Message 18
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Scripture Reading: Lev. 4:1-35; 1 John 1:5-9; Col. 1:12; Rom. 5:12; 7:17, 20; 8:3; John 1:14; 2 Cor. 5:21; John 3:14; Rom. 6:6; Heb. 2:14; 4:15; Gal. 5:19-21; John 12:31
In the foregoing messages we covered the first three of the five basic offerings — the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the peace offering. The fourth basic offering is the sin offering, and the fifth is the trespass offering. In this message we will begin to consider the sin offering.
I admire the sequence of the arrangement of the five basic offerings. This sequence is not according to human thought, which would put the sin offering first. We know that we are sinful, and, as the first thing, we want our sin to be dealt with. After this, we might take the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the peace offering. The divine sequence is different from this. The divine sequence opens with the burnt offering, showing us that the primary thing with us should be that we are absolute for God. The burnt offering is followed by the meal offering, which shows us that we should take Christ as our life supply and live by Him daily. As the issue of taking Christ as the burnt offering and the meal offering, we have peace. Although we have peace, we still have certain problems — sin within and sins without — and these surely need to be dealt with.
The sequence of the offerings in Leviticus corresponds to the sequence in chapter one of 1 John. Verse 5 says, “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” Verse 6 tells us that if we say that we have fellowship with the very God who is light and yet “walk in the darkness, we lie and are not practicing the truth.” Verse 7 continues, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” This indicates that as we are having fellowship with God and enjoying Him, we will realize that between us and God there is a problem, and this problem is sin.
The New Testament deals with the problem of sin by using both the word sin in singular and the word sins in plural. Sin refers to the indwelling sin, which came through Adam into mankind from Satan (Rom. 5:12). It is dealt with in the second section of Romans, 5:12 to 8:13 (with the exception of 7:5, where sins is mentioned). Sins refer to the sinful deeds, the fruits of the indwelling sin, which are dealt with in the first section of Romans, 1:18 to 5:11. However, the singular sin in 1 John 1:7 with the adjective all does not denote the indwelling sin but every single sin we have committed (v. 10) after we have been regenerated. This sin defiles our purged conscience and needs to be cleansed away by the blood of the Lord Jesus in our fellowship with God.
Our sin, the indwelling sin in our nature (Rom. 7:17), has been taken care of by Christ as our sin offering (Lev. 4; Isa. 53:10; Rom. 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 9:26). Our sins, our trespasses, have been taken care of by Christ as our trespass offering (Lev. 5; Isa. 53:11; 1 Cor. 15:3; 1 Pet. 2:24; Heb. 9:28). After our regeneration we still need to take Christ as our sin offering as indicated in 1 John 1:8 and as our trespass offering as indicated in verse 9.
First John 1:8 says, “If we say that we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” This verse speaks of indwelling sin, the sin which we inherited by our birth. This is the sin mentioned in Romans 5:12. If we say that, after we have been saved and regenerated, we do not have sin, we are self-deceived. Although we have been saved and regenerated and although we seek the Lord, love Him, and have fellowship with Him, we still have sin indwelling us. This is a fact. If we deny it, the truth is not in us.
First John 1:9 goes on to say, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous that He may forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This refers to the confession of our sins after our regeneration, not the confession of our sins before it. Here “sins” denotes our sinful deeds.
The sequence of the five offerings in Leviticus 1 through 5 is a picture of the sequence in 1 John 1. The burnt offering, the meal offering, and the peace offering bring us into fellowship with God. When we take Christ as our burnt offering before God and when we take Him as our daily life supply, we are brought into divine peace, and in this peace we enjoy the Triune God in fellowship. Therefore, the issue of our experience of the first three offerings is fellowship with God, who is light. In the light we see our failures, our mistakes, and our wrong attitude toward others. Eventually we realize not only that we have outward sins but also that sin dwells in our flesh. We even realize that we ourselves are sin. We have the deep realization that we are nothing but sin.
We may try to be good and do what is right. However, our situation turns out to be the opposite, and we learn to say with Paul, “Now it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells in me” (Rom. 7:17). Through our fellowship with God, who is light, we discover that we are sinful, that we have sin inwardly and sins outwardly. Inwardly we have a sinful “mother,” and outwardly we have sinful deeds, which are the “children” of this sinful mother.
Galatians 5:19-21 speaks of the works of the flesh. These works include strife, jealousy, divisions, and parties. Can we say that we are without strife and jealousy in our church life? We cannot say this. In the church life there may also be parties; that is, the saints may take sides with certain ones. This was the situation in Corinth. “Each of you says, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ” (1 Cor. 1:12). If we have strife, jealousy, divisions, and parties in our church life or family life, we are living and acting in the flesh. If we say that we have fellowship with God and still have these works of the flesh, we are walking in darkness and we are self-deceived. If we have strife, jealousy, divisions, and parties in our church life, this means that our church life is in darkness. Likewise, if we say that we are in fellowship with God but are wrong in our attitude toward our husband or wife, we are self-deceived.
