The Blood Bridges the Gap

In one paragraph

This was week three of a series called "Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves," working through the book of Leviticus. Brian Hunter focused on the blood sacrifice described in Leviticus 3, pushing back against the idea that sacrifice is about appeasing an angry God, and arguing instead that blood is God's own provision for intimacy with him. The congregation read the passage together and contributed to...

Read together

1. Leviticus 3:1-17 read aloud by congregation members as the main text on the fellowship offering and blood sacrifice
2. Leviticus 10 referenced as the story of Aaron's sons struck down for offering unauthorized fire
3. Leviticus 17:11 quoted to show that the life of the body is in the blood and God gave the blood on the altar to purify and make right with him
4. Numbers 27:18-20 referenced to show Moses laying hands on Joshua transmitting essence and spirit as scriptural basis for the laying on of hands
5. Psalm 15 read in full to illustrate who may enter God's presence, connecting blamelessness to the unblemished animal requirement
6. 1 John 4:9-10 quoted as the closing text showing God sent his son as a sacrifice to take away sins and satisfy his wrath so we can have intimacy with him

Talk about it

1. Brian described the Thunderdome as a picture of every moment when our will comes up against Jesus's will, and said that in that arena one person wins and one person dies. What does it actually look like in your daily life when you let Jesus win that fight, and what does it look like when you don't?
2. Brian said you can have a casual relationship, a fear-based relationship, or a rule-based relationship with God, but that a life-giving relationship requires something to die. Where do you think your own relationship with God sits on that spectrum right now, and what might need to die for it to go deeper?
3. Several people in the room pointed out how costly the sacrifice requirement was since you had to bring the best animal from your herd, not the weakest, and do it over and over again every time you sinned. How does that weight of cost change the way you think about your own sin and about what Jesus did?
4. Brian walked through the idea that laying hands on the animal was not mainly about transferring sin but about appointing a representative, so that your essence could get to the altar and ascend into God's presence. Does that picture change anything about how you understand what Jesus did on the cross when he stood in as your representative?
5. Brian read from First John that this whole system was God's design, not man's attempt to calm an angry God, and said God created it because he wants intimacy with us but will not compromise his holiness. What does it do to your picture of God to see him as the one who designed the way close, knowing that his goal was to be close to you?