July 24 - A New and Living Way

July 24 – Hebrews 10:19-31 – A New and Living Way

It is impossible for me to imagine living under the Levitical sacrificial system, but it wasn’t for the people that read this message. This was probably written just before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD.

These Hebrews knew the importance of offering sacrifice as atonement for their sins. Imagine their emotional reaction to the words of Hebrews 10:19-20, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body … let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”

These words are life-changing for us, but they were an entire shift in the worship paradigm for those early Christians who had grown up taking sacrifices to Jerusalem. Everything changed!

The next transformation comes in the relationship that we have with the Great High Priest (Jesus). Under the sacrificial system, the high priest was separated from the people on the day of the year that he went into the Most Holy Place to offer the atoning sacrifice. Now, we are being invited by Christ as the Great High Priest to enter that Most Holy Place. He will not fail us. He can not. He is faithful. He is sitting beside the Father, offering us hope and assurance of eternal life.

The end of today’s passage comes with warnings of retribution for those who choose to reject and ‘trample’ the Son of God. If someone rejected the Law of Moses, it only took the testimony of two or three witnesses to hand down a death sentence. The severity of punishment for those who treat the blood of the covenant as an unholy thing and who insults the Holy Spirit will be judged by the Lord Himself. Hebrews 10:31, “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

This is a living God that we serve. He is not an idol or a long-forgotten god of some pantheon. He is Yahweh, He is present, He is living. He will be the final judge.