Lev 4:20, 'He shall also do with the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering; thus he shall do with it. So the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. 
   	In our last discussion of Leviticus, we looked at the peace offering and what was required in order to bring peace between God and His people. This morning’s reading concentrates upon the sin offerings and the need for God’s forgiveness, even when the sin is unintentional. Sin is still sin and cannot be brought into the presence of God. It must be dealt with in the prescribed manner that will allow the forgiveness of God to wash it away from us. As we have read, this required the spilling of blood and the official capacity of the priest in order to bring the suppliant once more into the good graces of the Lord. 
	As we read in verse 26 of this 4th Chapter, it took both the sacrifice and the work of the priest to make the instance of God’s forgiveness a possibility. Lev 4:26, 'And all its fat he shall offer up in smoke on the altar as in the case of the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to his sin, and he shall be forgiven. 
The transgressor put his hand on the head of the sacrifice to identify with the guilt that was being symbolized by the animal, but only the priest could offer the sacrifice in accordance with the full requirements of God in all the preparation and ability to come before God in purity and in holiness. 
	Once again, in Lev 6:6+7, this is reinforced for those Children of Israel in case they had any ideas of thinking that they could do any of this themselves, by their own hands and efforts and abilities. Lev 6:6+7, Then he shall bring to the priest his guilt offering to the Lord, a ram without defect from the flock, according to your valuation, for a guilt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord; and he shall be forgiven for any one of the things which he may have done to incur guilt." 
	The reason that this is so important for us to understand is that it points so specifically to the need for Jesus Christ as the perfect means of our eternal forgiveness with God. All the types of the Old Testament were completely pointing to the unequivocal need for both the Perfect Lamb of God and the Perfect and Eternal High Priest. Our complete forgiveness by God, His eternal forgiveness could only come into place for us when Jesus Christ instituted it by His own blood at the cross and by His service as the High Priest through Whom everything was ideally set in place before the altar of God forevermore. 
There was absolutely nothing that we could do in our own power and strength and effort to bring this into place. There was no meritorious means for us to earn this forgiveness or to establish it in any manner whatsoever. It was only by the grace and the love and the gift of God, as we read in Rom 5:8-11, if you would please open to it in your Bibles. Rom 5:8-11, But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. 
	All of the Levitical requirements were just and they were necessary. They represented what was to come, through the Only Begotten Son of God, sent to die for you and for me. It was on the basis of the Christ to come that the sacrifices were ever accepted by the Lord God Jehovah for the people of old. Their faith was set in the promise of the Messiah and their sacrifices were based on the faith and the hope of what He would bring forth in the days to come. In Gal 3:13+14, this saving work of God in Jesus is reinforced for us, as the Old Testament blessing was opened to all those who would believe upon Him. Gal 3:13+14, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us — for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree" — in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 
	Now please turn in your Bibles to the Letter to the Hebrews. We will spend a good portion of the remainder of this morning reading about just how fully and perfectly Jesus brought the forgiveness of God into the hearts and minds and lives of those who call upon Him and accept the reality that by His blood we are saved. As well, in the manifest victory of His resurrection, He has been installed as the eternal High Priest by Whom we continually have immediate access unto the throne of God, covered in Christ’s righteousness and holiness.
	At the very beginning of this letter, Chapter 1, verses 1-3, it is detailed to the Jews exactly Who Christ Jesus is and why He is the Promised Messiah. Heb 1:1-3, God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; 
	This outlined the lineage of Jesus of Nazareth in terms of being the very Son of God, the Word of God sent forth into the world which He had created in order to bring an end to the separation of God and man because of the sins of mankind. He, Himself, became the means whereby man could be purified to come into the very presence of God. After He had done this, He was exalted and put in the utmost place of honor at the right hand of God.
	Then in Heb 2:17+18, the writer details the fact that Jesus was made to be the high priest, placing Himself into the humanness of men in every way, yet without any sin. On that basis, He is able to understand and to deal with our every need. Heb 2:17+18, Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. Jesus is not some almighty, condescending, holier-than-thou judge and executioner of men. He knows exactly what each one of us is undergoing in our struggles and strivings with temptation, and He is able to help us at every decision and every turn of life’s frustrations and trials. 
	The writer, in Heb 9:13+14, then gives very specific and detailed evidence as to the complete need and the effectiveness of the sacrifice of Jesus for us, thereby combining the office of Christ as high priest and the Perfect Lamb of God. Heb 9:13+14, For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 
While the blood of animals served to temporarily bring forgiveness, it was a ritual that needed to be done each and every time the penitent realized that a sin had been committed. The sufficiency of the blood of bulls and goats and sheep could never be more than a band-aid trying to stop the hemorrhaging of the life blood of humanity. The more man sinned, the more animal blood had to be spilt in order to bring to mind the fact that man needed a Savior, the Messiah, Who could do much more than merely appease the guiltiness of man’s corruptness. He could bring a new life into each one who was covered by His sacrificial blood. 
	Heb 9:18-22 reemphasizes the reality of the need for blood as a covering and the means of God being able to forgive the sins of humanity. Heb 9:18-22, Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you." And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 
…without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. That is what has been highlighted over and over again throughout the Old Testament under the Law. There had to be some way to come before God and not be utterly destroyed in the sinfulness and the depravity of the fallen nature. Therefore, as a means of showing just how much mankind needed salvation, the Lord instituted the sacrifices of which we have been reading. But He also showed just how insufficient they were to do anything other than cause man to know the need for some better means of finding peace and forgiveness and fellowship with God. 
On that basis, when the time was right, as the Apostle Paul tells us in Gal 4:4+5, God sent forth His Son to bring us into a far better living relationship with Himself. Gal 4:4+5, But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 
Through Jesus Christ, we are now not only forgiven our sins, but brought into the familial relationship in which we can freely and always be in the holy presence of Our Heavenly Father without anymore fear of being utterly destroyed. That is something that the blood of animals could never do. 
	Again, in Heb 10:10-14, the Writer to the Hebrews details for us just how much more excellent is the work of Jesus Christ as both our high priest and our sanctification before God through His sacrificial blood. Heb 10:10-14, By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 
	The Apostle John, in 1 John 1:7-9, shows us how this perfect sacrifice of Christ has changed everything in the course of our lives. When we truly acknowledge Jesus as Our Lord and Savior, our entire basis of living is changed because we are thoroughly and forever cleansed from our sins. In Him, we now have true and glorious fellowship, not only with God, but with each other. 1 John 1:7-9, but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 
	The Apostle continues, in 1 John 2:1-3, with the fact that we are covered in Christ forever, even as we are being cleansed from our daily sins in our walk on this earth. This is the cleansing work of God in Christ that is effective day by day as we learn who we now are in Him. Accordingly, there should be that earnest desire to sin no more, but to seek to be utterly pleasing to God every moment of every day. In Christ, that is the course of our walk on this earth. 
1 John 2:1-3, My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 
	Our last passage of the morning is Rev 1:4-6, in which John makes known the fact that because of the perfect work of Christ, we are now made a kingdom unto God and priests to serve God throughout the eternal ages of ages to come. As He is our high priest, so are we now in service unto Him in order to be pleasing to God in every detail and truth and utter reverence. John gives us the greeting of grace and peace which has been fully established only because of the glorious work of the Only Begotten Son, the Lamb of God slain for you and for me. 
Rev 1:4-6, John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne; and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood, and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 

This morning’s benediction is Prov 3:5+6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. Amen.