There was a lot of blood in the early worship of the Israelites. Sacrifices were bled out and the blood used separately. Sometimes people and items were sprinkled with blood. Sometimes the blood was gathered in a bowl and poured out on the ground. According to one source, a 2000 lb. bull has about 140 lbs. of blood in it. I don’t know what that equals in terms of gallons, but if blood weighed the same as water it would be 35 gallons of blood!
Each year on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) the high priest would enter into the most holy place with a bowl of blood from the sacrifice and sprinkle it on the Ark of the Covenant. I’ve always imagined the Ark as something golden and beautiful, but it would seem that over the years it would become encrusted in nasty dried blood.
The immense amount of blood should highlight for us once again how serious and disgusting sin is to God. If that’s what it took to forgive sins, we should not just brush them aside as nothing, remembering that year upon year, month upon month, week upon week and even day upon day, animals were sacrificed and blood was offered to atone for the sins of God’s people.
But then along came Jesus. He offered his own blood as the sinless Son of God, and broke the chain of bloody sacrifices. He entered into holy places that far surpass the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle, and provides forgiveness for us. His sacrifice was so perfect that He does not need to offer sacrifices over and over again, but His sacrifice was offered once and for all and it remains in effect for all people to receive forgiveness if they believe in Him.
Remembering that we are “leaving elementary doctrines to go on to maturity,” as it says in chapter 6, we find this statement in verses 27-28, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
It’s elementary: we die and we face judgment. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden that has been the pattern: life, death, judgment. However, what is not elementary is how Jesus has broken that cycle. He lived, died, faced judgment, and rose. Not only did he rise, but he also ascended into heaven, and has promised to come again for we who wait for Him.
That Jesus is coming again is essential to our salvation. Too often we live in the first part of that statement: “It is given to a man once to die and then to face the judgment.” We don’t read on and remember the second half that Jesus’ sacrifice breaks the cycle of sin and death and gives us life beyond this life. What is more, even when we do think about these things, it’s in terms of us dying and going to heaven. But the Bible also speaks of Jesus coming again and raising the dead giving us new bodies and eternal life. We will live again – physically – because Jesus is coming again.
Jesus Himself exhorts us to keep watch and to pray. But, more than that, it would seem fitting that we should be people who live with hope. Jesus is coming again, but this time He’s not going to be dealing with sin – He’s already done that. This time He is coming to save us from this world and bring us into eternal resurrected life. “What can man do to us?”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Each year on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) the high priest would enter into the most holy place with a bowl of blood from the sacrifice and sprinkle it on the Ark of the Covenant. I’ve always imagined the Ark as something golden and beautiful, but it would seem that over the years it would become encrusted in nasty dried blood.
The immense amount of blood should highlight for us once again how serious and disgusting sin is to God. If that’s what it took to forgive sins, we should not just brush them aside as nothing, remembering that year upon year, month upon month, week upon week and even day upon day, animals were sacrificed and blood was offered to atone for the sins of God’s people.
But then along came Jesus. He offered his own blood as the sinless Son of God, and broke the chain of bloody sacrifices. He entered into holy places that far surpass the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle, and provides forgiveness for us. His sacrifice was so perfect that He does not need to offer sacrifices over and over again, but His sacrifice was offered once and for all and it remains in effect for all people to receive forgiveness if they believe in Him.
Remembering that we are “leaving elementary doctrines to go on to maturity,” as it says in chapter 6, we find this statement in verses 27-28, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
It’s elementary: we die and we face judgment. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden that has been the pattern: life, death, judgment. However, what is not elementary is how Jesus has broken that cycle. He lived, died, faced judgment, and rose. Not only did he rise, but he also ascended into heaven, and has promised to come again for we who wait for Him.
That Jesus is coming again is essential to our salvation. Too often we live in the first part of that statement: “It is given to a man once to die and then to face the judgment.” We don’t read on and remember the second half that Jesus’ sacrifice breaks the cycle of sin and death and gives us life beyond this life. What is more, even when we do think about these things, it’s in terms of us dying and going to heaven. But the Bible also speaks of Jesus coming again and raising the dead giving us new bodies and eternal life. We will live again – physically – because Jesus is coming again.
Jesus Himself exhorts us to keep watch and to pray. But, more than that, it would seem fitting that we should be people who live with hope. Jesus is coming again, but this time He’s not going to be dealing with sin – He’s already done that. This time He is coming to save us from this world and bring us into eternal resurrected life. “What can man do to us?”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
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