Hebrews 10:20 NIV
[20] by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,
Earlier I mentioned the part of this verse that speaks of us being able to enter the Most Holy Place through Jesus’s blood, here the author speaks of a living way being opened through the curtain by Jesus’s body. In the time of Jesus, and beginning in the days of Moses, there was curtain. This curtain was used as a veil to separate the outside world from the Holy Place of God. Only certain people could enter past the veil. Only certain people got to talk with God. It was a privilege and an honor. It still is even if we don’t view it as such anymore.
When Jesus died the sky went dark, there was a loud Crack like thunder, and the veil was torn. Suddenly we were able to cross the threshold into God’s court. Any of us. All of us. Can now stand before the living God. Because of His blood we are able to enter God’s holy place, because of Hos body was can cross past the curtain into God’s sanctuary.
This makes me think of the scene from BenHur. If you haven’t already, I recommend reading the book. The only movie that didn’t miss the important stuff was the one with Charleston Heston. And even that doesn’t match the book. Anyway. There is that moment in Ben Hur when Jesus dies and Judah Ben Hur’s sister and mother, who had come to see Jesus to be healed from leprosy but hadn’t gotten there before the cross, they have to hide in a cave because a massive storm sets in after Jesus gives up His spirit. The wind pounds and the rain soaks them and they feel things in that moment can’t get worse. Then the look at each other and see that they are both healed. Jesus died so that even if we can’t see Him and touch Him physically, we can still he healed. Healed from more than our leprosy, healed from more than our blindness. Now we are healed from our sins and are reconciled to God. Because He was beaten, buried and rose, we can enter into God’s presence and talk to Him as to a friend. We were worthy of punishment, but Jesus gave His body so that we could be unworthy of grace and still receive it. This is the body we enter through.
Category: free
The blood part 6
Revelation 5:9 NIV
[9] And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
Again I find us ending in Revelation. With your blood you purchased. We talk about the purchase, but do we know what it means? Think of this. You are a fifth class citizen living in a kingdom, you are a slave. Suddenly the king rides out to greet His people, He looks at all around Him and changes every status so that no one is 1st class or 5th, He sets you free. But your old masters argue, many old masters argue, that their slaves are theirs, they own them. So what does the king do? He buys you. He purchases you at a ridiculous price that you know is beyond your worth, then He takes you home to live in the palace. Not as a slave, but as His child. It makes me think of the Price of Persia when I think of our redemption in this way. The movie, not the video game. I never played the game because my uncle who owned had a high score he didn’t want us kids ruining. We still tease him about that. But didn’t the king find the boy, who later became the Prince who saved the world as they knew it, on the street as an orphan and take him up on his horse and take him home as his son? It was a long time ago I saw the movie, but that’s how I recall it. How much more for the King of all to purchase us from ourselves? Because in the end of the story, we were our own masters, our sins which we had chosen were our bonds, and we were the ones demanding a high price for lives we knew weren’t worth that cost. But God.
Jesus felt we worth dying for. He died for each of us as though we were the only living soul on earth. His payment was individual. He thought of me. He thought of you. He even thought of the person who would never turn his or her life over to Him.
His blood bought me. His blood was the gold laid before the money changers demanding payment. Like Edmond in The Lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. We belonged to the witch, to the darkness. As the law of Narnia stated, all traitors belonged to Jadis, their blood was her property, only by the pure blood of the son of the king over the sea, could the traitor be set free.
We belonged to the evil. We were born into sin. Our blood was the devils property. Only by the pure blood of the sacrifice of the son of God, could we be saved and set free.
Now we praise Him, our Lord and our God. Because thanks to Him, to His blood, we are redeemed.
Like the old Petra song, “All over me. All over me. I’ve got the blood of an innocent man all over me.” That’s the only way we can be saved from death, is if we have the blood of the Lamb all over us, washing us clean, setting us free.
The blood part 5
1 John 1:7 NIV
[7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
If we walk in the light.
