The sin offering.
When Ezekiel, a prophet, describes the ceremonial of a sin offering with some minuteness, it is reasonable to suppose that he intends the details to be suggestive of spiritual facts.
I. THERE MUST BE AN OFFERING FOR SIN. "Without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins." The practical universality of sin offerings among various races has made it appear that the sacrifice arose from an instinct of conscience. We feel that we need a propitiation for our sins. Now, Christ has come to satisfy that need, and his one death on the cross is the great atonement for the world's sin. How the Sacrifice is efficacious may be a matter of consideration, and may give rise to divergent views. The important point lies in the fact that Christ is a Sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:12).
II. THIS OFFERING MUST BE UNBLEMISHED. God cannot take what is not pure and perfect, even in our daily work we should give our best to God. But in making an offering for sin, no man can come before God without blemishes being seen on all he is and all he does. Christ is the one Perfect Sacrifice for sin, the Lamb without spot. No one ever convicted him of evil-doing. He is the well-beloved Son of God.
III. A PRIEST MUST PRESENT THE OFFERING. It must be given by one who has a right of close access to God. With our sin we shrink back from God and dare not enter his holy presence. Therefore, though in rite and symbol priests may be found to present sacrifices, as a fact, since all men are alienated from God, no men can truly serve as priests. But Christ, who became a Man, and so our Representative, and was like us in all other points, was' unlike us in his sinlessness. He never lost his near communion with God, He is our one High Priest, and he does not need to offer sacrifices first for himself, as was the case with the Aaronic priesthood.
IV. THE BLOOD OF THE OFFERING MUST BE SPRINKLED. This essential part of the ceremonial was necessary that the completed sacrifices might be efficacious by the application of its results to the worshippers. Christ has made his great sacrifice of himself once for all. But now the benefits of his death have to be shared individually by men. These benefits do not accrue spontaneously and without men's actively receiving them. The blood must be sprinkled; the grace of Christ's great sacrifice must be taken home.
1. There must be individual faith in Christ. Thus the sacrifice is made efficacious in the case of each man who will avail himself of it.
2. There must be an application to the whole of life. The blood of the Passover lamb was sprinkled on the lintels and doorposts of the houses of the Hebrews. We need to have our homes and all that belongs to us brought into subjection to Christ, and then brought under the gracious influences that stream from the great Sacrifice on Calvary.