A post in 13 Minutes

I asked in the previous quote, what Hebrews 8:3 implies that Jesus brings.  He is a high priest right?

I think Hebrews gives the answer in chapter 9.  But not until verse 12.  I will give verses 11 through 14.

¹¹But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) ¹²he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. ¹³For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, ¹⁴how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.


Jesus gave his own blood.  That is the penalty Jesus had to pay for us.  Reflect on this glorious truth.  Jesus gave of himself for us.  He is the one who took our punishment and paid our penalty.


And what is the result?  Eternal redemption.  For all of eternity, we have been redeemed, bought out of our slavery.  Christ has bought us as his own.  


And look at the effect of his blood upon us.  Under the old covenant, animals' blood only purified the flesh, but now Jesus's blood purifies our conscience.  Back in chapter 8, the author of Hebrews quotes Jeremiah 31, where God talks about the need for a new covenant, because the old one failed on behalf of our faults (8:7-8).  Here is that text.  See the beauty of these promises, and remember that these have come about at the expense of Christ's blood.


"Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
   when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel
   and with the house of Judah,⁹not like the covenant that I made with their fathers
   on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
For they did not continue in my covenant,
   and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.¹⁰ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
   after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
   and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
   and they shall be my people.¹¹And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
   and each one his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,'
for they shall all know me,
   from the least of them to the greatest.¹²For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
    and I will remember their sins no more."

(Hebrews 8:8b-12)

What a gracious God!  


*5 minutes still left.  Please know that my time constraints should not undermine the importance of what I preach, but rather should show my busyness and lack of time despite my desire to keep this blog up.