“The Real Deal”
Hebrews
9:24-28
1 The old covenant had rules for worship and a place made for worship as
well.
9 …the offerings and animal sacrifices presented to God cannot make the
worshiper's heart perfect, 10 since they have to do only with food, drink, and
various purification ceremonies.
These are all outward rules, which apply only until the time when God
will establish the new order. 11 But Christ has already come as the High Priest
of the good things that are already here. 12 When Christ went through the
tent and entered once and for all into the Most Holy Place, 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.
14 …Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself as a perfect sacrifice
to God.
His blood will purify our consciences from useless rituals, so that we
may serve the living God.
15 For this reason Christ is the one who arranges a new covenant, so
that those who have been called by God may receive the eternal blessings that
God has promised.
24 For Christ did not go into a Holy
Place made by human hands, which was a copy of the real one. He went into
heaven itself, where he now appears on our behalf in the presence of God.
25 The Jewish high priest goes into the Most Holy Place every year with the
blood of an animal. But Christ did not go in to offer himself many times, 26
for then he would have had to suffer many times ever since the creation of the
world. Instead, now when all ages of time are nearing the end, he has
appeared once and for all, to remove sin through the sacrifice of himself.
27 Everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God. 28 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.
I
worked for many years in the IT Dept of a large corporation. We had many
computer programs and application systems, especially one enormous essential
system that processed all of our daily business transactions. It had been
written many, many years ago and was an old archaic ‘albatross’ that required
daily extensive changes to keep up with the ever-changing business world. For
many years, we lived in a patchwork environment correcting problems and making
enhancements generating a more and more complex system which we used to call
‘spaghetti code’. We finally agreed to ‘bite the bullet’ and reengineer,
rewrite and replace this old system. After conversion, we felt that we were now
operating in a more sophisticated, comprehensive and productive environment.
This solution was the way, the truth and the life … we were all finally set
free.
Do you have an ‘albatross’ in your life that needs to be replaced? This
could be ways of thinking, old habits, what you read, shows & movies you
watch, friends you hang out with, etc.?
The
old agreement with God was replaced by a new agreement through Christ. “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be
the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through
Christ.” (2 Cor. 5:21) Jesus
was the only one who could pay the price for the sins of all people who ever
lived. He was the sacrificial lamb. This salvation is given to us through God’s
love, not by anything that we could ever do. We receive this blessing by trusting
in Jesus and by following Him.
You need to decide how you
will respond when Jesus calls you to "Follow Him." Are you willing to take the next step now? I did not say “Are
you ready?” because none of us will ever be ready. Will you trust Him to be the
driver in the vehicle you call your life. Jesus asks you to confess your sins
to Him and to receive His complete forgiveness.
His reward for you is eternal life in the Kingdom of God … NOW!