20230822

high priest of the good things

Hebrews 9:11-28 (JDV)

Hebrews 9:11 But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come. In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation),
Hebrews 9:12 he entered the most sacred place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained permanent redemption.
Hebrews 9:13 You see, if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow, purifying those who are defiled, make sacred for the purification of the flesh,
Hebrews 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the permanent Breath offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God?
Hebrews 9:15 That is why he is the mediator of a new covenant so that those who are called might receive the promise of the permanent inheritance because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
Hebrews 9:16 Where a will exists, the death of the one who made it must be established.
Hebrews 9:17 You see, a will is valid only when people die, since it is never in effect while the one who made it is living.
Hebrews 9:18 That is why even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood.
Hebrews 9:19 You see, when every command had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and purified the scroll itself and all the people,
Hebrews 9:20 saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded to you.
Hebrews 9:21 Similarly, he purified the tabernacle and all the articles of worship with blood.
Hebrews 9:22 According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.
Hebrews 9:23 Therefore, it was necessary for the copies of the things in the sky to be purified with these sacrifices, but the sky things themselves to be purified with better sacrifices than these.
Hebrews 9:24 You see, Christ did not enter a sacred place made with hands (only a model of the true one) but into the sky itself, so that he might now appear in the presence of God for us.
Hebrews 9:25 He did not do this to offer himself many times, as the high priest enters the sacred place yearly with the blood of another.
Hebrews 9:26 Otherwise, he would have had to suffer many times since the foundation of the universe. But now he has appeared one time, at the end of the ages, for the removal of failure by the sacrifice of himself.
Hebrews 9:27 And just as it is appointed for humans to die once but judgment will come after this,
Hebrews 9:28 in the same way also Christ, having been offered once to bear the failures of many, will appear a second time, not to bear failure, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

high priest of the good things

Last year at Christmas I shared a post about the birth of Christ as the first act in a three-act play. The second act was the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross, through which he bore our failures. The third act is yet to come — at the second coming of Christ. Verse 28 of today’s text describes these two final acts. The death of Christ and the second coming of Christ are both crucial for our destiny. What Jesus did on the cross ensures our resurrection and glorification to come.

Further, the resurrection of Christ was permanent, which means that the removal of failures for those who believe in him is also permanent. Our salvation and the life it will produce will be permanent — in contrast to the temporary lives, we are living today. That is only one of the good things that we will inherit — secured by our great high priest.