Introduction
People have many ideas about how to worship God, whether it be going to church services on Sunday, using music to worship Him, praying to Him, or even prostrating before Him. Have you ever asked God and searched in the Scripture to see how He wants to be worshiped?
Jesus said, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24).
“But the hour is coming, and now is,” indicates the advent of the new covenant age through Jesus Christ. In the old covenant days, two things were required by God for His people to worship Him: 1) the place of God’s choice – the temple in Jerusalem, and 2) to come with offerings as mentioned in Leviticus 1-7.
Concerning the place of worship: in the new covenant, the real temple is not any physical building. It is the church of the living God, which is Zion, where the believers are being built up together as living stones into a spiritual house. It is a holy temple, a dwelling place of God in spirit with Jesus Christ Himself as a living stone and also the chief cornerstone (1 Pet. 2:4-5; Eph. 2:20-22; 1 Tim. 3:15). Paul also said that Christ is the unique foundation of the church (1 Cor. 3:10-11). In Hebrews 12:22-23, it says, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem…to the festal gathering and the church of the firstborn.” By this we understand that the place of worship the Lord Jesus is talking about in John 4 is His living spiritual house built by the Lord Himself and not by man (Matt. 16:18; Heb. 8:2; 9:11; Acts 7:48).
Concerning the offerings: in the new covenant age, the offerings are no longer animal sacrifices, which are just a shadow and types pointing to Christ. That is why John the Baptist pointing to the Lord Jesus said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29), showing everybody that Jesus Christ is the reality of the sin offering. He is the true Lamb of God. He replaces all the animal sacrifices mentioned in Leviticus 1-7, as confirmed by the verses in Hebrews 10:6-10. Jesus Christ is the reality and substance of all the offerings described in the Scripture.
Now that we are clear on the two points regarding the place of worship and the offerings, there is one other important point that we need to see: the priesthood. The temple and the offerings require the holy priesthood. A temple without a priesthood is like a restaurant with groceries, but no chefs. According to the Bible, from the very beginning God desired to have a kingdom of priests (Ex. 19:6). Peter confirms this in his first epistle that the church is a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:5, 9; see also Rev. 1:5-6; 5:9-10). When coming together in the house of God, every believer should be a priest and learn to offer up Christ as spiritual sacrifices to satisfy the Father.
The purpose of this book is to show us how to experience and gain Christ in our daily living as the reality of all the different offerings. In Deuteronomy 16:16, God commanded His people not to come empty-handed when they go to Jerusalem to worship Him. They need to bring the different offerings when they come to keep the feasts in Jerusalem. God said that the offerings are His food (Num. 28:2). If all the believers would practice this priesthood by bringing the reality of Christ that they experienced to offer up to the Father every Lord’s Day, then that would satisfy the Father. By doing so, the saints will also grow, mature, and be transformed in their spiritual life. The Father is still seeking such worshipers. This is God’s wisdom for His believers to gain Christ in their daily living, to live Him, and be ready for His coming.
Hebrews 10:5-7 says, “…Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come…to do Your will, O God.’” The burnt offering signifies Jesus Christ becoming a Man to fulfill the will of God (John 4:34). He led a life that was absolutely obedient to the One who sent Him, and He was well-pleasing to the Father in every way (John 8:29). Actually, we Christians should be such people, but because of our fallen nature, we are unable to live such a life. For this reason, God sent His Son Jesus Christ to be the burnt offering to accomplish His will.
Christ – the One Who Is Absolutely Obedient to the Father
The apostle Paul gave us a unique description of our Lord Jesus Christ as the burnt offering in Philippians 2:5-8: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
We thank the Lord that He died for our redemption and the remission of our sins, but He did not come just to be our sin offering. The Scripture shows us that He is also the burnt and the meal offering, and this has been neglected by many Christians. As mentioned in Hebrews 10:5-7, the Lord Jesus came as a Man primarily to do God’s will. The first man Adam failed God when he fell into sin and became one with God’s enemy, Satan. Now Jesus Christ came as the second Man, the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45-47), to fulfill God’s will. When He was only twelve years old, He was found in the temple by His parents who had searched for Him for three days, “in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers” (Luke 2:46-47). When asked why He had done this, Jesus answered: “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (v. 49). Who among us was caring for our heavenly Father’s business when we were twelve? We were probably playing ball and doing many naughty things; and as we grew older, we became distracted by other things. We care for our education, our families, our profession, or our businesses, and of course, our vacation as well! We do not allocate much time to the heavenly Father’s business – perhaps just for an hour or two on Sunday at the morning worship service. If we have a heart to serve Him, we do it at our own convenience, according to our own ways and passions; but have we ever asked the Father what His eternal plan and purpose is for man on this earth?
