Christ came to replace the offerings with Himself as the real sacrifice and living offering, and He as the all-inclusive One is everything to God and to God’s people.
It is quite impressive to see how Paul in Hebrews expounds on the book of Leviticus, without mentioning it per say, and how he shows us Christ as being everything to God and to us in God’s economy.
We could say that the book of Hebrews is an exposition of the book of Leviticus, and there’s a connection between these two books. What we have in Leviticus is the types, figures and pictures, and what we see in Hebrews is the reality, fulfilment, and enjoyment.
What we see in Leviticus as a type in the offerings, the priesthood, and the feasts, we see in Hebrews as the fulfilment in the all-inclusive Christ who is everything to God and to His people.
For example, in Leviticus we have the many offerings in chs. 1-7, but in Hebrews we are clearly told that Christ came to replace the types of the offerings with Himself as the unique and real offering, the only One who could please God, satisfy God, meet man’s need, and be man’s enjoyment and God’s enjoyment.
The reality of all the offerings is Christ Himself. God never meant for these physical sacrifices to be offered continually – they were a type, a figure of the real offering, which is Christ as the reality.
The reality of the burnt offering the peace offering the sin offering, the trespass offering, and the meal offering is Christ Himself, who came to replace all the offerings with Himself and to establish the new covenant in His blood.
However, by reading the book of Leviticus alone we may not see how all-inclusive Christ is, and we may not realise how He is the reality of all the offerings. So we need the book of Hebrews to expound on the book of Leviticus and apply it to our experience.
In Hebrews 10 in particular we see how Christ offered Himself to God for sin as the reality of all the offerings, and His offering was accepted by God, it is eternally effective, God is satisfied, and we should also be satisfied with such a Christ.
The sin offering signifies Christ as the offering for the sin of the people – our sin has been dealt with by Christ on the cross, and He’s our real sin offering.
Christ was manifested once for all and He put away sin through the sacrifice of Himself on the cross. Hallelujah!
Christ Came to Replace the Offerings with Himself as the Real Sacrifice and Living Offering
In Lev. 4 we have the type of the sin offering, which was to be offered to God for the sin of the people.
In Heb. 9:26 we see that Christ offered Himself for our sin, once for all, that He might take away our sin. Just as the whole sin offering – including its skin, all its flesh, with its head, legs, and its inward parts and its dung – were burnt outside the camp (Lev. 4:11-12, 21), so Christ as our real sin offering suffered reproach outside the Jewish religion, as seen in Heb. 13:11-13.
Christ came to replace all the offerings with Himself. He was crucified outside Jerusalem, which is considered a camp representing the Jewish religious organisations.
Now we who believe into Him follow Christ outside the religious camp, bearing His reproach. This means that we are passing through the process of suffering that He underwent.
Christ is the unique sacrifice and offering – Christ came to replace the sacrifices with Himself as the real offering. A sacrifice is something that deals with sin and sins, and an offering was a gift to God for His pleasure.
Christ offered Himself to deal with our sins – He’s the perfect sacrifice, even the unique sacrifice that can deal with and remove our sins. Christ also offered Himself to God for His pleasure, and He Himself is the One who can satisfy and please God – His life and work is a satisfaction to God.
All the sacrifices and offerings in the Old Testament are types of Christ as the unique sacrifice and offering in the New Testament. It is through Christ as the real and perfect sacrifice that we and God have a mutual enjoyment, the fellowship of co-enjoyment (see Deut. 12:7).
Praise the Lord, Christ came to replace the types of the offerings in Leviticus with Himself (Heb. 10:5-10). Now that He came, all the shadows, pictures, and types of Him are done, for the fulfilment and reality is here.
He came to do the will of God by taking away the first (the first covenant, the offerings and types and sacrifices) and replace them with Himself by establishing the second covenant, the new covenant.
God never intended for the first covenant to remain forever – it was supposed to be a shadow and figure temporarily, pointing to Christ as the reality that was coming. Now that Christ came as the reality, all the typed had to be put away.
As the unique sacrifice and offering, Christ took away all the sacrifices and offerings of the Old Testament and established Himself at the New Testament sacrifice and offerings (Heb. 10:7-10).
Praise the Lord, today we are in the New Testament age, and we no longer have to offer sacrifices to God, for Christ came to replace all the offerings with Himself, and we can simply offer Christ to God!
Christ came to be the real sacrifice and living offering; He offered Himself on the cross as the reality of all the offerings (see Heb. 9:14, 25-26; 10:11-12).
