“... An offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.” (Leviticus 1:9, 13, 17)
This is a recurring statement throughout Leviticus 1-3. The Lord gave the Israelites this important instruction as to how to bring a burnt offering of sacrifice to the Lord in worship. Thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus, the lamb of God, we no longer have to do these rituals. However, knowing that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, how can we still apply this as modern day Christians? Well we know that by the power of the cross, we can boldly go into the throne room of God and offer our worship unto him. But how does our worship become a pleasing aroma to God?
If we go back to the original form of worship, a burnt offering signifies a burning away of the fat—or the impurities—of the animal. The word says, “all of the fat is the Lord’s,” (Leviticus 3:16) and it is the smell of the fat burning away that is pleasing to God.
In our worship today, we are also burning away our impurities. Impurities such as pride, gluttony, selfishness, greed, etc. All of our sinful nature we lay down at the altar, giving it to the Lord. And as we burn them away, we become pure. We become living sacrifices that are truly pleasing to God (Romans 12:1).
By worshipping Him, we are giving ourselves over to the potter’s hand, the refiner’s fire. It is in the midst of worship, in His holy presence, that the refiner's fire can begin to burn away our impurities, every part of us not like Christ, making us a burnt offering; an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.