That word IF makes a big difference. If. We have heard it said that Jesus died so we are all saved. But that is almost too broad of a statement. What the fact is, we have the chance to be saved by coming to Him and turning our lives over to Him. We are not simply saved because Jesus died. That sounds wrong, I know, but people talk as though they are saved but have never accepted Jesus as their savior. They have never taken the time to say, “Jesus. I know I am a sinner, but I know that through your death on the cross I have been set free. Please come into my life and change me to be like you. Forgive me for my sins and set me free from them. I want you Jesus. Thank you for loving me.”
Something similar. We have to ask Jesus to come into our lives. It’s not an, “ya, I believe in Jesus so I’m saved” thing. We need to ask Him to come and forgive us for our sins and to come into our hearts and minds. Only then are we saved. After that we must work to live in the light. You may say, “we don’t get to Heaven through works, only through grace.”
Okay. Let us open that one up.
No works will ever be enough to make us worthy of God, only His grace us enough for us to be pardoned unto Him. However, once we are reconciled to God we need to live accordingly. You say, “that sounds a lot like the Law instead of Jesus.” Yes. Because Jesus Himself said that He did not come to demolish the Law. The rituals and the things that were cultural instead of Biblical He did speak against, yet the rules pf the Bible still apply. If anything, Jesus made things even more strict, please reference the sermon on the mount where now holding hatred to your brother is the same as killing him. Ya, that’s definitely easier than simply not killing him no matter how you feel. It’s a narrow path that leads to Heaven. Living in sync with the scripture is hard and sometimes is certainly not fun. Please recall that in the OT we were permitted to hate our enemies and now we can’t. Jesus didn’t throw away the Law, but He also knew that we couldn’t make it on the Law alone, we needed a savior. We were going to screw up. We do everyday. That’s why we need God’s grace. But once we are accepted into Jesus’s family through His blood, then we need to live as children of the light. You can’t reach Heaven by simply being a good person, you need to have accepted Jesus. But you also can’t be truly part of God’s family if you live as a bad person.
If we walk in the light, as He is in the light. But we only get to the light through the blood of Christ.
The blood part 4
Hebrews 10:19 NIV
[19] Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
Take me in to the Holy of Holies. Take me in by the blood of the Lamb. Take me in to the holy of Holies. Take the coal, cleanse my lips, here I am. -Petra
I love this verse and this song. Take me past the outer courts and the worshipers and those laying down their crowns, take me past the big party and the table filled with food. Take me past the band. Past the alter. Past the sanctuary doors. Take me into Jesus’s arms.
What does Heaven mean to you?
When I was child I thought like a child and heaven was a playground where we would always have fun.
When my Nana died, what Heaven meant to me was a place where I could be with her.
Later it became the pleasant thought of a place with no disease.
Then a place with no crime.
Then a place with no war.
It was not until I was young adult and had was listening to either Theocracy or disciple – I don’t recall which- that I suddenly started thinking of Heaven the way it should be thought of. It’s preached about like a big party. It’s presented as a place where all your dreams come true. But the importance of Heaven isn’t what it gives you, or the pain it takes away, it’s not even the fact that your loved ones are there; Heaven is important because Jesus is there. Physically.
It was one of the Bands I previously mentioned that made me think of this. Of course I always knew that Jesus would be there and that that was one of the big draws, but we don’t think of that as being the most important thing. And that’s ridiculous. It was one of these bands, who said in their music;” Even Heaven would be hell, if by some mistake Jesus wasn’t there.”
It’s not about the party. It’s about being with Jesus. Take me past it all so I can see His face. We now can enter the Most Holy of Holies where God sits, because Jesus died for us. His blood is our wrist band to get in. His blood makes it so we can run to Him and hug Him close. His blood sets us apart as VIPs so we can come into His presence. And His blood is available for everyone who asks for forgiveness of their sins and asks Jesus into their hearts. Because of His sacrifice we get to be with Him. I am covered by the blood of the Lamb.
Take me in, all I want is to see Jesus.
The blood, part 2
Hebrews 9:20-26 NIV
[20] He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” [21] In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. [22] In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. [23] It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. [24] For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. [25] Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. [26] Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.
