2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
The Lord seems to be taking me on a path of examining the contrast between the old and new covenants, so that we can appreciate the improvements He made in the new covenant or Covenant of Grace even more than before. Some citations from HE 9 really illuminate the issue of animal sacrifices for both covenants. HE 9: 11-12, “But Christ has already come as the High Priest of the good things that are already here. The tent in which He serves is greater and more perfect; it is not a man-made tent, that is, it is not part of this created world. When Christ went through the tent and entered once and for all into the Holy of Holies, He did not take the blood of goats and bulls to offer as a sacrifice; rather, He took His own blood and obtained eternal salvation for us.” A lot is said in these two verses. To begin, HE 4: 15 is made more meaningful to us. “Our High Priest is not One Who cannot feel sympathy for our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest Who was tempted in every way we are, but did not sin.” It was by God’s will and not any other source that Christ was given authority to be our High Priest in heaven, a successor to Melchizedek. The heavenly Holy of Holies is what that in the tabernacle in the wilderness and the temples on earth foreshadowed. While the ancient Jewish high priest was only allowed to enter that earthly Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Christ’s death on the cross allowed Him to open the heavenly Holy of Holies to all of us for eternity. The forgiveness granted in the earthly one lasted only one year. The priest was required to make a personal animal sacrifice to purify himself before he could offer a sacrifice for the nation of Israel. Christ’s blood shed on the cross was enough to grant eternal forgiveness to those who believe and was a once-for-all sacrifice. That is why animal sacrifices are no longer necessary once He did the work of the cross.
If we look at HE 9: 16-18, we can see that proof of physical death is necessary for a will to be in effect. In the old covenant, the blood of the animals sacrificed supplies that proof. If we review EX 24: 1-11, we will remember how that blood was divided by Moses with half being thrown on the scroll of the Law and half on the people to seal the old covenant. Rightly so, there was no talk of salvation, because God knew this sacrifice was not the means to it. Instead, as we learn in RO 7: 7, the Law was a means to know what is righteous and what is not. The blood then is necessary to seal this covenant and to make forgiveness of sin possible [HE 9: 19-22]. Christ didn’t go into a copy of the Holy of Holies like the earthly ones were. He went into the real one that was not made with human hands in heaven and now appears there on our behalf in the presence of God [HE 9: 23-24]. HE 9: 27-28, “Everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God. In the same manner, Christ also was offered in sacrifice once to take away the sins of many. He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are waiting for Him.” Our salvation itself is made possible by Christ’s Atonement. The only way to take advantage of that opportunity for salvation comes by repentance and faith in Christ. There is no other way. That is why Christ tells us in JN 14: 6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by Me.”
Anyone who reads the book of Hebrews finds these truths in it. However, the really faithful person will then take them and ask: How does this apply to me and others around me? As I see it, the first problem for many of us once we know these truths is to accept that they apply to us individually. How many people do we know who reason that the blessings of faith are for others, but not for someone who has sinned as much as they have? The bottom line is that when we have repented and come to faith, God has not only forgiven our sins, but He has forgotten them too. We must accept that this forgiveness is ours before we can go on to the next step which is to establish a new life-style, one of living “in Christ.”
God knows that we have the freedom to sin even after we have come to faith. The difference is that we now have a conscience that He gave us so that we will feel convicted of it through the Scriptures we study and our prayer time with Him. We also have the freedom to choose to stop sinning. But, that isn’t all. He has trained Christ and given Him the authority to appear as our Advocate and Intercessor in the heavenly Holy of Holies. It is Christ Who takes our prayers to the Father and intercedes on our behalf with Him. None of this would have been possible for us individually if we hadn’t made the decision to be active and faithful participants in the Covenant of Grace. Now, in saying this, I feel it is necessary to deal with the question of what about the OT faithful, who lived before Christ and thus didn’t have the chance to come to faith in Him during their lifetimes on earth? Our awesome Father is always righteous and just. Because of knowing about Moses and Elijah being with Christ at the time of the transfiguration [MT 17:3], I believe that these OT people who were so faithful to God are given the opportunity after their physical deaths to see, know, and have faith in Christ. I truly believe in RO 8: 28, which promises that “in all things God works for the good with those who love Him, those whom He has called according to His purpose.”
PRAYER: O Lord, how compassionate and magnificent You are that You should give us Scriptures which we can understand through another of Your gifts, the Holy Spirit. He can explain to us that once we have come to faith in Christ and have repented of our sins, that we can now recognize and accept that we are forgiven. You knew that a conflict would rage once we came to faith between our outer fleshly selves and our inner spiritual selves. At times we might slip and sin. But now, due to our participation in the Covenant of Grace, we would know immediately that we had done something wrong and would choose to stop. If we don’t, then we must suffer the consequence of spiritual death. If we do, then You have put Christ in place to be our Advocate and Intercessor in the heavenly Holy of Holies to take our prayers directly to You. You listen to Him with patience, goodness, compassion, and righteousness before You decide whether to answer our prayers or not. Whatever answer You give, whether it is the one we want to hear or not, is always in our best long-term interests. That is because You love us so much. You are a fair and just God, Who extends His goodness and compassion to those who died in faith never having had the chance to know about the Son’s work and Atonement during their physical lives. They, too, have the same blessing of eternal life that You want for us. We humbly and reverently approach You today and always with our worship, adoration confession of sin, trust, obedience, honor, glory, loyalty, praise, and thanks. Diligently, in Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
In reading through JER 22: 1-9, the subject of tomorrow’s message, God has lead me to better understand why covenants matter in our lives. The lessons in this apply as much today as they did in Jeremiah’s time. I never cease to be amazed at our Abba’s love and consistency in His messages to us. A friend recently told me I “spoil” her with the love I have for her. Let me tell you that what I have in my heart for all my dear ones is only a shadow of what God has in His heart for each and every one of us. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn