1 Cor. 5:14 For the Love of Christ constrains us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
15 And that He died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again.
21 For He has made Him (Christ) to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the Righteousness of God in Him.
We are the Righteousness of God; by the power of God. His power, his Righteousness, for us, through what Christ has accomplished for us on the Cross, because of the Faith which we have in that finished work.
LEVITICUS
The Mosaic Law given in Leviticus looks forward to what Christ would accomplish for us, via his perfect sacrifice on the Cross.
Leviticus 9:15 And he brought the people’s Offering, and took the goat, which was the Sin Offering for the people, and killed it, and offered it for sin, as the first (the first thing to be taken care of was sin).
16 And he brought the Burnt Offering, and offered it according to the manner (sin having first been dealt with, the Perfection of Christ is now given to the blood cleansed sinner). (Expositions from JS, Expositors Study Bible)
There were five main offerings under the Old Covenant. And they all typified the Offering of Christ on the Cross, with the shedding of His Blood, and the numerous suffering which he accomplished.
These offerings were the Sin Offering, The Burnt Offering, The Meat Offering, The Peace Offering, and the Wave Offering. These Offerings were all done as a testimonial of their looking forward to Christ.
The Israelites of the Old Testament were saved the same way we are!!! Say what??? The Blood of Christ is the only thing which can wash away sin. The difference is, they were looking forward to the sacrifice of Gods Lamb, whereas we are looking backward to what the Lamb of God has already accomplished.
I believe the sacrifices which they continually made were a way for God to remind them continually that they were sinners who needed a sacrifice and to keep their eyes looking forward to that very sacrifice. The dispensation of Law required that they offer up sacrifices and live under the Law continually.
The dispensation of Grace does not require sacrifices to be made for transgressions of the Law, for Christ has become that eternal sacrifice taking the Law out of the way. However, we must still (even as the people under the Old covenant) maintain our Faith in, God providing our Righteousness. Which he has provided by Christ shedding his Blood and giving his life on the Cross.
EXODUS
Exodus 12:3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:
5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: you shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
6 And you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
7 And they shall take of the blood (which represented the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ), and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. (eat the Passover; in 1 Corinthians5:7-8, we have the Divine Authority for our regarding the contents of Exodus, Chapter 12, as typical of what our Blessed Saviour did on the Cross; at the deliverance of the Children of Israel from Egypt, the blood, which represented the shed Blood of Christ, was to be put on the side posts and the upper posts of the house; later, it would be applied to the Mercy Seat on the Great Day of Atonement; now, by Faith, it is applied to out hearts [Jn. 3:16; Eph. 2:13-18]).
8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night (in essence, Jesus was referring to this in John 6:53-55; of course, He wasn’t speaking of His flesh literally being eaten, but was speaking rather of our Faith in Him and what He would do for us at the Cross; or Faith must be in the entirety of His Finished Work), with fire roast (this spoke of the Judgment of God that would come upon Him as the Sin-Bearer, which was death, instead of us), and unleavened bread (this typified the Perfection of Christ; He was Holy, harmless, and undefiled [Heb. 7:26], of which the lack of leaven was a Type): and with bitter herbs they shall eat it (the “bitter herbs” were to remind the Children of Israel of the slavery which they had experienced in Egypt [Ex, 1:14]; as well, the Cross ever reminds us presently of that from which we were redeemed, abject slavery to Satan).
11 And thus shall you eat it: with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand: and you shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S Passover. (The Passover was ever a Type of the Cross. In 1 Corinthians 5:7, we read: “Christ our Passover.” He is now “our” Passover, because He was first the “LORD’S Passover.”)
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast: and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
(The words “pass through” could be translated “go through,” since the word used is entirely unconnected with the “Passover.” According to Exodus 12:23, the Lord did not personally go through the land of Egypt that particular night, but rather that He used an Angel. The “beasts” were included, because animal worship was an important part of the religion of the Egyptians, So, the Lord directed His judgment against every facet of Egyptian life and living.)
13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are (the blood applied to the door posts meant that their Faith and trust were in the Pascal Lamb; the blood then applied was only a “token,” meaning that it was then but a symbol of One Who was to come, Who would redeem mankind by the shedding of His Life’s Blood): and when I see the blood, I will pass over you (this is, without a doubt, one of the single most important Scriptures in the entirety of the Word of God; the lamb had taken the fatal blow; and because it had taken the blow, those in the house would be spared; it was not a question of personal worthiness, self had nothing whatever to do in the matter; it was a matter of faith; all under the cover of the blood were safe, just as all presently under the cover of the Blood are safe; this means that they were not merely in a savable state, but rather that they were “saved”; as well, they were not partly saved and partly exposed to judgment, they were wholly saved, and because there is no such thing as partial Justification; the Lord didn’t say, “When I see you,” or, “When I see your good works,” etc., but, “When I see the blood”; this speaks of Christ and what He would do at the Cross in order that we might be saved, which pertained to Him giving Himself in Sacrifice, which necessitated the shedding of His Precious Blood [1 Pet. 1:18-19]). And the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. (Salvation from the “plague” of Judgment is afforded only by the shed Blood of the Lamb, and Faith in that shed Blood.)
The only way you are going to be able to enter heaven is upon the life and death of Another, namely, Jesus Christ.
Ian Thomas put it in another way: “The life that Jesus lived qualified Him for the death that He died, and the death that He died qualifies us for the life that He lived!”
When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He meant that the sacrifice for sin—the atonement—was complete. Paid in full. ( Charles Swindoll: The Darkness and the Dawn.)
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