Make Room For The New

Sermon

January 4, 2025.

Lanier Christian Church – David Simpson

Make Room for the New

Leviticus 26:9-13

9 “‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. 10 You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. 11 I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. 12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

Do any of you ever clean out your closets? What about your kitchen cabinets? What about your office? Now, when you clean, do you ever remove everything in that closet, cabinet or office and get rid of it and replace it with all new things? Stores do it quite often. Just this past week I was in a store and all of the Christmas items were on sale, trying to get rid of them to make room for the new items coming in for the Spring. They were getting rid of the old and making room for the new.

But, what about us? Few of us do that kind of radical cleaning and decluttering. Many of us hold on to things of the past. I have coats that are older than some of you here today. However, I want you to know that I have gotten rid of all my “leisure suits” and “Eisenhower jackets” and “Izod shirts” and socks with holes in them!

When it comes to our refrigerator we are much more attentive to getting rid of the old and bringing in the new. We dispose of outdated milk and eggs and meats and poultry and salad dressings and other products. We do this because outdated food may spoil and cause sickness if we consume it.

But imagine having to empty your refrigerator and your kitchen cabinets because a whole new supply of food had been left at your door? Imagine having to empty your closets because a whole new wardrobe had been donated to you by a generous benefactor? Imagine having to remove all of your old furniture because new sofas and chairs and tables were waiting for you at your front door?

That’s exactly what God did for His people. They left the old of Egypt. They left the slavery of Egypt. They left the confining sinful world of Egypt and were given new hope, new land, new lives and a new purpose. But the blessings were not there unless the obedience took place.

1. God gave his people a purpose…to prepare the way for the new.

In the Old Testament book of Leviticus, God is intentionally laying out “guidelines for living” for his chosen people. These people, the Jewish people…the children of Israel, would eventually bring about the promised Messiah. They had been in Egypt serving as slaves for at least four hundred years and now they are free. And the point of all these rules and procedures and laws found in Leviticus is for one purpose. God is carving out a distinct culture for his people, far different than their pagan neighbors. A new way to live, a way that would be devoted to God; to live a life that would honor Him, and to prepare the way for the coming Messiah, who would offer new life.

The people of God needed a makeover. He wanted them to stand out, to be an example to the world of how to live, including the priorities of faith and healthy living and caring for neighbors and loving your family. But primarily he wanted the Jewish people to bring about his greatest gift, the gift of a Savior to replace the old and broken.

2. God replaced the old and made room for the new by giving us Jesus. He came for ALL people.

The New Testament reveals the gift of Jesus, who makes many of the laws of Leviticus obsolete. We have an Old Testament and a New Testament. The NEW replaced the OLD…and it was by God’s design. Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and the prophecies and the substitute sacrifice for our sins. And the blessings of Jesus are eternal, not temporary; spiritual like peace, joy, love and hope – and not always physical, like food and homes and land. Yet, the principles are often the same. For instance, 1 Peter 2:9 reminds the Christian that we are unique and special. He says:

SL#8

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.