Word of Encouragement (6/17/2020)
We are thinking about why we should not neglect meeting together, especially for our weekly worship. For this, we are reflecting on Heb. 10:19-25:
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near 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. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Yesterday, we talked about the place of our worship: it is not an earthly temple but the heavenly temple, the Most Holy Place of God in heaven. We know this because it is the place we enter by the blood of Jesus Christ, not by the blood of bulls and goats. His blood is called “the new and living way.”
It’s the “new” way in contrast to the old way, the way of the Levitical priesthood and sacrifice. But this is not because the old way did not work and God had to come up with a different way to make it work. From the very beginning, the old way was supposed to be replaced by the new, just as the caterpillar and chrysalis are supposed to be replaced by the butterfly. Even as the earthly temple was a copy of the heavenly temple, so was the animal sacrifice a copy of the true, ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God: “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb's book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world” (Rev. 13:8, NIV).
That means we live in the time of fulfillment. What the old way promised, the new way delivers. What the old way lacked, the new way supplies in abundance. What the old way looked forward to, the new way gives generously and does not disappoint. So good is this new way that it cannot be surpassed by anything else. Nothing newer or better will come to make it an old way. What can outdo the gift of God Himself? We should not look for another way, a better way, a more effective way than Jesus Christ because there is none.
Jesus Christ is also the “living” way in contrast to the dead way of the old covenant. The old way of the Levitical system makes us think of all the animals that were slaughtered, the stains of blood on the altar, and the stench of blood that filled the court of the temple. We can also think of all the priests that had come and gone. But the new way of Jesus Christ is radically different, isn’t it? It is the “living” way to approach God. Yes, Jesus had to be sacrificed for our sins once for all. But He has risen from the dead. Now seated at the right hand of God, Jesus lives eternally to intercede for us as our great High Priest. There were many Jews who offered sacrifices at the temple but perished in their sin. But those who trust in Jesus Christ and approach God in this living way will never perish (John 3:16).
This is why we can have the confidence to enter the holy places of the heavenly temple—the new and living way that Jesus provided for us by His precious blood. That is why we should not neglect to meet together in worship, which is a holy assembly summoned by God Himself at such a high cost!