Monthly Archives: March 2015

Ratified In Blood

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RATIFIED BY BLOOD

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance – now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. This is why the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. (Heb. 9: 15-18).

How amazing – that God does everything by the book! He is God, after all. Can’t He do anything He wants? No He can’t because He has committed Himself, by His own nature, to act justly. We must never forget that He has a hostile audience under condemnation and awaiting judgment for aspiring to take over His throne. They are watching His every move, waiting to pounce on Him for any tiny deviation from what is perfectly just.

God could not change anything arbitrarily, without acting within His own legal framework. Therefore, to change the covenant, He had to prove that the first covenant was obsolete and did not work, and He had to set up a new covenant only after the requirements of the first covenant were fully met. How could He do this and be true to His own nature? Man was God’s test case.

The terms of the Mosaic covenant were clearly stated and the penalty for failing to uphold it inescapable – death. Centuries of history proved that God’s people could not remain true to His covenant. They all fell short and they were all under the penalty of death.

God’s solution was to send His own Son, born into His human family as every other person is born, to live under the same covenant as the one which His people failed to honour, with the same penalty for failure as applied to them.

If He kept all the requirements of God’s covenant perfectly, and then died as though He had broken them, His death pay the penalty for all His people and do away with the old, incompetent covenant once and for all, making it obsolete and freeing God to set up a new covenant with better promises and better provisions. Jesus then became, not only the penalty for breaking the old, but the mediator of a new agreement with God based on new and better promises.

All this time, the enemy was watching, waiting, hoping that God would put one foot outside the requirements of His own justice so that they could blow His new covenant out of the water!

But why blood? Because blood is symbolic of death. The Mosaic covenant was ratified by the death of an animal.

Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.’ (Ex. 24: 8).

This blood symbolised the death of the testator so that his will could be put into effect. God’s will was expressed in His covenant and set in motion through the death of an animal.

In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’ (Luke 22: 20).

Jesus’s death put paid to the old covenant and set up the new covenant, ratified by His blood which was symbolised by the juice of the vine. After His death, the Father was free to establish His new covenant because the previous one’s requirements and penalty were fully met, once and for all.

God was now free to impute the perfect obedience of His Son to every person who puts his trust in Him. They receive, as a free gift, the nature of God and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is acceptable to God as a human being. Therefore every person who is “in Christ” is acceptable to Him as well on the grounds of Jesus’s righteousness.

God’s justice is flawless and Satan watched is vain. All he can do now is falsely to accuse God’s people in the hopes that he can convince them that they are still under condemnation and awaiting judgment. Paul has an answer for that!

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because, through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8: 1).

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

How Much More!

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HOW MUCH MORE!

But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not   part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.

The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ who, through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Heb. 9: 11-14).

“How much more” is a rabbinic teaching method. If the lesser is true, then the greater has even more weight than the lesser.

If the earthly high priests went into the Most Holy Place to offer animal blood on the Mercy Seat in the earthly tabernacle which made the worshippers ceremonially clean, but was not able to cleanse the conscience, how much more did the blood of Christ which He offered in the heavenly tabernacle, make the worshipper spiritually pure before God!

The Levitical high priests ministered in a sanctuary which was nothing more than a copy of the true sanctuary in heaven. Everything they did was only a copy of what was done in heaven. From God’s perspective, Jesus was “the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world” (Rev. 13: 8). Before the earth and its bounty came into being, God’s plan was already in place to redeem mankind through the blood of His Son. Although His death took place at a specific time in history, its effects covered the whole span of time.

The religious leaders were offended with Jesus because He claimed to have the right to forgive sins without a sacrifice. In their book, no sacrifice meant no forgiveness because they did not realise that every sacrifice offered on the altar in the temple was merely a picture of what had taken place before the creation of the world. If they were trusting in the blood of animals for forgiveness, their faith was misplaced. Only Jesus is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1: 29). John the Baptist recognised His sacrifice long before He was crucified.

If the blood of animals was able to make the offerers ceremonially clean, how much more then, is the blood of Christ able to make the sinner clean by removing his sin forever. It is not just covered – it is removed, as the Azazel – the scapegoat, was driven into the wilderness after the sins of the nation were symbolically pressed on him. The prophet Isaiah recognised the significance of Jesus’s sacrifice in his vision of the suffering Servant.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isa. 53: 6).

Once again, as we gaze on the sacrifice of Jesus, we see the Trinity at work, fully involved in the redemption of mankind. God the Father was there – His plan in action through the Son and through the Spirit whose anointing on Jesus enabled Him to offer Himself without flinching as a perfect sacrifice of atonement to God.

