Tag: remember sins no more
The Best Promises!
Scripture reading for October 24th: Hebrews 8
Key Scriptures for over-comers: Hebrews 8: 6, 10-12 “But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which He is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. . . . This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be My people. No longer will a man teach his brother, saying ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Our great High Priest, Jesus Christ, is also mediator of a new and better covenant. The Old Covenant was written on tablets of stone and brought revelation of man’s sinfulness. This new covenant is written on the hearts of His people. They are adopted in to God’s family! All sin and wickedness is forgiven and on top of that, God will not even remember those sins!
Observations for over-comers: Believers are new creations, adopted into God’s family and freed from condemnation, sin, and guilt through faith in Jesus Christ! What Good News we have to share! “You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call on You!” Psalm 86:5
Jesus: Priest of the New Covenant
Scripture reading for October 23rd: Hebrews 8
“The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle, set up by the Lord, not by man.” (Hebrews 8:1-2)
Jesus was a High Priest of the Order of Melchizedek. He is alive and seated at the throne of heaven at God’s right hand, a place of eternal honor. He now serves, not in a humanly constructed sanctuary or temple, but in the actual Tabernacle in Heaven. He offered one sacrifice–His own blood and body–for the sins of all men and women and sat down, his work of sacrifice now finished!
In contrast, the High Priests of the Order of Aaron were men who offered gifts and sacrifices prescribed by the law of God. The did this in a copy of the heavenly temple given to Moses on the Mount Sinai when he received the Ten Commandments, part of the Old Covenant. Under this Old Covenant, the people were obligated to keep or obey God’s law and offer sacrifices of blood when they failed unintentionally. The problem with this covenant was that the people disobeyed and broke the covenant. The Law could only reveal sin, it could not deliver men from sin! The blood sacrifices could only cover sin, not cleanse the inner man from sin and guilt.
But now, Jesus Christ is the mediator of the New Covenant. By faith in Him and His Blood, all who believe will be saved from sin’s penalty: death! We can know God personally and have His law written inside. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:12)
God’s unsearchable mysteries!
Scripture reading for August 12th: Jeremiah 30-33
“The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3
“While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the Word of the Lord came to him a second time: “This is what the Lord says, He who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it–The Lord is His name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ “ Jeremiah 33:2-3
God loves His people! He draws His people to enter into a love relationship with Him by cords of loving-kindness. He knows that love must be freely given by His people and that they must be drawn back to Him from the world and it’s enticements. God’s love will ransom them from the hand of the enemy. (Jeremiah 31:11) He will cause them to take up the tambourine and dance with the joyful! (Jeremiah 31:4, 13)
At a time when the nation was surrounded by the Babylonians and Jeremiah was confined to the courtyard of the guard under house arrest, God revealed to Jeremiah of a time when He would make a new covenant with Israel and Judah. This covenant will be different than the old one made with those who came out of Egypt. This covenant would include God writing His law on the human heart and mind. God would personally be their God and each person would personally know God. Forgiveness of sin would be experienced by all and God Himself would remember it no more. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
The condition for great revelation was calling on God in the midst of trial and trouble! The amazing promises of great things given to Jeremiah included the promise of the righteous “Branch” that would sprout from David’s line. (Jeremiah 33:14-16) His name would be “The Lord our Righteousness”. This “Branch” is none other than Jesus Christ! He was the embodiment of the everlasting love of God in human flesh and draws us with His new covenant loving-kindness! These unsearchable things are revealed to those who call on Him!
New Covenant Realities
Scripture reading for December 14th: Hebrews 8-10
I love new things! Sometimes old things are nice to collect, but new things are nicer to use because they have all the latest technology and all the parts are new. Everything we were used to with the old has to be relearned with the new things. Sometimes this shift is difficult for us because we are set in our ways. This is what happened to many Jewish believers in the time of the letter to the Hebrews. The author spent some time and effort explaining the new covenant and how it was so much better than the old covenant.
The old covenant had laws and regulations for those who broke those laws. The old covenant had promises for those who obeyed and warning for those who didn’t. Moses was the mediator of the old covenant and Aaron and the Levites were the high priest and priesthood. These were men who had failings themselves and eventually died. The old covenant had a mobile tabernacle carried by the Levites, and God could only be visited at prescribed times by a certain few people. In fact, only Aaron the high priest could go into where God’s dwelling place was in the Holy of Holies.
Under the new covenant, things were much easier and better. Jesus Christ is the mediator of this new covenant. He revealed it to us by His life, teaching, and sacrificial death on a cross. He was God’s Son, not just a servant. He was perfectly obedient to the old covenant while here on earth and then became the sacrifice for laws broken under the old covenant.
His sacrifice was better because His body and blood were without sin. He offered it once for all to put away sin. (Hebrews 9:14) His blood was offered in heaven on the heavenly mercy seat when He rose from the dead. He lives forever and is able to be a perfect high priest of a different order, that of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 6:20) He can identify with us because He is a man and has lived here on earth, experiencing our temptations. (Hebrews 4:15-16)
When we trust in Christ and His sacrifice for us, God gives us a new heart and sends His Spirit to live in us. (Hebrews 8:10-12) We become priests of the new covenant here on earth–a kingdom of priests! Our sins are forgiven and erased from God’s memory. We become the new dwelling place of God, living stones in His new body the church. We become children of our Father and can approach Him boldly without fear to find help in times of need or just to worship and have fellowship.
New covenant people love to gather together and encourage each other. We know Jesus Christ is coming soon! We want to be ready and reach as many as possible before the full reality is unveiled when He appears! (Hebrews 10:19-25)