Friday, March 8, 2019

Fellowship Offering

When we talk about offerings and sacrifices that carry on to the third day, it's only natural for us to begin to think about Jesus. Most of us have probably wondered from time to time what it is about the third day, why God has such a special interest in it, and in the law detailing the sacrifices, we have part of our answer.

We're talking about the fellowship offering, which is not what we think immediately about when we think about Jesus. After all, He was the atoning sacrifice for our sins, we're told. And that makes Him a sin offering, doesn't it? Or a guilt offering? Or maybe even a burnt offering? Certainly, He wouldn't be a fellowship offering.

Except...

(And I have written about this before, I know, but it bears repeating) He is the Lamb. And if you read through the Old Testament law for sacrifices, you'll see plainly that the lamb...is a fellowship offering.

Which means that the sacrifice of the Lamb would not be accepted until the third day, once it has been properly carried out through and through. Once every instruction of the letter of the law has been followed regarding it. It could be rejected on the third day if it's not done correctly, but in this case, on the third day, it's done. Over with. The Lamb walks right out of the grave, right on time.

Some persons may be bothered by the idea of Jesus as a fellowship offering. I get it. We want that atoning sacrifice. We want the fullness of absolution. We want our sins to be washed away. We want...we want...we want...but if you really think about it, the Lamb as a fellowship offering is one of the most beautiful things that God could have given us.

It declares, without hesitation or confusion, that God wants to be with us, and He'll do whatever it takes to make that happen.

He wants to bring us back into intimate relationship with Him. He doesn't just want us to be free from our sin, although that's important to our connection. He doesn't just want us to be atoned for or redeemed; those are good things, but they're not enough. He wants us to be with Him and He wants to be with us - in fellowship. Together. The way we were once in the Garden.

And we know that He washes away our sins, but we're still sinners. We know that we're redeemed, but we're still broken. We know that He's called us to higher living and made it possible, but we're still dirt stuck in the mud.

But He's also brought us back into fellowship with Him, and we know that we're living this right now. In His presence; Him in ours. We live in intimate relationship with the Lord, right now, and that's not possible without His fellowship offering.

Sacrificed on a Friday, mourned on a Saturday, and accepted on a Sunday - three days later. 

No comments:

Post a Comment