If we truly take Christ as our burnt offering to satisfy God and as our meal offering to be our daily food, we should be in the light and walk in the light. Then in the divine light we will see our failures and shortcomings. If we have an improper attitude toward our husband or wife, we will realize this and confess that it is wrong. If we have criticized certain brothers or taken sides with certain saints, we will realize that this also is wrong. Oh, may we all be willing to be enlightened and look to the Lord for light! If we say that we are enjoying the Lord, we must be in the light.
Colossians 1:12 tells us that Christ is the portion of the saints in the light. Christ is not the portion of the saints in darkness or in criticism or in parties. Where are we — in light or in darkness? We cannot enjoy Christ as the portion of the saints unless we are in the light.
After we enjoy Christ as the first three offerings, we need Him as the sin offering. As we are enjoying Him, we may say from the depths of our being, “Lord, I thank You that I am in Your presence. I love You, Lord, and I take You as my daily supply.” Spontaneously the light will shine. The light may shine on a word we spoke to our spouse or on our criticizing of a certain brother. Immediately we will confess and ask the Lord to forgive us.
Quite often, as I was enjoying Him, the Lord enlightened me concerning my speaking well of a certain person and showed me that my speaking was from my flesh, from my natural being, not from my spirit. Therefore, I had to make confession to the Lord concerning my speaking well of others and of their good points.
Anything that is not in the spirit, whether it is good or evil, is of one source — the flesh. Criticizing others is of the flesh, and speaking well of others from our natural being is also of the flesh. Only what we do by walking, speaking, and behaving absolutely according to the spirit, setting our mind on the spirit (Rom. 8:6), is not of the flesh.
In Romans 8:4 Paul says that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in those who walk according to the spirit. Paul does not say that when we do good things the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us, for doing good things is not according to the tree of life but according to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Instead of trying to do good, we should simply walk according to the spirit. If we do not have the anointing in our spirit, we should not say anything good or bad. This is to walk in the spirit and to be delivered from the flesh.
From the time I brought the Lord’s recovery to the United States, I have stressed four matters: Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. The burden concerning these matters has been very heavy. In this message, however, I am burdened to speak about the flesh and the cross. We need to know what the flesh is and how it is dealt with by the cross of Christ. In the Lord’s recovery today, we need a word concerning the flesh and the cross. Our enjoyment of Christ may be full of leaven and honey and may also be lacking in salt. Therefore, I am burdened to minister salt, the cross, to the churches.
In speaking about the flesh and the cross, my concern is not doctrinal but experiential. As long as we live in this body, we still have the flesh. We need to be on the alert. Yes, we have been buried with Christ in baptism, but Satan tries to resurrect what has been buried. Therefore, we need to be watchful, especially when we rise up in the morning. Having enjoyed the Lord in fellowship the night before, we may have slept peacefully. But when we rise up in the morning, the evil flesh may try to follow us. Although the flesh has been buried, it will still try to incite us to think negatively about our wife or husband or about certain brothers. We need to realize that such thoughts are a devilish resurrection of our flesh.
At such a time we need to pray, saying, “Lord, have mercy on me. I do not want to walk by this ugly flesh instigated by Your enemy. I want to enjoy You, Lord.” Then, perhaps with tears, we may go on to pray, “Father, I take Your Son, my dear Lord, as my burnt offering. I cannot be absolutely for You, but I can enjoy such a life in Him. I take Him as my burnt offering to offer to You, Father. I also take Him as my daily food.” This will bring us into the enjoyment of Christ as the peace offering. Then, as we are before the Lord, we will be enlightened and exposed, and we will see what kind of person we are. At this point we need the dear Lord Jesus as our sin offering. This is to take as our sin offering the very Christ who is our burnt offering, meal offering, and peace offering. This sequence is not a doctrinal matter. Rather, it is according to our personal, and often painful, experience.
Whenever we have the experience of enjoying peace with the Triune God, we will realize our need of the sin offering. We will confess to the Lord, saying, “Father, I have never realized that I am so sinful. I am not only sinful — I am sin. Sin dwells in my flesh, and I am a totality of sin. I surely need my Lord Jesus to be my sin offering. How I treasure Him as my sin offering!”
Whatever issues from the flesh is sin. Whether we criticize others or praise them, both have their source in the flesh and are sin. The only way to deal with this flesh is the cross, the salt. We need much salt in our daily life, family life, and church life. Only when we have the salt will the “germs” become inactive. The church life today needs “pest control,” the killing of germs by the experience of the cross. This killing is the Lord’s mercy; it is the Lord’s merciful salvation to us.