Jesus was absolutely different from us; He was fully one with the Father for His purpose. He started His ministry at the appointed age of 30 (Luke 3:23), according to the law of the priesthood (Num. 4:3). He learned obedience through the things which He suffered (Heb. 5:8) and accomplished what the Father had sent Him to do within 3½ years. He once said to His disciples, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34); so, on the cross, He could say, “…It is finished!” (John 19:30). During His ministry He said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19) and “…The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works” (John 14:10). “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30), He could even say, “…He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). What a wonderful Servant of God (Is. 42:1-4), a true burnt offering as a sweet savor to the Father! We, on the other hand, are very presumptuous when we try to do God’s work; we speak and do many things without Him, because we do not know Christ as our burnt offering. We should learn to appreciate and experience Jesus Christ as such a burnt offering to become like Him.
This does not happen overnight. This is precisely the reason why the burnt offering is for our daily experience. There are so many opportunities each day for us to apply Him as the burnt offering. Whenever the Lord tells you to stop doing whatever you are doing to spend some time with Him, you have a chance to experience Christ as the burnt offering by obeying Him. Actually, if we would only pay attention, the anointing within us is constantly prompting us to do what God wants us to do. Unfortunately, we often ignore His guidance, and grieve the Holy Spirit by our disobedience. It takes time to learn. As a disciple of the Lord Jesus, Peter made many mistakes in the beginning, but with time and practice, he learned his lessons and became a faithful servant of God, fully one with God’s will and purpose. All the apostles went through the same process and were faithful to the end as martyrs.
The apostle Paul was a good example for the Gentile believers. He said, “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I that live, but Christ who lives in me…” (Gal. 2:20). He did not want to live himself, but to let Christ Jesus live in him. In Philippians 1:21 Paul said, “For to me, to live is Christ,” and in 2 Corinthians 5:9, “Therefore, we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.” As he was on his way to Jerusalem, many pleaded with him not to go because they sensed the danger there; but he answered, “…For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13b). He surely knew Christ as the burnt offering and was willing to be obedient to God even unto death. This change did not happen overnight; but as all the apostles learned to live this wonderful Christ as the burnt offering, in the end they were willing to give up their life for God’s will. The way they lived and served God should be our example.
The Mind of Christ
The apostle Paul encouraged us to have this same mind, which was also in Jesus Christ (Phil. 2:5-8). This is the attitude of the burnt offering:
- laying aside all self-glory
- emptying and humbling ourselves
- becoming a bondservant to serve others
- being obedient
- willing to suffer and not caring for our own life.
May this mind also be in all of us. As prophesied in Isaiah 53, Jesus knew of the sufferings He had to go through before He came; yet He obeyed and was willing to come. From the time of His birth in the manger all the way to His death on the cross, He went through all kinds of trials and sufferings to accomplish God’s will. No one can fathom all the things He went through. When we serve, we complain a lot; some require a big salary, a comfortable living, (some pastors even require private jets), position, power and authority, or to be appreciated and uplifted by people. This is nothing like Jesus, the Servant of God, and is definitely not a sweet aroma to God or well-pleasing to Him. Such a service will not only be rejected by God but will also be judged by Him with fire (1 Cor. 3:13-15).
The Burnt Offering – the Most Important Offering to God
The burnt offering is the first offering mentioned in Leviticus because from God’s perspective it is the most important one. We always think about ourselves and our needs and seldom think of God’s needs. Who is more important – you or God? Why is it that you are not satisfied? Have you ever thought it is because we have not satisfied God first (Hag. 1)?
In the burnt offering, every part of the animal – the head, the fat, the entrails, the legs – is offered up by fire on the altar to God as a sweet aroma; but the skin is given to the priest who offered it (Lev. 1:8-9). The entire person and life of the Lord Jesus was wholly acceptable to God as a sweet aroma. God testified to it saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17; 17:5). The skin of the burnt offering signifies Christ as our garment of salvation and our robe of righteousness (Isa. 61:10). The more we experience Christ as the burnt offering, the more we will be able to put on Christ as the new man. We can then become a person who truly does God’s will. God desires to have many more servants like His Son Jesus Christ.
