Ours is a far better Covenant than they had in the old. And why this is we are now looking into with some detail by way of comparison because of the Hebrews writer who many believe to be Paul. For it is established by the Blood of Christ (GOD in) Jesus the OT Yeshuah-Salvation, humanity saved, redeemed to their original innocence, Representative. In other words GOD'S righteousness, another word for innocence.
Hebrews 9:11-14 "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; 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. 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: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead[1] works[1] to serve the living God?" (KJV)
Hebrews 9:11-14 "But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead[1] works[1] to serve the living God." (ESV)
Hebrews 9:11-14 "But now (Messiah) Christ has public appearance as High Priest of a perfect tabernacle. The good things that were predicted have arrived. This new tabernacle does not derive from its shadow type, the previous man-made one. It is reality. (The restoration of GOD'S original dwelling place in human life is again revealed, as it existed in Genesis 2.) As High Priest, his permission to enter the Holy Place was not cured by the blood of beasts. But rather, by his own blood he obtained access on behalf of the human race. Only one act was needed for him to enter the most sacred place of grace and there to institute a ransom of perpetual consequence. (The perfection he secured needs no further sacrifice. There are no outstanding debts; there is nothing we need do to add weight to to what he accomplished once and for all time. The only possible priesthood activity we can now engage in is to continually bring a sacrifice of the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his Name, which we carry as our own; no blood, just fruit, even our acts of self-sacrifice, giving of time and money,,,,etc. are all just the fruit of our constant gratitude!) The blood of beasts and the ashes of the burnt sacrifice of a heifer could only achieve a very temporal and surface cleansing by being sprinkled on the guilty. (The word for heifer, is damalis, is from damatzo, to tame; this was the most dear and expensive sacrifice. She was a strong, pristine, spotless female calf, she was raised as a family pet; "A Little Princess!" This was the best that the law-system could present; yet, no inner purging of conscience was effected nor was it possible; only the sense of temporal relief; whilst knowing that the entire process would have to be repeated again and again! In this arrangement, GOD addressed the dilemma of our sin consciousness; the deep-seated stain that it had left needed to be thoroughly exposed, and then brought to closure. The shadow system with its imperfections, as a possible means of obtaining a lasting and meaningful sense of total innocence, had to be exhausted; ultimately proving that no sacrifice that anyone can bring at any expense of their own, could possibly match the sacrifice of GOD giving himself as scapegoat to the human race in order to persuade us that his agape for us would go to the scandalous extreme, where we are finally confirmed with the fact that it is not in a sacrifice that we bring where GOD'S mind is favorably influenced towards us; but in the shocking sacrifice of himself, where he forever, in the most radical language, impacts our ideas and thoughts about our Father, Son and Spirit's estimate of us. There is nothing dearer in the universe to them, but our redeemed innocence and our individual value realized! Look back at Colossians 2:14-15 in the Mirror Bible section.) How much more effective was the blood of Christ, when he presented his own flawless life through the eternal Spirit within him (our humanity) before GOD, in order to purge your conscience from its frustration under the [1]col-de-sac rituals required by the Law. There is no comparison between a guilt and duty-driven, dead religious system, and the vibrancy of living our life free from a sin-consciousness! This is what the new testament priesthood is all about! (Dead works, [1, G3498 + G2041 ] nekros ergon. A dead, religious-routine system can never compete with the resurrected Christ now realized in you!) (The Mirror, with editing)
Until our next visit may the LORD visit both you and yours with his revelation by inspiration.
No comments:
Post a Comment