World English Bible translation
For the law, having a shadow of the good to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near. 10:2 Or else wouldn't they have ceased to be offered, because the worshippers, having been once cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of sins? 10:3 But in those sacrifices there is yearly reminder of sins. 10:4 For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.Today's Lesson
Jesus is the high priest appointed by God to be the mediator of the New Covenant. This covenant was instituted at His death on Calvary. God raised Him from the dead to demonstrate that the sacrifice for sin that Jesus had made on the cross was effective and acceptable. Jesus entered the perfect tabernacle of heaven and presented Himself before the throne of God. Then He sat down on the right hand of glory where He continues to intercede for us.
The Law of Moses offered only a shadow of the perfect tabernacle of heaven. When Moses was on Mt. Sinai receiving the Law, he also received a pattern for the tabernacle and the vessels of worship. The pattern he was given was that of the perfect tabernacle of heaven but what he fashioned was a shadow of those realities. In fact, everything established by the Law was a shadow of the good things to come in Christ.
This is especially true of the sacrifices for sin under the Law. Day after day the priest would offer sacrifices for the sins the people committed under the Old Covenant. These sacrifices could cover the sin of the penitent but they could never make the worshipers perfect. If these sacrifices of bulls and goats had cleansed the people, they would have never had to be offered again. Instead, the same sacrifices had to be offered ever year, year after year.
It was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats that was offered up under the Old Covenant to completely take away the sins of the people. After the sacrifices, the conscience of the people was not cleansed. Immediately after the Day of Atonement they became aware of their sin.
But the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is not like the sacrifices made under the Law. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ can make the sinner perfect before God. Through His mediation, our conscience can be completely cleansed of the guilt and penalty for sin. If we place our faith completely in the substitutional death of Jesus Christ, we can believe that sin no longer separates us from our Father in heaven.
Has the blood of Christ cleansed your conscience? Can you truly say that your sin no longer separates you from the love of God?
Psalm / Past Lesson / Next Lesson / Lesson Archive / Home
© 2000 adailywalk.com - These materials may be reproduced as long as they are never sold in any form.