From last week, do you
remember what God told Moses after the Israelites blamed Moses and Aaron for
killing Korah?
Numbers 16:44-45 44 and the Lord said
to Moses, 45 “Get away from this assembly so I can
put an end to them at once.” And they fell facedown.
Moses and Aaron responded
with humility, reverence for God and compassion for the Israelites. Even though
the Israelites deserved God’s wrath, Moses and Aaron didn’t say “Yeah, God, you
get them! We’ve had enough!” Instead, look what they courageously and selflessly
did!!!
Numbers 16:46-50 46 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put
incense in it, along with burning coals from the altar, and hurry to the
assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from
the Lord; the
plague has started.” 47 So Aaron did as Moses
said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started
among the people, but Aaron offered
the incense and made atonement for them. 48 He
stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. 49 But
14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because
of Korah. 50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the
entrance to the tent of meeting, for the plague had stopped.
Aaron made atonement [reparation
for a sin; reconciliation between God and people] for the Israelites who had
personally sinned against him. What a fore-shadow of what Christ perfectly did
for all of us, once and for all! We don’t earn Christ’s atonement, just like
the Israelites didn’t earn Aaron’s atonement. It was costly to God and Jesus,
but free to us!
Romans 3:23-26 23 for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all
are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ
Jesus.
25 God
presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his
blood—to be received by faith. He
did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had
left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he
did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just
and the one who justifies those who have
faith in Jesus.
By faith, we accept
Christ’s atonement on our behalf! Then, we can enjoy reconciliation with God!
Do you and I truly
realize that we don’t deserve Christ’s sacrifice of atonement, we can’t earn
it, but we can fully receive it by faith?
How will you and I appreciate the free atonement
offered to us through Jesus Christ?Alice