The previous blog posts have talked about the Mosaic Law requiring eight sacrifices and each dealing with a specific heart or relational issue. Only through Christ can we be transferred from Satan’s kingdom into which we are all born and be able to enter Christ’s kingdom. This is the fulfilled symbolism of the burnt offering. By partaking and learning from him we can grow in him which is called the process of sanctification. This is the fulfillment of the grain offering. Christ’s sacrifice has restored the fellowship with God which was severed due to Adam’s sin. And this is the fulfillment of the peace or fellowship offering. And because we now have fellowship with him, our communication with him has been resorted—representing the need for the sin offering. And not only between God and us, but with each other with the guilt we suffered removed as symbolized by the guilt offering. God is pleased with being able to do this for us, which is represented by the drink offering, and he can be joyful because he no longer remembers any of our sins any longer, as the scapegoat represents. Even though he has paid for all our sins, past, present, and future, we still become unclean by living in a sinful world and because of our human nature, so he provides us continual cleansing if we only confess to him thereby making us clean again as symbolized by the ashes of the red heifer.
While the sacrificial system under the Mosaic Law was quite cumbersome, we can see through this that each was necessary because sin entraps us in more ways than one. Yet, Jesus Christ was able to untangle us completely, declaring us righteous, and thereby fit to be with him forever with the approval of the Father and with the enablement of the Holy Spirit.
So, what does all this mean for us? Christ is now fulfilling his second role for coming. We find this in Hebrews: “Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being. Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: ‘See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.’ But in fact, the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises (Hb 8:1-7).”
What are these better promises? Let’s compare the promises from the Old and New Covenants. We could likely make a litany of promises to list, but here are a few key ones:
Old Covenant: Holy Spirit was not permanent; New Covenant: Holy Spirit is permanent. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would come and go. This is one reason David prayed for the LORD to not take his Spirit from him. Today, once we accept Christ as our Savior, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us forever.
Old Covenant: justice was required by the Law because of one’s actions; New Covenant: mercy is applied instead. Because Christ paid for our sins, we can receive mercy rather than justice because Christ’s blood paid what justice required.
Old Covenant: there was no victory over death (all went to Sheol whether they were just or unjust, although there were different places within Sheol for each category); Yet neither were with Christ, their Messiah. Satan still controlled the keys to death and Sheol. New Covenant: we have received victory over death because, once we die, if we have accepted Christ as our Savior, we will be with Christ our Messiah at that moment and forever. Christ took the righteous to heaven and gained back the keys to death and Sheol.
Old Covenant: no power over sin; sacrifices were required and had to be repeated often; New Covenant: we have power over sin because Christ paid for our past, present, and future sins. We can have the mind of Christ and can operate within the same power that raised Christ from the dead because we have the Holy Spirit within us.
Old Covenant: people lived with a hope of their coming Messiah; New Covenant: we have an assurance of an eternity with Christ, our Messiah, forever.
What is Required? Romans 10:10 says, “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and be saved.”
We must first realize something. What does that mean? It means to become aware of something as a fact. What is that fact? That we are wicked at heart. Jeremiah tells us the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jr 17:9).
We then need to believe. What does that really mean? It means we accept something as true. What do we need to accept? That Christ died on the cross for our sins and has freed us from the power of sin over us.
That leads us to confess. Meaning what? We must admit we are at fault in some way. We confess what we just realized: that we are a sinner and cannot change that fact on our own. Then we confess our belief in what Christ did for us knowing there is no other way or no other hope for us.
Next, we accept. And that means to take something offered to you. Christ paid the debt required for our sin and did so as a gift to us, but that does us no good unless we accept this gift. While it is free to us, it was quite costly for Christ. How can we not accept something so preciously obtained? By doing so, we receive the Holy Spirit which dwells within us, guides us, and helps us to be more like Christ as we walk with Him.
Then, we live with assurance. How is that done? One makes one’s home in a particular place with a particular person. By accepting this precious but free gift of salvation, we can know with certainty that our home will be with Christ forever. His presence dwells with us now and forever.
It has always been about the heart. The real question is: to whom does yours belong?
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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens
