The sight of blood is alarming. It signals that something is wrong, because blood belongs in the body. Life is in the blood. But for the ancient Israelite culture, blood also signified something else: cleansing. The thought of blood being used to clean anything now is more than strange to us, but there was a cultural and spiritual significance to it for the Israelites. As we seek to understand why, we may begin to understand even more what the blood of Jesus has done for us.
A covenant is the deepest form of promise between two people, intertwining them together. Hebrews 8 shows us that Jesus has brought a new and better covenant, one that fulfills and completes where the old one fell short. The old covenant was good in that it pointed us toward the coming of the new covenant, but only by the new covenant can we completely enter into God’s presence. This new covenant has been made available to us by the sacrifice of Jesus, our high priest.
Melchizedek is a mysterious character who only has a couple short sentences written of him in the Old Testament, but the author of Hebrews keeps bringing him up and seems to think he has a great deal to do with Jesus. Who is this guy? What is the connection to Jesus?
As we explore chapter 7 of Hebrews, we see that God has been giving us a preview of what would come fully in Jesus all throughout history and that Jesus is the fullness of everything we need.
Storms come in life. That is a certainty. When you hold onto an anchor, you will still feel the push and pull of the waves from the storm, but you will also be held secure where you are supposed to be. Our culture and even religion offer many anchors that end up not really being planted securely into a firm foundation. There is only one anchor for your soul that will truly hold you securely and he is Jesus.
God rescued Israel from the Egyptians, but He also made a way to rescue them from their own wickedness and rebellion. He allowed them to make sacrifices and draw near to His temple through ceremonial cleansing. God allowed these things to be mediated through people with a specific role, called priests. However, these priests also had their own sin and faced their own mortality as well. Jesus has now come as our better high priest, making full sacrifice once and for all and mediating eternally on our behalf so we can draw near to God.
When God rescued His people out of slavery to Egypt, He called them to follow Him through the wilderness into a land He promised them — a land of rest. Many did not believe God’s promise and because of that, they failed to enter into His rest. Yet, God is inviting us into a deeper and fuller rest now through His Son, Jesus. May we listen. May we not harden our hearts as the Israelites did in the wilderness, but follow God’s invitation into His good rest.
God was building a nation and a people through Israel, and he used His servant Moses to start the work. But the true Builder was not Moses. Jesus has come to finish the work of building a people and a kingdom. He is the better builder who is the foundation and completion of what God is establishing.
In the past, God spoke to His creation through various methods and messengers. But now He has spoken fully through His own Son, Jesus. Jesus is not only the better messenger, but the message of God himself, come to us in the flesh fully revealing who God is and what He is up to in His world. Are you listening to His message?
A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath Day.
This is the only psalm of 150 that is directly meant to be sung on the sabbath day. And yet, nowhere in the psalm does it give a command to rest, nor is the word rest even mentioned. What we do see in this psalm is a reminder of the works God has already accomplished. It is out of God’s work that we find rest, not our own. This psalm is an invitation to look to the works of God and rest in Him.
God gives a promise through Haggai to Zerubbabel: the other nations’ kingdoms will be destroyed one day and God’s kingdom will reign, and Zerubbabel will be the sign of this coming kingdom shaking the heavens and earth.
But we know historically that Zerubbabel never sat on the throne crowned as king. He died. And Israel remained under the power of other nations long after he passed. What message was God giving to his people? What could this prophetic word be pointing us to? And what does it look like for us to live in that promised kingdom now?
God’s people were disheartened by how the new temple was shaping up compared to the splendor of the former temple Solomon had built. God spoke through Haggai to encourage them and remind them that this temple did not require fine silver and gold to be glorious, and if it did, He could surely provide it! But God’s own glory would come and fill that place and His presence would make it more glorious than the first. The second temple would later be visited by Jesus himself. The second temple would also eventually crumble, but the temple of Jesus’ body, where the fullness of God’s glory was present, rose again and remains forever!
God’s people were supposed to rebuild the temple once they were released from Babylon. But they got caught up building extravagant homes for themselves. Of course, God didn’t need a home built from human hands, but the temple was about God’s presence and glory being near His people. What are you building? Are you building up a life that is far or near from God’s glory and presence?
What does it mean to pray, “Your Kingdom come”? What is it we are actually asking for to take place on earth, as it is in heaven? What was Jesus proclaiming as he announced the Kingdom of God was at hand and in our midst? In this message we explore seven realities we see about the Kingdom Jesus brought with him and what it means to live in those realities.
Jesus’ final week of his life on earth was marked by a triumphal entry into Jerusalem, met with praises and shouts of salvation. Yet, Jesus’ humble entry was doing more for humanity than those in the crowd could ever imagine. Jesus’ entry reveals him as the true prophet, priest, and king that we need — and that we were meant to be. These three roles Jesus fills help show us what it is to be fully human once again, in Jesus’ power.
