DAILY WORD 7/24/20

23. That is why the Tabernacle and everything in it, which were copies of things in heaven, had to be purified by the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices than the blood of animals.

24. For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf.

25. And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal.

26. If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice.

Hebrews 9:23–26 NLT

Today’s passage begins with Blood and ends with Power. This is yet more “Meat” for us to digest and it’s full of good stuff to fuel out spiritual bodies so let’s get right to it.

The author begins this passage by concluding his point about the blood of the sacrifices of the Old Covenant versus the Blood of Jesus that Initiated the New Covenant.

All of the implements and structure of the Tabernacle had to be sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifice in order to be purified in the Sight of God before He would accept the Offerings the priests delivered to Him on behalf of the people.

But the Tabernacle was only a facsimile of what God had Created by His own Hand in Heaven on our behalf. That structure had to be Purified with Blood as well but the Blood that made it Perfect was far Better than the blood the earthly priests used.

The author goes on to illustrate his point in more detail in Verse 24 by letting us know that Jesus, after His Ascension, Entered Heaven to Act as our High Priest before God to bring our sins before Him to be Cleansed.

But unlike the Levitical priests that had to offer their sacrifices annually for the sins of the people and for themselves, Jesus only had to perish once for us. And it is a good thing too, otherwise, with the amount of sine we commit, He’d be on that Cross continually for the rest of time!

No! Jesus’s Blood was so Potent, so Perfect, and so Proficient that His Sacrifice only had to be Performed once and that was all it took to Redeem us from all the sins we would ever commit.

But see, here’s the thing. If we understand His Sacrifice and what He had to go through for us, how He Gave up His Life for us when it was us that deserved to die, it would inform our actions once we accepted His Love for us.

A True Christian does not go out and continue to sin as if he were not transformed, not because he is perfect, but because he (or she) understands the pain, the suffering, and the agony that went into the Sacrifice in the first place.

We die to our sin daily as a sacrifice to God because He died literally for us so that we wouldn’t have to. He braved whatever awaited Him in Hell after His Crucifixion so that we would be free from the burden of our transgressions.

Our sins deserved death as payment but Jesus took that weight upon Himself, and not just for us either. He took upon Himself the entire load of gravity that was the sins of the world.

So, it is only right that we Honor Him by doing whatever it takes to recognize His Sacrifice. Which means denying ourselves a few selfish pleasures. Is that not an acceptable tradeoff for someone that traded their life for yours?

Have a Phenomenal Friday and Stay Safe out there!