According to the New Testament, there are four things that cannot be separated: sin, the flesh, Satan, and the world. These four things are one.
In the Bible the word flesh has different denotations. First, the flesh denotes the meat of the human body (Gen. 2:21). Second, in Genesis 6:3 the flesh denotes fallen mankind. This is also the denotation in Romans 3:20, where Paul says that “by the works of law no flesh shall be justified” before God. Third, the flesh denotes the corrupted body (Rom. 7:18). God created the human body. But after the body was corrupted, it became the flesh. In contrast to a spiritual person, who lives in the spirit, and a natural person, who lives in the soul, a fleshly, or fleshy, person lives in the lusts of the flesh (1 Cor. 3:1, 3; 2:14).
John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh.” What is the meaning of flesh here? According to the context of the whole Gospel of John, the flesh in 1:14 denotes fallen, sinful man. God, the Word, became a fallen, sinful man but only in likeness. Paul makes this clear when he tells us in Romans 8:3 that God sent “His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin.” This proves that the flesh in John 1:14 is the flesh of sin. The meaning of the incarnation is that God became a sinful man in likeness. In his note on this verse, Dr. Ryrie says, “Jesus Christ was unique, for He was God from all eternity and yet joined Himself to sinful humanity in the incarnation.”
The type of the brass serpent (John 3:14; Num. 21:4-9) indicates that Christ did not have the flesh of sin but only the likeness of the flesh of sin. When the children of Israel sinned against God, they were bitten by serpents and were dying. Actually, in the sight of God, they were dead. God told Moses to lift up a brass serpent on their behalf for God’s judgment, that by looking upon that brass serpent they might be saved and live. The brass serpent was their savior. This is a type. In John 3:14 the Lord Jesus applied this type to Himself, showing that when He was in the flesh, He was, to use Paul’s words, in the likeness of the flesh of sin, which likeness was the form of the brass serpent. It had the form of the serpent but not the poison. Christ was made in the likeness of the flesh of sin, but He had no participation in the sin of the flesh (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). The brass serpent is a type of Christ as our Savior. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15).
In the Gospel of John three figures are used to describe Christ in His death: the Lamb of God (1:29), the brass serpent (3:14), and a grain of wheat (12:24). These figures describe three aspects of Christ as our Savior. In dealing with sin, He is the Lamb. In dealing with Satan, the old serpent, He is the brass serpent, the One in the likeness of the flesh of sin. In releasing the divine life to produce us as the many sons of God, He is the grain of wheat. Therefore, He is the Lamb-Savior, He is the Serpent-Savior, and He is the Grain-Savior. We have Him as our Savior in three aspects — to deal with our sin, to destroy the old serpent, and to produce us as the many sons of God.
I believe that Adam, the man created by God, was handsome. The Lord Jesus, on the contrary, had no comeliness or beauty and was not outwardly attractive (Isa. 53:2). He was a man exhausted from all kinds of sorrow (Isa. 53:3). Our Lord became a fallen man in likeness. However, when the Lord Jesus was on the cross, God counted that likeness as real.
The New Testament emphasizes the fact that Christ was crucified in the flesh and died in the flesh. He did not die in anything other than the God-condemned flesh. Romans 8:3 says, “God sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” When the Lord Jesus was crucified in the flesh, God condemned sin in the flesh. Sin is not merely a matter; sin is a person, and this person needed to be condemned. Through the Lord’s death on the cross, God condemned sin in the flesh. This means that when the flesh was crucified, sin in the flesh was condemned.
Romans 6:6 tells us that our old man was crucified with Christ. Our old man is in the flesh. Because Christ was crucified in the flesh, our old man, who is in the flesh, could be crucified with Him. Our old man was crucified with Christ in the flesh.
Through the death of Christ not only was sin condemned and not only was our old man crucified, but also Satan, the Devil, was destroyed (Heb. 2:14). Furthermore, through the cross of Christ the world was judged and the ruler, the prince, of the world was cast out (John 12:31). Therefore, through the death of Christ on the cross four things were dealt with: sin in the flesh, the old man, Satan, and the world. This means that through Christ’s death in His flesh all negative things were dealt with.
We need to have this realization whenever we take Christ as our sin offering. The sin offering means that sin in the flesh has been condemned, that our old man has been crucified, that Satan has been destroyed, and that the world has been condemned and the ruler of the world cast out.
We all need to learn to take Christ as such a sin offering. When we enter into fellowship with the Triune God through Christ as the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the peace offering, then we need to apply Christ as our sin offering.
