Theological Commentary: Click Here
In this
chapter, the author of Hebrews desires to make a comparison to the sacrifices
of old and the death of Christ. He makes
several very good points. First, if the
blood and ashes of animals have any impact, then the blood of God must have far
more impact! Second, Christ ascended to
heaven, whereas earthly sacrifices still continued on earth. Third, Christ will return again for all those
who await eternal life.
I think
these points are often forgotten. So
often Christians talk about righteousness and godly living that we lose sight
of how it is that righteousness comes to us.
Sometimes we get so focused on the resurrection that we forget about the
crucifixion. Don’t get me wrong. I look forward to the resurrection and can’t
wait until eternal life with God. But my
desire for eternal life should never cause me to look past the crucifixion.
Jesus died
for our sake. He died so that our sins
could be dealt with once and for all. He
died, allowing His own blood to be rather violently spilled, so that we could
once more enter into permanent relationship with God. He died so that instead God dwelling in some
far away place behind a curtain, God could dwell within us. He sacrificed not a goat or a bull, but Himself.
Furthermore,
God ascended into heaven so that He could be our mediator. He ascended into heaven to show us that the
changes He affects reach into the divine and the eternal. He doesn’t have to die once a year for us to
know God.
And,
yes! He will return. He will come back so that we can know eternal
life. Because He sacrificed Himself
once-for-all, we will know life with God eternal. And, yes!
I can’t wait to experience it. I
believe it will be like life we cannot imagine.
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