July 22nd Devotion
Holy as He Is Holy
Forward with Back to the Bible
Read Leviticus 20:7-8 (ESV)
“Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you.”
Reflect
You probably already know that God demands holiness. But have you ever been able to meet God’s standard of holiness without His help?
When you first became a believer in Christ, did you ever wonder “Now what?” You had already placed saving faith in Him, and you had hope in the promise of eternal life. You knew you were one of His people now. But what were you supposed to do next? How were you supposed to live the rest of your life?
Yesterday, when we left the people of Israel, they were in a similar position. God created the nation of Israel in Genesis. In Exodus, God had redeemed them and delivered them from Egypt. Now, they were camped at Mount Sinai so that God could reveal to them, through Moses, how to live as one of His people. Which brings us to the book of Leviticus.
It is the third book of the Bible and part of Moses’ Pentateuch written sometime between 1445 and 1400 BC. Throughout the book, the Lord revealed to Moses how the people could approach Him and how the people should live as the set apart nation of a holy God. God had already redeemed His people. Now, He had to show them how to worship and serve Him.
The answer to the question of how to live as one of God’s people is found in today’s verses. God told the Israelites to “consecrate” themselves. According to GotQuestions.org, consecrate means “the separation of oneself from things that are unclean, especially anything that would contaminate one’s relationship with a perfect God.” In other words, sin makes us dirty and defiled. No one can approach God unless they are cleansed. God’s next command was to “be holy.” In Leviticus 11:44, God commanded that the people “be holy, for I am holy.” He also commanded the people to obey His laws.
God is holy and humans are not. Because of that, no one can have any fellowship with Him unless they are consecrated and made clean. God gave them specific instructions for how to approach Him through sacrifices and rites of purification and cleansing from unclean things. The levitical priesthood was incredibly important during this time. The priests had to intercede on behalf of the people to the Lord. No one could approach God except through the priest.
Animal sacrifices were prescribed for the forgiveness of sin. It was a visual reminder that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Human sin cost an innocent animal its life. But the animals’ blood was a substitute for their own blood and it cleansed them of their sins. But only temporarily.
Right there, we see the Scarlet Thread of redemption, don’t we? The sacrificial system of the Old Testament was pointing ahead to Christ, the final, perfect, and complete sacrifice. It is His blood as a substitute for ours that cleanses us from our sins, once and for all, so that we can approach a holy God.
The priesthood was also a foreshadowing of Christ. Just as the priests had to mediate between God and the Israelites, now Jesus is our perfect and final mediator: “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5-6). Jesus is our final and great high priest (Hebrews 4:15).
The last section of Leviticus focuses on Laws of Sanctification. These laws showed the people how to live “set apart” and holy lives. That is what God’s people are called to do—live holy and obedient lives in His service for His glory.
But I don’t know about you. I’ve tried being holy and I can’t do it on my own. I need help. That’s why I love the last part of today’s verse: “I am the LORD who sanctifies you.” He sanctifies us. Yes, we are supposed to dedicate ourselves to living faithfully and obediently but we don’t do this in our strength or ability. Our sanctification is a process that shows the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He is the One who sets us apart. He is the One who makes us holy as He is holy.
Forward with Back to the Bible
Read Leviticus 20:7-8 (ESV)
“Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you.”
Reflect
You probably already know that God demands holiness. But have you ever been able to meet God’s standard of holiness without His help?
When you first became a believer in Christ, did you ever wonder “Now what?” You had already placed saving faith in Him, and you had hope in the promise of eternal life. You knew you were one of His people now. But what were you supposed to do next? How were you supposed to live the rest of your life?
Yesterday, when we left the people of Israel, they were in a similar position. God created the nation of Israel in Genesis. In Exodus, God had redeemed them and delivered them from Egypt. Now, they were camped at Mount Sinai so that God could reveal to them, through Moses, how to live as one of His people. Which brings us to the book of Leviticus.
It is the third book of the Bible and part of Moses’ Pentateuch written sometime between 1445 and 1400 BC. Throughout the book, the Lord revealed to Moses how the people could approach Him and how the people should live as the set apart nation of a holy God. God had already redeemed His people. Now, He had to show them how to worship and serve Him.
