3. TRANSFERENCE AND SUBSTITUTION.
AS the offerer brought to the altar his offering for sin, he stood "before the Lord," and in the most emphatic manner expressed the reality of the transference of his sin to the sin offering, and of its substitution for him.
The offerings for sin ordained by Jehovah in Horeb made provisions for various specific sins, and whatever the sin offering was, it was linked in the offerer's mind with the forgiveness of his sin. Over and over again, upon the completion of the offering for sin, the gracious words occur, "It shall be forgiven him.”
Let us present to our imagination an Israelite whose special sin has brought him "before the Lord"— that is, before the altar and facing the throne of Jehovah, which stood within the sanctuary. The full meaning of Jehovah's throne, as now revealed, was unknown to the Israelite, for the veil hid it from mortal sight. Nevertheless, the transgressor knew full well that his sin separated him from God, and that until that sin was forgiven him, he must remain in that separation.
We have already seen the offerer present his offering to the Lord, and the acceptance of the offering; we have also seen the offerer identify himself with the accepted offering by laying, or pressing, his hand upon it. This latter act conveyed the idea of transference. On the Great Day of Atonement the offerer laid both hands upon the head of the offering, and pressed upon it, as it were, the whole of Israel's sins of one year. Thus Israel's
SINS WERE TRANSFERRED
to the sin offering. This act spoke for itself, and none could misunderstand it; and we find that the exponents of divine truth in Israel taught explicitly the doctrine of the transference of the guilt of the transgressor to the offering. It is a little important to remember this fact, because of the tendency of our day to ignore the meaning of the sacrifices as taught in Israel.
When the transference of the sin of the transgressor to the sin offering had been effected, the offering was regarded as sin, of which we may speak later on. This was of common acceptance in Israel, and however deeply the Jew rejected the only perfect Sin Offering that has been rendered to God, he knew full well the signification of a sin offering. In our Christian day, it cannot be denied, that the full meaning of Christ being made sin for us, is but little known, and is still less believed and indeed the religion of our times sadly ignores the fullness of this great and wonderful reality-this foundation truth of the Gospel.
Let us have before us the instructions given by God to Israel, on the matter under consideration: “If the priest" (i.e., high priest) "do sin... let him bring for his sin which he hath sinned... for a sin offering."
“When a ruler hath sinned,. he shall bring his offering... it is a sin offering." “If any one of the common people sin... he shall bring his offering... the sin offering."
Here we have the sinner and his offering for sin, distinctly stated to be a sin offering. Mark, not a burnt offering, nor a peace offering, but one of a peculiar class, dealt with altogether in a different way from the burnt and peace offerings, as we shall see on a future occasion.
The sinner standing before Jehovah because of his sin, and with the sin offering at his side, obeyed the following command of God: “He shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering."
There was no other possible way for him to stand before his God, and in the application of the act to our spiritual necessities there is no other possible way for any unforgiven sinner to do so. The offerer by the obedience of his faith, transferred, in figure, his guilt to the sin offering. And the sin having been transferred to the sin offering, it became the
SUBSTITUTE FOR THE SINNER.
Next we read as follows: “He shall... slay the sin offering" "before the Lord." That is to say, the sin offering died in the stead of the sinner. We note that the offerer slew the sin offering. This act was that of the transgressor himself. It could not be undertaken for him by the priest. The emphasis of the act consisted in the sinner himself causing the death of his substitute, and the faith of the Israelite consisted in his obedience to the divine command.
Having fulfilled his part, the offerer could do no more; the rest of the work was performed by the priest.
Let us now record the result to the sinner of the sacrifice of the sin offering in the repeated words about his sins, "It shall be forgiven him."
Thus we have the sinner; then his sin offering for his sin; after that the transference of his sin to the sin offering; and then the sin offering, a substitute for the sinner; and finally the whole-the forgiveness of the sinner.
The New Testament thus speaks of our Lord as the Sin Offering: God "hath made Him to be sin for us;" not a burnt offering, nor a peace offering, in this instance; but the Lord, "who knew no sin," constituted the Sin Offering, to whom, in deepest reality, sin was transferred. The substitution of Christ for the sinner is emphatically spoken of in these words: "Christ... hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust."
Once more we take up our stand as indicated on the diagram, and utter the familiar words:
“O Christ, what burdens bowed Thy head,
Our load was laid on Thee;
Thou stoodest in the sinner's stead
To bear all ill for me.”