Hebrews 10:16-25
16“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,” 17and he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. 19Therefore, my brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
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Good Friday! Jeremiah declares, “The day is coming…” and the writer of Hebrews says, “…after those days.” Before Good Friday, and after. And in both Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews we hear the same message, God will make a new covenant with His people. His law will be in their minds, and in their hearts. Because of the sacrifice of Christ, there will no longer need to be another sacrifice for man’s sins, even the sins of the world. “After that time.” What a day in history! To those who believe, all sins are forgiven, indeed, all forgotten!
Yet, there is more! “Our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience;” our entire being “washed with pure water.”
And now, “after that day,” a believer can enter into the temple, the holy of holies, the very presence of God. “Let us draw near to God.”
As horrendous as the crucifixion of Christ was, it was the only sacrifice that could accomplish so much, and for all. Jesus prayed that there might be another way, that this “cup might pass,” as he languished in the Garden of Gethsemane – but there was no other way. For God so loved us, even the world, “that He gave His only Son.”
“What wondrous love is this!”
Prayer: Lord, I’m thankful for our church, where we can meet together, worship our amazing God, encourage one another, be reminded of your great love for us, and your purpose for us as we go back out into the world, until we meet again. Amen.
—Ric Soderstrom