HEBREWS 9

11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:

14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

15 And for this cause He is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

JESUS – THE MEDIATOR

In the garden of Eden, paradise was lost.

God was now separated from man, and there was nothing that man could do to apart from God’s mercy to be made right with his Creator.

Throughout the OT, God had a series of animal sacrifices that were a forerunner of the perfect sacrifice that Jesus made at Calvary.

The sacrifices had to usually be a lamb without spot or blemish, this pointed to the sinless lamb of God, who was totally without sin in any shape of form.

Through these animal sacrifices God would impart mercy, but not salvation.

That would come later once Christ gave His life for sin.

Through His blood we receive redemption and life everlasting.

What happens at that moment is that your conscience is purged and you are freed from the dead works you once did; you now serve a new master, this is what happened to the Apostle Paul.

In the Book of Philippians, he counts all of his past accomplishments as dung, a total waste.

His relationship with Christ was the only thing that mattered.

And that should be the same for us as well.

The Old Testament or covenant was carried out by a series of sacrifices and rituals, so that the Children of Israel could experience the presence of God.

But Jesus has made a new testament or new covenant.

Later in Hebrews it is called “a new and living way.” Hebrews 10:19-22

Jesus is the mediator of that covenant.

He and He alone is the only one who could bring us back into fellowship with the Father.

The sacrifice had to be perfect, it had to be better and it had to once.

It was all of these things, because it was made by Jesus, the sinless Son of God.

Jesus is my sacrifice.. he sacrificed His life for me.

He has called me to receive an eternal inheritance.

Why has He called me? Because He set his love upon me before the foundation of the world.

That is why I can San. WHAT A GLORIOUS SACRIFICE…WHAT A GLORIOUS SALVATION…WHAT A GLORIOUS SAVIOUR.

Jesus died for me

Set His divine love on me

To give me eternal salvation

And to glorify His name

God bless you

Keith

HEBREWS 7

27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for His own sins, and then for the people’s: for this He did once, when He offered up Himself.

JESUS – THE GREAT HIGH PRIEST

The theme of the book of Hebrews, is that Jesus is superior to the Old Testament form of worship.

He is also superior to Moses and Aaron, those who were appointed by God to lead Israel in how they should approach the almighty.

When read alongside the book of Leviticus, the Book of Hebrews makes a bit more sense.

In OT times, there were several sacrifices that the children of Israel had to make for the atonement of their sins; they brought the animals to be sacrificed to the priest.

There was the Scapegoat, a live goat that had the sins of the people placed on his head and was sent outside the camp into the wilderness.

Perhaps the most notable sacrifice was the sin offering presented by the high priest once a year.

Known among the Jews as the Day of Atonement, the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies once a year to present the blood of the sacrifice to atone for his own sins and the sins of the people.

The sacrificial system of worship given in the Book of Leviticus points to the ultimate sacrifice…Jesus the Son of God who gave His life for the sins of the world at Calvary.

The high priest was a man, who had to atone for his own sin, but Jesus was sinless.

In Leviticus, the lamb to be sacrificed had to be “without spot or blemish.”

This points to Christ, the sinless Lamb of God.

It is no wonder the angels cry Worthy is the lamb who was slain.

Christ offered up Himself for our sins.

He did what He did with a willing heart, He did not have to be forced into it, He wanted to do it.

His sacrifice was a free and voluntary act of love in obedience to the will of His Father.

It was a full and perfect sacrifice, he just did it once.

The sacrifice on Calvary needs never to be repeated.

There were many high priests in the Old Testament.

But when Jesus offered Himself at Calvary as our great High Priest, there was no longer a need for this office.

The ultimate sacrifice for sin had been made, and no more sacrifices were needed.

No longer did we have to go through a mediator.

The veil was torn and free access to the Father was granted.

No wonder the Pharisees and Saducees were so angry at Jesus; they were about to lose their privileged position.

The story of the Gospel is about access to the living God through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

The path has been cleared, the obstacle of sin and death have been removed.

How wonderful is Jesus?

How amazing is his sacrifice?

Now is the day of salvation, stop trusting in your works and trust in the sacrifice of Jesus.

If you are trusting in the sacrifice.. are you sharing it?

God bless you