Christ, Our High Priest

Our sins are not forgiven by the shedding of the blood of animals like in the Old Testament, when the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies in the Temple to sprinkle the blood on the Mercy Seat. This was done to atone for the sins of the people for one year. Then, he had to repeat the process the next year. When Jesus offered the sacrifice of His blood for our sins on the Cross, He did not go to the Temple to sprinkle His blood there, but He went into the very presence of God to sprinkle His perfect blood on the altar of heaven once and for all. (Hebrews 9:23,24) This is why we can have eternal salvation in Jesus Christ.

Moses was given the blueprints for the tabernacle and temple on Mount Sinai when he met with God. They were copies of the things in heaven. Then, the high priest of the tribe of Levi would enter the earthly copy, the Temple, to give a temporary sacrifice for sins. All of this was to prepare the way for Christ to come. Christ was of the tribe of Judah, so He could not be a Levitical priest under the law. Christ was a priest according to the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 6) Since Christ is eternal, and He was the sinless Son of God, He could shed His blood once for all of the sins of the world. When He did this, He went back to heaven. He appeared in the presence of God to sprinkle His blood there, so that God is just to forgive the sins of anyone who turns to Christ in repentance and faith. We owe everything to our High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. He did for us what no one else could ever do.

Tomorrow, I intend to read Hebrews 10-12.

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