The answer to the question of how to live as one of God’s people is found in today’s verses. God told the Israelites to “consecrate” themselves. According to GotQuestions.org, consecrate means “the separation of oneself from things that are unclean, especially anything that would contaminate one’s relationship with a perfect God.” In other words, sin makes us dirty and defiled. No one can approach God unless they are cleansed. God’s next command was to “be holy.” In Leviticus 11:44, God commanded that the people “be holy, for I am holy.” He also commanded the people to obey His laws.
God is holy and humans are not. Because of that, no one can have any fellowship with Him unless they are consecrated and made clean. God gave them specific instructions for how to approach Him through sacrifices and rites of purification and cleansing from unclean things. The levitical priesthood was incredibly important during this time. The priests had to intercede on behalf of the people to the Lord. No one could approach God except through the priest.
Animal sacrifices were prescribed for the forgiveness of sin. It was a visual reminder that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Human sin cost an innocent animal its life. But the animals’ blood was a substitute for their own blood and it cleansed them of their sins. But only temporarily.
Right there, we see the Scarlet Thread of redemption, don’t we? The sacrificial system of the Old Testament was pointing ahead to Christ, the final, perfect, and complete sacrifice. It is His blood as a substitute for ours that cleanses us from our sins, once and for all, so that we can approach a holy God.
The priesthood was also a foreshadowing of Christ. Just as the priests had to mediate between God and the Israelites, now Jesus is our perfect and final mediator: “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5-6). Jesus is our final and great high priest (Hebrews 4:15).
The last section of Leviticus focuses on Laws of Sanctification. These laws showed the people how to live “set apart” and holy lives. That is what God’s people are called to do—live holy and obedient lives in His service for His glory.
But I don’t know about you. I’ve tried being holy and I can’t do it on my own. I need help. That’s why I love the last part of today’s verse: “I am the LORD who sanctifies you.” He sanctifies us. Yes, we are supposed to dedicate ourselves to living faithfully and obediently but we don’t do this in our strength or ability. Our sanctification is a process that shows the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He is the One who sets us apart. He is the One who makes us holy as He is holy.
Recent
Archive
2024
January
January 1st DevotionDecember 31st follow-upJanuary 2nd DevotionJanuary 3rd DevotionJanuary 4th DevotionJanuary 5th DevotionJanuary 8th DevotionJanuary 7th Follow-upJanuary 9th DevotionJanuary 10th DevotionJanuary 11th DevotionJanuary 12th DevotionJanuary 15th DevotionJanuary 14th Follow-upJanuary 16th DevotionJanuary 17th DevotionJanuary 18th DevotionJanuary 19th DevotionJanuary 21st follow-upJanuary 22nd DevotionJanuary 23rd DevotionJanuary 24th DevotionJanuary 25th DevotionJanuary 26th DevotionJanuary 29th Devotion1-28-24 follow-upJanuary 30th DevotionJanuary 31st Devotion
February
February 1st DevotionFebruary 2nd DevotionFebruary 5th DevotionFebruary 6th DevotionFebruary 4th Follow-upFebruary 7th DevotionFebruary 8th DevotionFebrtuary 9th DevotionFebruary 12th DevotionFebruary 11th Follow-upFebruary 13th DevotionFebruary 14th DevotionFebruary 15th DevotionFebruary 16th DevotionFebruary 19th DevotionFebruary 20th DevotionFebruary 21st DevotionFebruary 22nd DevotionFebruary 23rd DevotionFebruary 26th DevotionFebruary 27th DevotionFebruary 28th DevotionFebruary 29th Devotion
March
March 1st DevotionMarch 4th DevotionMarch 3rd follow-upMarch 5th DevotionMarch 6th DevotionMarch 7th, 2024March 8th DevotionMarch 11th DevotionMarch 12th DevotionMarch 13th DevotionMarch 14th DevotionMarch 15th DevotionMarch 18th DevotionMarch 19th DevotionMarch 20th devotionMarch 21st DevotionMarch 22nd DevotionMarch 25th DevotionMarch 26th DevotionMarch 27th DevotionMarch 28th DevotionMarch 29th Devotion
April
April 1str DevotionApril 2nd DevotionApril 3rd DevotionApril 4th DevotionApril 5th DevotionApril 8th DevotionApril 9th DevotionApril 10th DevotionApril 11th DevotionApril 12th DevotionApril 15th DevotionApril 16th DevotionApril 17th DevotionApril 18th DevotionApril 19th DevotionApril 22nd devotionApril 23rd DevotionApril 24th DevotionApril 25th DevotionApril 26th DevotionApril 29th DevotionApril 30th Devotion
No Comments