The Holy Spirit was God’s agent through whom Jesus was conceived, anointed for His ministry, ministered the works of God, died, and rose again. He was given to us to live in us as the perfect representative of Jesus, giving us the same power that Jesus had to live in harmony with the Father as His beloved children. How foolish of the readers to think that they could go back to the old system to save themselves from persecution and experience the same benefits they had from the death of Jesus! It would not work for them and it will not work for us.

Even if we are not Jewish and do not fully understand the significance of their priesthood and sacrificial system, the fact remains that it is only through Jesus that we can enjoy the benefits of complete forgiveness, cleansing from our sin, a clear conscience before God and full acceptance with Him through the ministry of our great high priest.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

A Never-ending Story

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A NEVER-ENDING STORY

When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry out their ministry. But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning, This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshipper (Heb. 9: 6-9).

Imagine having to live one’s whole life with the burden of sin on one’s conscience!

The gifts and sacrifices of the old covenant could not clear the guilty conscience because there was no assurance of forgiveness. Animal blood can never remove sin, nor can rituals or even washing in the water of a sacred bath or river. The prophet, Micah, asked the question that nothing outside of the blood of Jesus can answer:

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will God be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?  (Micah 6: 6-7).

Men of old who had insight into the things of God knew that animal sacrifices were only symbolic. In their experience of life they knew that God required much more than an endless river of blood. Both Micah and King David had grasped the truth that it was not outward acts but an inner attitude of the heart that God was seeking, which would alter the ways in which His people would treat both Him and His people.

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6: 8).

The perpetual offering of animal blood in the old covenant were a reminder, not a remover of sin. Something far more effective was needed to remove sin and assure the sinner of God’s mercy and forgiveness.

David understood the truth that God was far more concerned about heart attitude than He was about animal blood.

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise (Psa. 51: 16-17).

Through the prophet Isaiah, God spoke for Himself.

Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of God, you people of Gomorrah! ‘The multitude of your sacrifices – what are they to me?’ says the Lord. ‘I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.’ (Isa. 1: 10-11).

But I thought that that was what God wanted? Did He not command the people to offer sacrifices? Sure He did, but for what purpose? So that they had an excuse to carry on living in sin, with their bad attitudes and evil behaviour? No way!

It was God’s gracious provision and a reminder that the cost of sin was death. Innocent animals had to die by the thousands to keep them aware of the terrible penalty of sin. Every time the blood ran, they should have remembered and mourned their corrupt nature that cost the animal its life. Every pang of guilt for what they had been and what they had done should have motivated them to follow God’s instructions because His way was a way of peace.

But for the people who lived under the old system, the massive curtain that shut them out of God’s presence and restricted the high priest to only one entrance a year, was to remind them that sin separated them from a holy God. The smoke of the perpetual burning animal on the sacrificial altar was intended to keep their hearts and their conscience tender before God. Their sin was covered but their guilt remained.

It was all a never-ending story until . . .

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

The Earthly Tabernacle

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THE EARTHLY TABERANCLE

Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary.  A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand and the table with its consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered Ark of the Covenant, This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail here (Heb. 9:1-5).

Every detail of the earthly tabernacle was symbolic and had meaning. Each part and the arrangement of each part was intended to teach God’s people about Him – His nature, His holiness and His requirements; and about man and sin, the gulf between man and God which could only be breached by blood. Each piece of furniture in the two compartments of the tabernacle was symbolic.

Like the writer’s comment, we cannot discuss every feature of the tabernacle in detail here. Let’s look at the overview.

The tabernacle was a tent, a portable sanctuary which was erected in the centre of the Israelite camp. God wanted them to understand His place among them. His desire was to dwell with His people but He demanded to be in the centre of their lives. Everything they did was to revolve around Him. He wanted to show them how to live lives that worked, in their relationship to Him and to each other.

The tabernacle had several coverings which protected the interior from the elements but also obscured the Israelites’ view of the inside. No one but the priests saw what was inside, and no one but the high priest was allowed access to the Most Holy Place, and only once a year on the Day of Atonement.

The tent was divided into two unequal rooms, the Holy Place where the priests ministered and the Most Holy Place which was a perfect cube, where the symbolic presence of God resided. The Holy Place was lit by the candelabra called the menorah – a seven-branched oil lamp which the writer did not mention here, which stood on the left side of the Holy Place. The lamp was fed with olive oil and kept burning day and night. The lampstand represented the light of God – the Torah, God’s teaching.

On the opposite side of the Holy Place stood the gold table of sacred bread – twelve loaves baked from the manna God provided, representing the twelve tribes, which were replaced with fresh bread weekly. Just as the lampstand provided light, so the bread provided nourishment and strength for the way. God’s teaching was both light and bread for His people.

