Hebrews Chapter 12

I feel that the most significant aspect of this chapter is found in the concluding verses where the author talks about the Mountain of Fear versus the Mountain of Joy. On Mount Sinai, Moses met with God and forged the Old Covenant in the form of the Ten Commandments. It can be said then that Mount Sinai was where the Jewish Church of Old was founded. This linkage demonstrates the difference in the focus of the Jewish Church, and with it the Old Covenant, in comparison to the New Church established in Christ and the foundation of the New Covenant. This Old Covenant was heavily founded on acts. We see this in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, books filled with what to do and what not to do. These acts were their testaments to their faith, their sign to God of their faithfulness. Yet it still remains clear that under the Old Covenant, no man was perfect. Every man, woman, and child sinned in the eyes of the Law of the Old Testament. Even the holiest of these old Jews would despair to face the judgement of God without the blood of Christ. Through the blood of Christ, shed to found the New Church, it is possible to cast aside this despair. This blood speaks on behalf of sinners, and speaks loudly to drown out our flawed nature. When worshiping God, we should always be cognizant that we are incapable of placating His wrath by ourselves for we are condemned by our sins. Yet the blood of Christ, sent by God for us, covers those sins and for that we should sing til we can sing no more.

Hebrews Chapter 11

This is hands down one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, definitely my favorite in Hebrews. The main focus of this chapter is....drum roll please......faith. No duh. I think you get that about three verses in. But it's easy to get lost in what is said in this passage. I always affectionately refer to this chapter as the "Hall of Faith" because it's like walking through the Hall of Fame for people that, you know, have faith. This chapter basically serves as a SparkNotes version of the Old Testament. So it's a good review. But the meat of this chapter comes at the end, from verses 32 to 40.

What we see here is two-fold. First, we see the insurmountable power of faith. With faith in God all things are possible, even moving mountains. But faith is not something that is easily come by. With our faith in something unseen and our convictions about our faith, we are often put in a position on the outskirts of the cultural norm. Because of our faith, we are weird, abnormal. And that's hard to deal with sometimes because it sets us up for persecution because of "differentness". We have to be prepared for that. Though Christians in America have it much better than our Early Church peers (no crucifixion, no roasting alive, no drawn and quartering, etc), there are still Christians in other parts of the world who still need to fear death for their faith. Yet still they believe. And that is a testament to how we should be living.

The second thing we see in this section is that, as great as what all these Old Testament juggernauts did, it was not good enough and God's plan wasn't complete. It still needed that extra something special, but that something special could not come from man. It had to come from above. And what's awesome about that is that Jesus' life on Earth gives us even more reason to have faith in God. He was a living, breathing witness of God's love, His eternal, ever-lasting, all-compassing, giant bear hug love.

Hebrews Chapter 10

Here we see a continuation of where we left off in Chapter 9. The first section of Chapter 10 reaffirms that Christ paid the ultimate price, once for all. And those three words hold so much meaning.

Once. The price Jesus paid is one that only had to paid once. It was the ultimate sacrifice meant to cover all sins for all time. It was the culmination of thousands of years of inadequate sacrifices laid before God by the Israelites. The sheep and lamb and goats and cows just simply weren't cutting it. And God wanted to have a relationship with us that was being prevented by our inability to not sin.

All. The price Jesus paid was not meant for just the Jews. While they are God's Chosen People, we are all God's Children. And it is undeniable that God wanted a relationship with all of us, not just the Jews. And in order to have that relationship, there had to be a sacrifice sufficient to cover a multitude of sins, which is where Jesus came in. The vastness of what this sacrifice means cannot be overlooked and it should bring joy to us every moment we dwell on it.

Hebrews Chapter 9

What I love about this chapter is how it explains the role that Jesus' blood plays in the big picture. We see how the sacrifices of old were not cutting it. They were unable to completely cover and redeem the sins of the Israelites. Because of this, they were only able to enter into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies once a year "and even then not without blood". That's not too cool. The fact that only one person was able to be with God and then only once a year just blows my mind when I consider that in today's post-Christ world, we have the freedom to meet with God wherever and whenever he wants.....and that's all because of Christ. We call him the Lamb of God for a reason. He was a sacrifice for us, he paid the cost of our sins. And that totally opens the door and blows away the old concepts of meeting with God. No longer is there an earthly Tabernacle. Instead there is a different Tabernacle that is unsullied by human hands since it was built by Christ. While it is impossible to fully know the mystery that is Christ, we find in him sustenance, life, and forgiveness. These things are offered to us, all that remains is for us, through our faith, to accept the gift. One final point to make: The sacrifice of Christ is one that serves for all time. It is not necessary for Christ to be sacrificed every year like the lamb that was sacrificed to cover the High Priest of the Old Covenant. The eternal, life-giving sacrifice is enough. And as it is said, "His Grace is enough for me."