deal with transgressions of God's law which are done in ignorance, unintentionally, without knowing that the sin has been committed. The word "unintentional" is used five times in these two chapters, and refers to the priests, the elders, the rulers, common people, and the whole congregation. When they became aware of their sin, they were to bring an animal to be sacrificed and the priest would lay his hands on the animal.

The sacrificial animals were a type of the sacrifice of the spotless Lamb, the Lord Jesus, when He died on the cross. The laying on of hands is the symbolic act of transferring sin to the animal which was laying down its life as a substitute. We no longer sacrifice animals because the Lord Jesus, the spotless Lamb, laid down His life as a substitutionary atonement for our sins, and by faith, we transfer our sins to Him because He paid the penalty for sin, even those we are not aware of.

I confess that I am a common person who does not always live up to the standard of God's holiness. I usually do not sin intentionally. Yet daily, I find myself thinking or doing things that do not measure up to God's best. So I walk with confidence that Jesus died for all my sin, unintentional or otherwise." I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). Praise God for freedom from the penalty of sin.

Love, Dad