The real thing - once and for all!
Albert Bogle
November 15, 2018
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Hebrews 9: 24-28
24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; 26 for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgement, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
The writer of the book of Hebrews invites his readers to allow themselves to be transported out of time into eternity. For him the death and resurrection of Jesus cannot be compared with any understanding of the way human kind believe God forgives sins. In the past he suggests that past sacrifices for sins were mere enactments of something that was still to be and understood.
Now with the death and resurrection of Jesus something quite different has come about. Jesus has entered heaven itself and has made the great once and for all sacrifice for all time and has ratified it in eternity. The writer is suggesting that this is a sacrifice that no human can possibly understand or try to comprehend. This is the sacrifice that has put an end to all sin. The picture the writer of the Hebrews gives is that Jesus Christ is now the one who stands before the great Judge of all creation as the redeemer of the creation.
The implications for those of us who have come to believe in Jesus is that our lives are no longer dominated by sin and death but we have a future that is inviting us to live in time in such a way that the love of Jesus constrains us to live out lives of gratitude to the one who has given us a new hope and a lively future. It is the season of remembrance that continually reminds us of the beauty and frailty of life itself and only that which is done out of love will last.
Lord,
Its all poetry and words
Pictures to describe the indescribable
Nothing you have given us has been cheap
Regardless of our theology
It has been obtained at a great price
You draw us into yourself
You invite us to the holy place
To linger to take off our shoes
To go through a cleansing of the soul
To feel a new freedom of thought and heart
To be freed from past chains
To understand forgiveness is costly
All heaven has recognised the cost of this communion and redemption.
Human beings brought into union with God the Father
Now under his protection
It is beyond the imagination of the most godly of the heavenly beings
Yet so much more to come
Blessings still to be encountered
To be received
To be given
All stemming from the love
That would never let go
The love that loved us back to life
It’s not poetry
It’s not words
It’s what we have become
The redeemed of the Lord
No wonder Wesley writes:
‘Can this really be!’
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