Exodus 29:1-46

God chose Aaron and his sons to be His representatives before the people.  They were to serve God by being mediators of God’s promise to the people.  This was a vitally important job that was not to be taken lightly in any way.  Sinful man cannot live in the presence of a holy God and a Holy God cannot relate to sinful men.  The sacrificial system provided a means through which sin could be forgiven and fellowship with God be restored.  It was a difficult, messy and costly system; but it was a necessary part of restoring a relationship between holy God and sinful men.
AARON AND HIS SONS WERE SEPARATED UNTO GOD: God chose Aaron and his sons to be consecrated as His servants in order that they might be used of God in restoring relationships with His people.  This was a serious and needful ministry that God established because He loves His people and created them so that He could commune with them, enjoy their company and live rightly related with them.  Sin gets in the way of that relationship so sin had to be dealt with in some way.  Aaron and his sons were set aside for that task of dealing with the sins of many before a holy God so that man and God could enjoy a relationship with one another.  Of course Aaron and the ministry of his sons was a temporary and incomplete means of restoration as this would only truly come to completion in the person of Christ.
AARON AND HIS SONS OFFERED SACRIFICES FOR THEIR SINS: In order for Aaron to be able to perform his job as a priest before the people of God, he had to have sacrifices made for his own sins.  Christ lived completely free of sin, so no sacrifice for sin was needed in order to Christ to be rightly related with the Father.  It is precisely for that reason that Christ could be the perfect and ultimate sacrifice for the sin of the world.  Christ was without sin and perfect so His sacrifice could be a substitute for the sin of men.  Aaron, unlike Christ, was sinful so he was dependent upon sacrifices for sin in order to be able to represent God before the people.  This was a long and very bloody process with a series of man offerings and sacrifices.  God takes sin serious requires that His representative before His people deal with the sin in their own lives as a prerequisite to them dealing with the sin of others.
AARON AND HIS SONS MADE SACRIFICES FOR THE SINS OF THE PEOPLE: The burning desire of God’s heart is to commune with His people and enjoy their worship and adoration.  Since the rebellion of sin has distracted man from his intended purpose, man has been worshiping himself and other parts of creation.  Sin separates man from enjoying fellowship with God and also separates them from God’s purpose for them in the world.  Because of sin we worship ourselves instead of God.  Because of sin we are objects of God’s wrath instead of love.  Sin must be dealt with in order for man to begin to fulfill his purpose and for God to be able to restore loving relationship with man.  Aaron and his son’s had the job of dealing with the sins of men through sacrifice in order for these right relationships to be restored.  Aaron was in imperfect representative of Christ who is the true restorer of relationships through His sacrifice on our behalf.  We are now free from sin through faith in Christ so that we can worship God freely and enjoy a right relationship with Him.

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