[28] so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
I wanted to start with this verse because it sums it all up. It sums up the difference it made to have Jesus come, it sums up the way it effected the church and the way things were done, it sums up the importance of the blood being spilled. Billy Graham once said that people want to avoid the cross because they are offended by the blood. It bothers them. Not just because it shows them their sins, but because blood itself is offensive. So people do away with the blood and gore of the cross and try and make it lovely and reverent, where in fact it was gruesome and vile. The only thing that makes the cross anything but horrible and gross is Jesus’s blood on it. This makes me think of the story of the three trees. The one became a small fishing boat, the other the Manger and the last one became the cross. All had big dreams and goals. All thought their drrams had been destroyed by what they had been carved into. All were proven to be of high value because Jesus was part of them. Two had happy connections to Jesus. One had the worst connection possible, and yet it was the most necessary one out of the three. Jesus’s sacrifice is what makes the cross something to love and strive after. If Jesus had died any other way, the cross wouldn’t matter, it’s because HE died on the cross that it is special and valued and important. We are like the cross. Only through Jesus’s blood on us and His Holy Spirit in us are we special and valued. He values us. We who beat Him and mocked Him and killed Him. Only through Him are we worth anything. He is the final sacrifice. His blood is the only thing pure enough to wash us clean. He changed everything, because we just weren’t getting it. The Law had been put there to help us and guide us but we were missing it. We weren’t able to keep up with it, many ignored it, some had contorted it and we needed an answer, someone to give us more than the rules, someone who would make it so we could be forgiven when we fell short of the rules. We needed Jesus. We still do.
The blood part 1
Hebrews 9:14 NIV
[14] How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
Sacrifice. It’s something we hate as people.
We love it when someone sacrifices for us, but we don’t enjoy doing it for others unless we really love them. Jesus really loves us. We remind ourselves of that over and over and over again. But it’s hard to remember. We talk of God’s love and we seek to feel His heart close to us, but in no time at all we forget all He did for us and why. Because of that sacrifice we are no longer required to give God blood, but now are to give Him our hearts and to serve Him as living sacrifices, this is a privilege even if we don’t see it as one. We get to be clean before God because we are seen through the lense of Jesus’s blood. IF. We have given our lives to Him. Now our sacrifice looks like avoiding sin. Helping others. Obeying God’s laws. Sharing Jesus with others. Gifts to God because He gave us the greatest gift of all through Jesus. How much more than the sacrifices we give to God, will the sacrifice His son Jesus be in His eyes. Our gifts are like a sprinkling of sand in the desert. Yet God still loves our offerings because He loves us. We come to God broken, sinful and some days even insincere, and we lay our dirty, blemished offerings before Him. And He accepts them and loves us. Like a child who brings a sculpture of mud to her mom and the mother smiles and takes and says its beautiful, because she loves the heart of the child who made it. That’s what our offerings to God looks like. And His love of us and His love of what we do for Him makes our mud beautiful.
If our dirty offerings can be seen as beautiful. Imagine how much more so the spotless, blameless, pure sacrifice of Jesus is to God. Beautiful beyond compare. The only truly worthy sacrifice.
Cleanse us Jesus from actions that lead to death, so that we may serve the LIVING God!
Feet part 6
Psalms 26:12 NIV
[12] My feet stand on level ground; in the great congregation I will praise the Lord.
Level ground is an interesting expression. It can mean that you stand in righteousness. It can mean you stand in safety. It can mean you stand in place of discernment.
I feel David meant that he stood in safety when he said he stood on level ground. It’s like hiking. During the summer my family and I went to Port Renfrew in BC. My dad, Phallen (my dog) and I hiked down to the beach there. And when I say hiked, I mean there were moments I wished for a guideline to help me get back up the mountain. Phallen was fine, he trudged along like a tropper. But I was bent over trying to keep my balance, the difference between two legs and four I guess. At one point the trail leveled off for a bit. It felt like I had taken lead weights out of my shoes when I hit that level path. I finally could catch my breath. That’s what standing on level ground feels like. Rest. Peace. A weight being lifted. When you stand on level ground you are stable. When Jesus puts you on level ground, you are safe.
And then to stand on that level ground and praise the Lord. You stand in the safety of His presence and have the privilege to praise Him. The Great Congregation sounds like Heaven to me. The congregation of Heavenly hosts singing praises to God, standing in safety in His presence. I love that a warrior like David was also someone who longed to stand and sing praises to God in a Heavenly choir. Not many warriors are depicted like that. Yet, I think of the old stories. Knights riding into battle with a herald going before them, sometimes singing songs of their victories. How would the song of Jesus’s victories have gone?