Christ is not only the reality and fulfilment of the offerings: He is also a better offering. In type, all these offerings had to be repeated again and again, but in the fulfilment and reality of the offerings, Christ offered Himself once for all, and this offering is eternally effective!
Hallelujah, the Son of God is a better sacrifice, a better offering!
We praise You Lord Jesus for coming to replace the offerings and sacrifices with Yourself as a better sacrifice that satisfies God and man! Thank You for coming to do God’s will of removing the first covenant and establishing the new covenant in Your blood, with Yourself as the unique content and blessing. Lord Jesus, we take You as the reality of all the offerings. You are a better sacrifice, a better offering – You are the reality of all the offerings! You have been offered once for all, and Your sacrifice is eternally effective! Praise the Lord!
Seeing a Revelation of the All-inclusive Christ in type in Leviticus and in Reality in Hebrews
The book of Leviticus has a lot of types, figures, and pictures, but the book of Hebrews applies these types to our experience and makes them real to us in our relationship with the Lord.
The central thought of the book of Leviticus is that the universal, all-inclusive, inexhaustible Christ is everything to God and to God’s people.
The general subject of this book is that Christ is everything in the fellowship, service, and life of God’s redeemed ones. We don’t find the word “Christ” anywhere in the book of Leviticus, but when we come to Hebrews, a book which expounds the book of Leviticus, we see Christ as the reality.
In Leviticus we see that Christ is to be everything in our fellowship with God (as typified by the offerings), our service to God (as seen in the priesthood), and in our daily living (as seen in the feasts and the living of God’s people).
Every aspect points us to Christ, a wonderful person, who is everything to us.
In Hebrews we see a revelation of nothing else but Christ, who is superior, excellent, wonderful, and all-inclusive; this One replaces all the types, figures, and shadows in the Old Testament, in particular in the book of Leviticus.
In Leviticus we see the ordinances related to the offerings, the priesthood, and the living of God’s people, and in Hebrews we see Christ, for God’s intention is to point us, His people, to Christ as the all-inclusive One.
Today we are in the process of learning to enjoy Christ and apply Him to our experience, but one day all things will be headed up in Christ (Eph. 1:10); at that time, Christ will be everything to God and man.
In the book of Leviticus itself we cannot see how great, excellent, wonderful, all-inclusive, and inexhaustible is the Christ whom we offer and enjoy as the offerings; for a revelation of the all-inclusiveness of Christ, we need to consider the aspects of Christ that are revealed in Hebrews.
Hallelujah, what a Christ we have – He is so great, so vast, so immense, so all-inclusive, and so full of meaning, significance, and enjoyment!
As we read the book of Hebrews we see a wonderful Person, Christ, who replaces the offerings – Christ came to replace all the offerings with Himself.
He is not only our Savior – He is also our High Priest. He came to do God’s will – Christ came to replace the offerings with Himself as the reality, and He also came to be our High Priest. What a Christ we have!
As we read the book of Hebrews we see who Christ is and what He is, and we are brought not only into an appreciation but also in a rich enjoyment and participation in this wonderful Person!
Hallelujah, the universal, all-inclusive, inexhaustible Christ is everything to God and to His people! Amen, Lord, bring us into this realization and experience in our daily life. May we enjoy the all-inclusive Christ as our everything in our fellowship, service, and daily living with God and before God. What a rich Christ we have! How all-inclusive He is! Praise the Lord, Christ came to replace the offerings with Himself, and He is also our High Priest! Lord, bring us into a rich enjoyment and participation of Yourself as the all-inclusive One!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by James Lee for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 379, 381 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Leviticus (2), week 3, Hebrews as an Exposition of Leviticus.
- Hymns on this topic:
# When the Lord was resurrected, / All religious things were through; / Christ is now our living temple, / Christ is all our offerings too. / With our Lord in resurrection, / Hallelujah, we’re released! / Pity all the old religion— / All our meetings are a feast! (Hymns #1281)
# Lord, the ancient types and symbols / As our all Thyself portrayed; / As was shadowed in those figures, / Real to us Thou now art made. / Contemplating such a picture, / As we on its wonders gaze, / How we marvel at Thy riches / And our song of worship raise. (Hymns #196)
# All types and figures of the ancient time, / All things we ever need, both great and small, / Only are shadows of the Christ of God, / Showing that He must be our all in all. (Hymns #496)
