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October 20 | Hebrews 10:19-25


DAILY READING

REFLECTION

 

Clearly Superior

By Dave Mann


This passage is beautiful.

 

The author of Hebrews paints a double picture of sacrificial activity in the Temple – one clearly superior to the other. 

 

Under the Old Covenant,

  • In the holy place, only the priests are allowed to enter to make sacrifices before a holy God.

  • In the most holy place, only the high priest, cleansed by the blood of animals, is allowed to enter to make sacrifice for sin.

  • Sacrifices made by the high priest are made only once a year.  Failure to do so might provoke the wrath of a most holy God.


But now in the New Covenant,

  • Those who trust in Jesus may enter the heavenly most holy place on the authority of the blood of Jesus.

  • All people – not just one – can trust in the blood of Jesus which is the perfect and eternal sacrifice.

  • These people – including us – can have confidence and assurance to draw near to the most holy God.

  • In the death of Jesus, our God has demonstrated his sure and certain promise to forgive our sins.

 

Because of God’s action in the New Covenant, we believers rejoice together as we anticipate the coming Day of Christ’s return in glory and power. Jesus’ return (The Day) is certainly a day of judgment, invoking fear in all who are trusting in their own feeble attempts to prove themselves worthy of acquittal.  The truth of the matter is that all people have a debt to be paid.  Our sinful actions have amassed against us strong evidence that leads to a verdict of “Guilty as Charged.”  Trusting in the sacrifice of the blood of animals, offered again and again to pay off our debt, never cleansing our consciences of the fear of wrath – such action is simply not sufficient.  The New Covenant given as a gift is vastly superior to the Old.  The sacrifice of the blood of Jesus is the perfect sacrifice, given once for all-time, never needing to be repeated because it is sufficient and effective. 

 

So, when we hear of the coming Day, we rejoice because Jesus is not our judge.

  • He is our Messenger – superior to any angel sent from God.

  • He is our Prophet – superior to Moses.

  • He is our Savior – superior to any military leader like Joshua.

  • He is our High Priest – superior to any human high priest.

  • He is our perfect Sacrifice – superior to the sacrifice of animals no matter how numerous they might be.

  • He gives us the New Covenant – superior to any other religious activity such as the Old Covenant.


PRAYER

I am so glad, heavenly Father, that you have established the New Covenant, and you have given us access to your presence through the power of the blood of Jesus.  It is in his precious name that we draw near with joy, Amen!



ABOUT THE AUTHOR


DAVE MANN

I am a Pastor for Internationals (retired) in the UALC community. I am married to Pam, father of four, and grandfather of seven. Pam and I have lived twenty of our years in other countries including France, Cameroon, Haiti, and Morocco. In retirement, we continue to enjoy writing devotionals, learning languages, and teaching English to internationals.



 
 
 

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