He evaded Herod’s seekers, men who sought His life.
His family fled in secret, hidden by the night.
He taught at twelve in the Temple and have His mom a fright.
But He knew He must be with His father, and of course He was right.
He called twelve men to join Him when He was fully grown. He was baptized by the baptist and a dove came down from Heaven’s throne.
He healed the sick and cast out demons, He even raised the dead. But the leaders feared His power so they called for His head.
He stood bold before Pilot, no shame was on His face. For He stood there not for His own deeds, but instead for my disgrace.
He was beaten and mocked by those He loved, they spit upon His face.
He carried His cross up the hill of the skull and died in my place.
Three days went by and the tomb stood shut, but there was work happening behind the scenes. Jesus took the keys of death and set the captives free.
Then He appeared before His friends and showed them His hands, feet and side. They were surprised but shouldn’t have been, He had told them He would rise.
Now He waits in Heaven’s throne, for the day He will bring us home.
For now we are His hands and feet, to show this world His love and carry on His deeds. We will preach His word! We will pray for those in need! We will walk in His foot steps! Because we follow where He leads.
I would say a list of accomplishments like that would send His enemies running. But it’s not just some story. He really did all those things and so many more. And He really is coming back for us some day. So for now, let us follow in His footsteps, until at last we see Him face to face again.
Feet part 3
[9] “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
That desire. That longing to be known and owned fully by God. Peter knew it. He understood somewhere deep in His spirit that He needed to be covered by Jesus’s cleansing. I wonder if that desire to be baptized in the water, to be supersaturated by God, made Jesus happy. How many of us live God enough to say, “all of my Lord, cleanse it all.”
Stormie O’martan spoke of her heart as house. She said that in the beginning she let God into the main room and thought that was enough. But soon He was knocking on the door to another room, another part of her life, so eventually she let him in. Then He began knocking at another door and another and another, until finally He was in every room. It’s not enough to simply accept that Jesus is Lord, you must also let Him into your life, all of your life, let Him control everything. That can be hard. There may be things you are told to give up. Or things, (or harder still, people) you are told to add to your life. It’s a hard path. But no worth while path was ever ea
Feet part 2
John 13:8 NIV
[8] “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” John 13:9 NIV
Peter thought it beneath Jesus to wash his feet. He did not want the one he knew to be the son of God, their long awaited king, the Messiah, kneeling at his feet and washing them. Jesus knew that Peter meant no offense in his statement but He needed all his deciples to understand that if he did not wash them clean they would have no part in Him. To this day we all must be washed by Jesus to share in His presence and glory. Of course, we mean washed spiritually by His blood. If we are not cleaned by the blood of Christ, if we have not made a statement of Faith and asked Him into our lives, then we are not shareholders in His reward. He must be part of us for us to be part of Him. Like Rev. Dr. L.H.VanBeek once said. His Spirit draws us to Him so He can give His Spirit to us. It’s such a profound thing. And something to be longed for and valued.
Hands part 5
Luke 23:46 says: Into your hands I trust my spirit.
Into your hands I trust. Five of the hardest words we ever say to God. I trust you Jesus. With this and all things. It makes a nice fridge magnet but do we mean it? How often do we say it? Leaving God to take over is so hard because we are doing creatures. It’s sort of like domesticating a wolf and trying to teach him that he is no longer needing to hunt and fight to survive, now you feed and protect him. God takes us out of our struggle and brokenness and cares for us, but we want to take care of ourselves because we think we know better, this reminds me of a poem:
Let Go and Let God by Laurette Burns
As children bring their broken toys,
with tears for us to mend,
I brought my broken dreams to God,
because He is my friend.
But then instead of leaving Him in
peace to work alone,
I hung around and tried to help,
with ways that were my own.
At last, I snatched it back again and cried,
“How can you be so slow?”
“My child” He said, “What could I do?
You never let it go.”
We must learn to let go, only God can control things in a way that will make them work out perfectly with His plan.
Carried in the cross 