Set Free For God's Future

"a sin offering ... an atonement ... clean" (Leviticus 12:8).

We read the words of the book of Leviticus. We feel like we're out of our depth. We don't really know what to make all of this. We read about " a sin offering", we read about "an atonement", we read about being made "clean" - We read all of this, and the light begins to shine. It's the light of Jesus, our Saviour. We think of Him. We think of His death upon the Cross. We know that He died for us. We know that He loves us - and we rejoice in His love. Do we need to understand all that there is in the book of Leviticus? No! We catch a glimpse of Jesus - and His "sin offering." Our hearts are filled with joy, as we think of His "atonement." This a new beginning for us - "the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).  It's a new beginning. We're set free from our past. We're set free for God's future.

What is God's future? What great plan does He have for us? - This is what He says to us, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high" (Leviticus 26:13).

What God has done for us in the past is not all that He will do for us. We must never forget what He has done for us in the past. the Exodus from Egypt was a great event. It was an event of salvation. The death of our Saviour was an even greater event. this is the event of our salvation. without His death for us, we could never be saved. he took our place. He died our death. He took our sin upon Himself. He died that we might have life - the new life of those who have received the forgiveness of their sins, the eternal life which will be filled with joy forevermore. Following our entry into this new life and before our entry into God's everlasting Kingdom, there is a journey that each of us must make. It will be a different journey for each of us. We must make our own journey. My journey will not be your journey. Your journey will not be my journey. In my journey, I am not alone. In your journey, you are not alone. The Lord is with you. The Lord is with me.

What kind of journey will it be? It will be a hard road. How hard? In what way will it be hard? No-one really knows. We know that there will be "enemies" - but we know that the Lord has given us his promise: "When they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them ... I am the Lord their God" (Leviticus 26:44).

What a great promise this is! We have many enemies - but there is one enemy who is more determined than all of the rest of them, put together. Our great enemy is Satan. God's Word teaches us that Satan is a determined enemy. It also teaches us that he's a defeated enemy. we look at Satan - and we look at Jesus. We see what Satan is trying to do to us. We look at what Jesus has done for us. At the Cross, we learn that Jesus has succeeded - and we learn that Satan has failed. Jesus has triumphed over Satan. Can we doubt that Jesus' victory over Satan will be a complete victory? Can we doubt that Satan's defeat will be a total defeat? At the Cross, we catch a glimpse of the final victory. In our hearts, we know that God's Word is true: "Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57).