Hebrews 9

Hebrews 9 reminds us of two things: (1) the need for the priests to continually offer sacrifices, and (2) the inability of those sacrifices to permanently take care of sin. In contrast, Christ entered the heavenly sanctuary and offered a single sacrifice for eternal redemption! His sacrifice can “cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

Sin is deadly and demands a serious consequence. That’s why “apart from shedding of blood there is no remission.” It was true in the old covenant, and it’s true in the new. Christ died to initiate the new covenant. He presented His blood in the heavenly sanctuary so that we could have an eternal inheritance. It only needed to be done once, which should give us pause when certain denominations claim to be perpetuating His sacrifice through the Lord’s Supper. His sacrifice took care of our sin, and with His return we’ll enter our eternal reward!

Thought for the day: The whole reason we engage in communion is to remember God’s great love for us shown through Jesus’ sacrifice, and we are supposed to do that until He returns!

1 Corinthian 11:26 (WEB) “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”