Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Jesus Christ's Life
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Leviticus 1:6-9
The imagery of each part of the animal teaches us the following: The head signifies one's thoughts and judgments; the fat, one's general health, energy, and strength; the entrails, one's emotions; and the legs, one's walk, the actual conduct of one's life. Again, the burnt offering indicates total surrender to God; nothing is held back; nothing is reserved for the self. Jesus' life provides us with ample examples of His dedication. His first recorded words—at age twelve—appear in Luke 2:49, "I must be about My Father's business." In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus reveals what He is to accomplish in this work, and in John 4:34, He shows His attitude by saying, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work." John 19:30 records His last words as a man, "It is finished." Through His offering of His entire life, His gift of total devotion, He accomplished what God sent Him to do. Psalm 49:10-20 vividly contrasts how the worldly expend their energies and what they produce and how those wholeheartedly devoted to God work and what they produce.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Offerings of Leviticus (Part Two): The Burnt Offering
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John 8:29
Christ's own mouth confirms from that He lived up to the prophecy in Psalm 40:6-8, which predicted how Christ would live His life in complete devotion and holiness. His utter devotion to God produced a life of complete holiness. In addition, it also produced something that we ought to value very highly: a supreme confidence, a solid, ever-present assurance of the Father's constant presence and approval as we go through life.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Offerings of Leviticus (Part Two): The Burnt Offering
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Ephesians 5:1-2
Living a life activated by loving-kindness in the keeping of God's commandments, following the example of Jesus Christ, and being tenderhearted to forgive is a sweet-smelling sacrifice to God. Three of the offerings were sweet smelling, and two were not. The sweet-savor offerings were burned on the brazen altar, while the others were burned outside the camp. No sin is seen in the sweet-savor offerings; the individual Israelite gave them completely voluntarily and not because of guilt. They are simply sweet-smelling offerings. Christ does not appear in them as our sin bearer, but, even more, He is shown offering something so pleasing—so satisfying—it is sweet to God. It symbolizes the way He lived His life. Jesus Christ was a living sacrifice long before He became the sacrifice for sin by crucifixion. "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" in service, living a sinless life (John 15:13).
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Offerings of Leviticus (Part Two): The Burnt Offering
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1 Peter 1:17-19
Redemption involves buying back something that has been taken away. Herbert Armstrong spoke metaphorically of our being kidnapped by Satan. Because the Devil has forcibly held us from the liberty God wants us to experience, we must be redeemed. We are in this humanly inescapable predicament because we have sinned in following the same manner of living as everybody else. We are released from this by means of the payment of the sinless life of Jesus Christ in a vicarious death in our place and by our repentance. Because He was sinless, our sinful imperfections can be overcome and paid for. Would imperfection in an animal disqualify it from being offered on the altar? Yes, very much so, even if the imperfection was internal and invisible to the eye. If it had a lame leg, or if its hide was marred by scarring or was ragged and mangy in appearance, it was not acceptable. If one of its eyes had been gouged out or was infected, or if its ear had been torn by a predator, it was disqualified. If it had a disease, even an internal cancer or tumor, it was unfit, even though it might have looked reasonably healthy to casual, external observation so that only the owner knew of its imperfection. Each of these physical flaws represents spiritual imperfections that could have been in Christ except that He was perfect in all His ways. For 33 ½ years, He never once had even a single, tiny, solitary moral or spiritual imperfection. He never did anything unethical, immoral, or unspiritual. Not one instance of any kind of carnality marred His life. Even if the thought of sin arose in Him, He quickly put it out of His mind. Always, in every instance, He used the mind of God. Thus, sin never desecrated or blemished Him in any way, internally or externally. He did not carry around any envy, bitterness, or gall—there was nothing in Him that would disqualify Him in any way from being a fit sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sins. It is astounding that anyone could live this way for even a day or two, let alone 33 ½ years! Christ qualified in every way to be the sacrifice for our sins. Consider, however, that the literal sin offering He made at His crucifixion took only a few hours to unfold. By comparison, His efforts to qualify to be the sin offering by being a perfect burnt, meal, and peace offering required 33½ years of sinless living! Reflecting upon what Christ accomplished is sobering to anyone of a mature mind who has attempted to duplicate even a small portion of what He did. It should certainly lead us to the deepest gratitude we can offer. Isaiah 53:9-10 gives us an insight into God's attitude toward His Son's sacrifice: And they made His grave with the wicked—but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. Not even one time did Christ's heart rise up in an attempt to deceive or to strike out in violent anger. He was childlike in attitude yet mature in His wisdom, but it pleased God to bruise and put Him to grief as the offering for our sins.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Offerings of Leviticus (Part Six): The Sin Offering
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Revelation 3:21
Jesus Christ also had to overcome. He had to overcome the same influences and pulls that we must overcome. He lived in the world under its influence. He lived with Satan alive and well, and so He had to overcome the influences of Satan the Devil, his persecutions and deceits. In addition, He had to resist the influences of human nature all around Him. They were also part of Him, but He never once gave in to them. He overcame them. We are to do as He did. This shows that the works that He is concerned about are the works of overcoming—and the keeping of the commandments is encompassed within overcoming.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Loving Christ and Revelation 2:1-7
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