The Different Sizes of Burnt Offerings
Leviticus 1 reveals four different sizes of the burnt offering: a bull, a sheep, a goat, and a turtle dove or young pigeon. This indicates to us:
- Not all of God’s people have the same spiritual growth and condition, yet everyone can bring a burnt offering to the Father according to his measure and experience.
- The Father has no size preference and is satisfied with any offering as long as it is genuine.
- The different sizes serve as an encouragement for us to grow and get into deeper experiences of Christ. The Scripture encourages us to go on to maturity (Heb. 6:1).
The Importance of Knowing and Doing God’s Will
Jesus warns us with a very serious word in Matthew 7:21-23: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
Many may say these verses are referring to the unbelievers, but unbelievers would neither be calling Him, “Lord, Lord,” nor be prophesying or casting out demons and doing wonders in His name. So, these are actually believers who are serving the Lord according to their own whims and in their own ways. The Lord does not recognize the things they did as the will of the Father. So, we should ask what the Lord means by “the will of the Father.” In the previous chapter of Matthew, the Lord taught His disciples how to pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:9-10). The gospel in the book of Matthew is called the gospel of the kingdom. John the Baptist, Jesus and His disciples preached saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matt. 3:2; 4:17; 10:7). The gospel of Matthew even mentions the phrase “the kingdom of heaven” 32 times. The Lord also mentioned in the beginning of His ministry: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3). He gave another serious warning in the same chapter: “unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (v. 20).
The gospel of Matthew shows us that God’s will is to bring His heavenly kingdom down to this earth. In order to do this, He must first accomplish redemption through Jesus Christ to gain a people for His kingdom. We must be born again to have His kingdom life within us (John 3:3-6). Thus, we are called the “sons of the kingdom” in Matthew 13:38. You may ask, “Where is this kingdom?” The Lord answered in Luke 17:21 this kingdom today cannot be seen outwardly by the world, but He says, “For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” We know that He is referring to His life within us. However, the Scripture tells us that this life needs to grow and mature within us.
The Father revealed something further to Peter in Matthew 16:16, that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The Jews understood “the Christ” (in Hebrew, the Messiah) as the anointed King. Immediately thereafter, the Lord revealed to Peter that He will build His church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it (v. 18); and He will give Peter and the church “the keys of the kingdom of heaven” (v. 19). This revelation is a wonderful mystery: God’s kingdom today is the church Christ is building to defeat the gates of Hades. And the Lord Jesus is not only our Savior, but much more excellent than that, today He is the King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 17:14; 19:16) sitting on the throne. He is the ruler over the kings of the earth (Rev. 1:5); and as our great heavenly High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek, He is the King of righteousness and the King of peace (Heb. 7:1-2). But is He also the king in our hearts? Does He rule over our lives?
We are supposed to be His kingdom and His subjects, but we are so rebellious. The Lord said in Mark 3:24, “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand” (see Matt. 12:25). Today we see much confusion, division and desolation among God’s people. It is because we do not know the will of the Father. We fail to realize that the church is His kingdom today. We do not listen to His anointing, the Holy Spirit, in us; and although we seem to do many things for Him, we each still do them according to what is right in our own eyes (Deut. 12:8). It is no wonder that at His second coming, the King will say to many: Depart from Me. I do not know you (see Matt. 7:21-23; 25:12; Luke 13:25-27). This is very serious.
Revelation 1:6 and 5:10 show that God’s purpose for saving us is to make us kings and priests unto Himself. Actually, from the very beginning when God brought His people out of Egypt, His plan was to make them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exod. 19:6). But His earthly people, Israel, rebelled against Him and became idol worshipers. However, God never changed His plan, and He will accomplish the same with His New Testament church. The majority of the Christians, however, do not consider themselves priests, and much less kings. They are taught that they will all go to heaven to enjoy all kinds of things like playing golf, walking on streets of gold, or living in mansions, not about God’s plan to have man rule with Christ; but Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5). When the Lord comes back “we shall reign on earth” with Him (Rev. 5:10). In brief, this is the will of the Father, His high calling for us. We hope that many Christians today will see this and answer His call.
In order to cooperate with the Father to fulfill His will today, we need to practice the priesthood as mentioned in 1 Peter 2:5 – to know and experience Christ as the reality of all the offerings, especially the burnt offering, and offer them as spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God our Father in His church. This is the purpose of publishing this booklet. It is not just for us to know about the different kinds of offerings. May we become the royal priesthood and the true worshipers to offer up spiritual sacrifices to the Father through Jesus Christ. Amen!
