How can we live in God's presence?
Well, the answer, is given to us in the Book of Leviticus.
For just before it, in the book of Exodus,
we see Moses trying to enter God's presence.
For God had just filled this newly constructed tabernacle,
with his glorious luminescence.
But a problem develops for Moses,
which still exists for us today.
We cannot enter in to God's space.
And the reason we can't enter in
is because of who we are,
and who he is.
Because God is perfection, and we are sin;
it's the same reason why darkness can't exist within light.
Because that which is dark cannot remain
next to that which is bright.
So, if we are ever to dwell with God,
we must become like light,
or as the Book of Leviticus will tell us,
the only way to live with God closely,
is to be holy as he is holy.
But how can we?
With all our sin and everything that's broken,
how will our darkness be able to enter his presence for even one moment?
Well, the Book of Leviticus provides us with the answer,
and it's through something called atonement.
Atonement is the price that has to be paid
to make humans and God alike.
So, God graciously provided a system through priests and sacrifice,
to take his people's darkness, and replace it with light.
Atonement allowed the Israelites to transfer their darkness onto an offering
God had specified.
And since the cost of sin is the loss of life,
that atoning offering had to die.
But that only removed the penalty of darkness;
it did not create any light,
which is why sacrifice is only part of the story atonement has to tell.
The other part is that God made a way
to turn his people into light as well.
That's what Leviticus calls Purification,
the taking of the dark, and making it bright with God's holy illumination.
It's taking the innocence of the sacrifice, and granting it to another,
in an act of gracious application.
And that's what God gave the nation of Israel:
a way for them to be light like him,
and live near his presence in the temple.
That's why this system was essential,
that's why atonement was necessary.
But the problem was,
the effects of this ceremonial system,
were only temporary.
For like all of us,
the people who lived in the time of Leviticus,
did not sin just once,
but constantly.
So, they did not need atonement one time, but repeatedly.
They could not stop becoming darkness,
and deserving its penalty;
they could not stop becoming unlike God and needing new purity,
which is why the priests had to
stand at the altar daily, to make atonement for the people unceasingly.
That's why Leviticus is filled with so many sacrifices and offerings,
but no matter the offering,
again and again,
with great care and expense,
the priests stood on behalf of the condemned,
to take their darkness,
make it light,
and intercede for them.
So when we read in Leviticus about goat livers and dove wings,
fine flour and kidneys,
what we really need to see,
is just how much it takes
to make atonement for our wrongs,
so we might be right.
We need to see how much it costs
to take our stains, and make them white.
We need to see that something has to die
to take our darkness and make us light.
But above all, we must remember the point of all of this
is to make a way for us to live in God's presence,
which is why
one day described in Leviticus outshines all of this meticulous maintenance,
and it becomes the book's main focus.
And the name for this day,
the name for this moment,
is the day of atonement.
For on this day, God provided a way
for just one priest,
just once a year,
to enter his presence,
make amends for sin,
and allow all God's people to be cleansed.
But this priest was not truly light.
He had to make his own sacrifice to briefly be allowed to enter God's might.
So this was not a permanent condition, but a momentary glimpse.
This was not the end of the story,
but where it begins.
For if humans living outside God's light
are ever to be brought within,
we are going to need a better priest.
One who is without sin,
one who doesn't have to purify himself to enter the tent,
but who is already light itself and can bring us with him.
Which is why what Leviticus
depicts is not a finished system.
Instead, it points to something else in the distance,
to a day God had chosen;
the day when God would complete everything
Leviticus put in motion.
It points us to another day,
a final day of Atonement.
For the light in the temple, the very presence of God,
did not stay in Heaven, but became flesh and blood.
And this God in the flesh,
this blood from the father, put his own life and light
on the last and final altar,
the final Day of Atonement,
is in Jesus's cross.
It fulfills everything Leviticus taught,
and every sacrifice found within.
But no longer would sinners bring their offering to God,
for God would be the offering for them.
And so he who is light itself,
took on our darkness,
and died for our sins.
But then, Jesus did something even better,
than the priest did on the Day of Atonement.
Jesus brought God's light out to those who
before could never even approach it,
which is why Leviticus shows us that
through atonement, we get to live with God.
For Jesus has made us into holy light like he is too.
And the most astonishing part of this Good News
is that the light of God's presence,
actually comes to dwell
in you.
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