How does a holy God dwell in the midst of a sinful people? The book of Leviticus (which we just finished) gives us an elaborate system for holiness that provides for such a relationship. And when that system was running and working it enabled what we observed in the first chapter of Numbers: God in the mdist of the camp. A holy God (represented by His tabernalce - the place of His dwelling) surrounded by the priests, then surrounded by the people is a reality made possible only as the people lived out the instructions for holiness laid out in Leviticus. But all this was only a shadow of the things to come.
Titus 3:4-6 gives us the fulfillment of these shadows. In these verses Paul says, "But when the goodness and lovingkindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior..."
The ritual we found in Leviticus never was able to take away sin. The blood of bullls and goats, says the author of Hebrews, was never able to take away sin. It only covered it until such a time when "the goodness and lovingkindness of God our Savior appeared." But when it appeared in the person of Jesus Christ on a cross, we were saved. This salvation is wholly by God's mercy, not man's merit. God took the initiative, cleansing us through the Spirit's washing (not just covering), and He then pours His Spirit into us to continue the renewal that only His presence in our lives can effect. God made possible through Christ, not just a shadow of His presence among us (as we have in Leviticus), but now the substance of His presence. We have the Spirit of God living in us, enabling us to live out our calling as His people.
As believers we ought be ever grateful that the Lord has been unswerving in His purpose. He has desired to live in our midst and bless us with His presence, and throughtout time He has brought to pass all that He purposed. May His name be praised.
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