The third item of furniture in the Holy Place stood directly in front of the heavily embroidered curtain which covered the entrance to the Most Holy Place. It was a gold-covered altar on which incense was burned, representing the prayers of God’s people which were to be offered to Him as sweet incense. The writer of this letter put the incense altar inside the Most Holy Place. This was unlikely because the priests had to offer incense on it daily, which would have been impossible for them had it been inside the Most Holy Place since they were not permitted into the Holy of Holies.

The inner shrine, the Most Holy Place had no artificial light. It was lit by the Glory – the radiant light of God’s presence that shone above the lid of the gold box called the Ark of the Covenant. The box was made of acacia wood and overlaid with pure gold, beaten so thin that it became transparent and reflected like a mirror.

The contents of the box were highly symbolic. The first was the tablets of stone on which were written God’s marriage covenant with His people, the Ten Commandments. The stone tablets were a replacement for the ones Moses smashed in anger when he saw his people worshipping a golden calf. The rod of Aaron which supernaturally budded and bore blossoms and fruit overnight also had a place in the ark. A pot of manna which remained supernaturally fresh, completed the items in the ark.

Each of these had symbolic significance, especially in the relation to the lid of the box which was called “the atonement cover”. The stone tablets represented the people’s rejection of God’s word. They broke the covenant by worshipping an idol. The rod of Aaron represented their rejection of God’s authority. They challenged the leadership God had appointed. Through the budding of the rod, God showed them supernaturally who was in charge. The pot of manna represented their rejection of God’s provision. They rebelled against the manna and were severely disciplined for their complaining.

All three items were inside the box, under the atonement cover upon which the high priest sprinkled the sacrificial blood every year, symbolising God’s forgiveness of their sin for another year.

However, as beautiful as these symbols were, they were only temporary, and only pictures at best. Animal blood could never atone for the people’s rebellion against God.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

A New Covenant

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A NEW COVENANT

But God found fault with the people and said: ‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them,’ declares the Lord.

This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbour, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.’

By calling this covenant “new”, He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear (Heb. 8: 8-13).

Why did God give His people the Mosaic covenant if He knew it wouldn’t work? It seems a futile exercise, doesn’t it?

The covenant that God entered into with His people at Mount Sinai was never intended to be His final dealings with them. It was an interim covenant which was meant to serve a specific purpose.

When Israel came out of Egypt, they had behind them a long history of life in a pagan society and slavery to a cruel and oppressive nation. It would take many generations to establish a culture into which their Messiah would be born. They had to unlearn and relearn many truths about God, themselves and their world in order to understand the nature of God, especially His holiness, His righteousness, His justice and His mercy.

The pagan gods of the Egyptians were the product of human imagination, created in the image of fallen man and often reflecting the worst of human nature. They were heartless, unpredictable and demanding. They were takers, never givers, and they certainly did not have the well-being of their worshippers at heart. Of course, behind every pagan god lay the originator of the evil that they were, Satan, their creator.

God could not simply step in and take over. It would take many generations to teach the people about Himself and to win their trust and their loyalty. How would He do it? He built it into their culture and the national and personal lives. He created a way of life for His people that reflected Him. All 613 “laws” were intended to show them how to live in harmony with Him and with one another, teaching them the nature and seriousness of sin, how to deal with sin and how to love God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength and their neighbour as themselves.

God’s national constitution had a spinoff. It also showed up their impotence to obey God’s teachings. Instead of producing obedient children, it produced rebels. Every time God’s word said, ‘Don’t,’ they did, and every time His word said, ‘Do,’ they didn’t. This was also part of the preparation for the new covenant. Until God revealed their hearts by giving them instructions which they failed to follow, they would never realise how impossible it is to satisfy God’s perfection. They would never learn to rely on Him for the power to obey.

There had to be another way, a way which intervened so powerfully that their very hearts would be transformed. Their rebellion would need to go and be replaced by a new motive and a new internal direction. Rules did not work. They only incited rebellion. A prohibition was an invitation to break it. That’s the nature of the human being.

How would God solve this problem? It would take His divine power to overrule the natural inclination of man to go his own way. That’s what man chose in the beginning. He rejected the way of love and chose to make his own rules. Only God could restore him to what he was created to be. He needed a new covenant with new promises AND the will to obey.

That’s where Jesus stepped in. He became both mediator of, and the sacrifice that ratified God’s new covenant. But God added something else – the power of the Holy Spirit who withdrew when the first pair decided to go it alone. He is the key to the success of the new covenant. By removing sin through the sacrifice of Jesus, God could restore the Holy Spirit to the human race. He came at Pentecost to indwell and empower every believer who embraces and follows Jesus.

Jesus is the perfect fulfilment of God’s teachings. We no longer need laws and rituals. He shows us how to live as God’s beloved sons and daughters who resemble Him and reflect Him to the world. All we need to do is to watch and follow Him. He is the way. His word is in us by His Spirit, the Spirit of truth who leads us into all truth.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.