Morning Bible reading

November 7th

11: But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12: Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 13: For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15: And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 16: For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17: For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. 18: Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. 19: For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, 20: Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. 21: Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. 22: And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. 23: It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24: For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 25: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; 26: For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27: And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

The Lord Jesus has become a High Priest of a better Covenant – one that is to come and not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood. He has entered into the holy place and has made an eternal redemption for us. In the Old Testament the blood of bulls a goats and the ashes of a heifer made the worshippers ceremonially clean (in the flesh) as they approached God, but the blood of Christ that was offered by him has obtained for us a completely clear conscience (in the spirit) before God. In this way Christ has become the mediator of a New Testament (or Covenant). A Testament is only in force after a person has died. This is why it is essential to understand that Christ did die on the cross. Nearly everything in the Temple was cleansed by blood. But Christ has entered heaven itself and he now appears before God himself. (This is proof that Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit are separate persons) And Christ does not need to come before God often (as the Roman Catholics think) He has appeared once for ever and will never appear again as the mediator of sin. ‘But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.’ Once sins are forgiven there is no more remembrance of sin and once sins have been removed there is just no need for a ‘purgatory’. Christ has appeared before God once to offer himself as the sacrifice for sin and to those who are looking for him to return he will come the second time to save them from the presence of sin.

Steve