Jehovah Mekadesh
Leviticus 11:44, Romans 3, 12: 1-2, 15:13
The Lord who sanctifies. We first see this name said in scripture in Leviticus 11, a chapter that in summary talks about what we should/should not eat when it comes to . For there were certain things that were Holy and those are the things we should consume by a choice of our own free will. So you’re probably asking yourself (as I did when I first read this passage)... ‘what does this have to do with sanctification?’
Well, to sanctify or sanctification means to make or declare something holy. Before the resurrection, this was done through the sacrifice of animals - but only certain ones that were deemed holy (ask talked about earlier in Leviticus 11). But the process of sanctification would come when an animal was sacrificed so that our sins would be washed away or forgiven.
That’s where Jesus comes in. His death and resurrection was the sacrifice that paid for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD. Past, present, and future. So that our sanctification is no longer that through animal sacrifice but the renewing and repentance of sins that leads to freedom. For we all fall short (Romans 3:23) but we have redemption through the gift of grace in Jesus (Romans 3:24).
The Lord who sanctifies is the perfect picture of holiness. He is righteous. And He is constantly renewing and transforming us to reflect His holiness (Romans 12: 10). Can we ever attain holiness? No. But Sanctification through repentance creates moments of transformation that can lead us to look MORE like Jesus. If we believe that Jesus was perfect and blameless, then the discomfort of sanctification is to be expected. The Lord is continually sanctifying us and that means taking up our cross of comforts, pleasures, and patterns.
The good news… yes, let’s get to the good news. We know and have a God who is unchanging and faithful. The Lord who sanctified in Leviticus is still the Lord who sanctifies today. There is hope within sanctification, because God is a God of hope.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
