For the last couple of weeks I have been going through Leviticus and Hebrews together and the Lord is really speaking to me through both as they really seem to tie in together! I know Leviticus can be a daunting book of the Bible to read but I encourage you to read it along side of Hebrews!
The other day I read Hebrews 10 and this is a chapter I have read before but on this particular day it just really jumped out to me and spoke to me a lot so I just want to share with you what the Lord showed me because it's just too good not to share!
If you haven't read Leviticus, let me give you a quick recap as it will help you understand our text a little more. We as people and since the fall of man are naturally sinners, we can't help it! We are a fallen people who are ruled by their flesh over the Spirit. Knowing this, God gave His people the law that you will find in Leviticus. The law given is very specific, graphic, and takes sin seriously as it should be. God required sacrifices for sin and so there were a lot of animal sacrifices that happened in the temple. In this temple, the Spirit of God dwelled in a section called the Holy Place and it was behind a veil and only the high priest could go to pray on behalf of his people. This law is apart of the old covenant and there is now a new covenant found in the New Testament and that is where the book of Hebrews is written.
In Hebrews 10 (please read it before continuing on with the rest of this post and follow along if you want to), the first thing you will read is that the law is a shadow of what is to come. Now, that Jesus has died for our sins, when reading the book of Leviticus, you can see the resemblance between the law and what Jesus has fulfilled for the forgiveness of our sins. The sacrifices in Leviticus could never fully take away our sins. Whenever someone made a sacrifice for sin, it was only a cover up or a bandaid for their sin, it didn't fully take away sin in general because the next time they sinned, they would have to make another sacrifice. This law was given until the Messiah would come to forgive sin, past, present, and future, once and for all. We can be thankful for that because we no longer have to make these sacrifices for our sins and God doesn't see our sin, He only sees Jesus blood on us and He sees us as a perfect, forgiven work.
9. "then he added, 'Behold, I have come to do your will.' He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."
14. "For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified."
In the Old Law only the high priest could enter into the Holy Place but now because we have been given the Holy Spirit, we can worship Him wherever and whenever we want, and not rely on someone else to pray for us and our sins. We have direct access to God!
Since we have access to God through the blood of Jesus, we can draw near to God with a confident faith because He who made this sacrifice for us is faithful. We can have confident faith in Jesus' sacrifice and that He saved us from sin and from being cast to hell and that He will return for us because He who promised this is faithful. He not only sacrificed Himself for our sin but He fulfilled prophecy by raising from the dead and ascending into Heaven where He Himself prays on our behalf to God! He is our ultimate and perfect High Priest. Where as before in the old law we needed a flawed human to do this for us in the temple and now our perfect Lord does this for us.
This is such great news which is why so many people follow Christ and are in love with Him because He did what none of us could do and because of that, we are thankful, because of that we choose to serve Him with our lives, and because of that we should encourage others to follow Him and to continue to do so.
24. "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25. not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."
I think it is more clear than ever that Jesus is coming back soon! Just look around at all that is happening. The earth is screaming wake up and turn your face to Jesus!
This sacrifice that was made once and for all in forgiveness of all sin does not mean we have free access to sin all we want because it's been forgiven. If we do that, it is as if we are spitting on the sacrifice that was made for us and choosing our sin over the fact that we can living in freedom, we can turn away from our sin and choose to resemble Christ as best we can. I know we aren't perfect and God knows that too but Jesus sacrificed Himself so we can walk in victory and freedom. The bible says:
26. "For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins"
I want to point out the word "deliberately" because we all sin, it is our nature and that is what Christ died for but when we are living in sin and we remain in it knowing it is sinning, that is when we are taking advantage of His sacrifice for us and not walking in freedom, we have then become victims to our sin. When we live in sin it is as if we are saying "I do not agree that Your way is the best way." I know that we as Christians have seasons of being on fire for the Lord and we also have seasons of drought but don't lose your confidence in what Christ has done for you. Don't choose your sin over His sacrifice. Now more than ever we need confidence in our faith to be our endurance to finish the race and receive what was promised to us; eternal life.
35. "Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37. For, 'Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; 38. but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.' 39. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls."
I encourage you today, to live in confidence of what Christ has done for you and express your thankfulness of His sacrifice by living your life to Christ so that you may live eternally with Him.
pray:
"God thank you so much for sending your son Jesus to take on my sin, entirely and sacrifice Himself for me. Thank you for the love you have for me that you would willingly die for me so that I can live with you for eternity. Father, thank you that you have created a new covenant and that we don't have to go on sacrificing for our sin but you have already taken that on for us and now we get to live in your freedom. We are no longer bound in chains to our sin but we are free in you! I am so thankful and I want to express that thankfulness toward you, I want others to know they can live in freedom too. Give me the confidence to share and to encourage others. Lord I know you are coming quickly and I know the enemy comes to seek, kill, and destroy and he would love nothing more that to enslave me to my sin but God I choose to live in confidence of your sacrifice and the promise that you are coming to bring your people home. I look forward to that day that I get to see your face. Thank you Jesus. Amen"