Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
1. In this lengthy passage we find that Jesus is both high priest and sacrifice.
2. “Redemption” is a word found in Scripture that theologically contains the effect of Jesus’ death on the cross. 3. To redeem means “to buy back.” Our sin brings us under the authority and power of Satan, the enemy of God. The first covenant, or the Old Testament, meant that on a continuing basis, sacrifices, or payments, had to be made in order to satisfy the demands of the Creator God.
4. The blood of goats, calves, and bulls were never intended to be a final solution however, but served as a shadow or pre-cursor of that which was to come.
5. The blood of Christ alone purifies “our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” This is the blood of the covenant.
6. The high priest entered, on the Day of Atonement, into the inner sanctum and sprinkled blood on the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat. Christ how enters into the very presence of God and acting as our high priest.
7. This sacrifice was a one-time event. “He appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”
8. He, Christ, will appear a second time, which we refer to as the “Second Coming” in order to “save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
9. This salvation extends to all those who have been called and elected throughout the entirety of world history.