
Quote for the Day
“Here I am…I have come to do your will, O God.”
Today's Prayer
This week ask God to show you His rest. Amid the busy week and its many issues, settle in with Him and seek His peace.
Hebrews 9:22-10:18
Hebrews 9:22-10:18 (NIV)22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Hebrews 101 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.’ ” 8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made). 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13 Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” 17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” 18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.
Message
In this passage we see again that the Old Testament was a shadow or a preview of future events. The Old Testament sacrifices were a covering (not a cleansing as we saw last week) and prepared and performed by man, but the final sacrifice of Christ was done in heaven and executed by God alone. Verse 25, “Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again…” as the old sacrifice would have required. It goes on to say in verse 28, “…Christ was sacrificed once…” With this, the need for a covering was no longer there. The cleansing had been accomplished. We can now rest in Christ’s sacrifice.The focus for us today is how He did what He did. “Here I am…I have come to do your will, O God.” The scripture goes on to say, “And by that will [God’s will], we [YOU and I] have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Please notice this is a completed task; we are not waiting for God to make us holy, He has accomplished it at the cross. After the cross then what? “But when this priest [Christ] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.” First He offered Himself to the Father to do the Father’s will, and then He sat down at the right hand of the Father and rested in Him. He wants us to do the same thing: rest in Him. “…Because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” By doing the Father’s will Christ has already made us holy in His holiness. It is a completed action, already accomplished, that we do NOT have to work for. We can REST in Him! What a BEAUTIFUL SAVIOR. Christ accomplished the Father’s will by resting in the Father, so shall we.