And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s people, let us go right into the presence of God, with true hearts fully trusting him. For our evil consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.
Hebrews 10:21-25Hebrews 10:21-25
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
21 We have a great high priest who is in charge of God's house. 22 ; . So let's come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith. Let's keep our hearts pure, our consciences free from evil, and our bodies washed with clean water. 23 We must hold tightly to the hope that we say is ours. After all, we can trust the one who made the agreement with us. 24 We should keep on encouraging each other to be thoughtful and to do helpful things. 25 Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord's coming is getting closer.
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When we are confident in our relationship with Jesus, the results are limitless. It’s not about working up a sense of trust, or having “unconditional faith”, a sense of belief divorced from our ability to think, reason and experience. It’s about recognizing who Jesus is. And when we recognize who Jesus is, we can begin to understand what he has done. And when we understand what he has done for us, we can come boldly into God’s presence knowing that he longs for us to be there.
Our confidence is based on who Jesus is first. He is our Lord. He rules over his people – a leader who cares for and protects his people, who is not in it for personal gain, but in it to serve those under his charge. The fact that he is a great high priest points out his ability to offer compassion and sympathy. He is not far away, nor proudly judgmental of our weakness and failure. He knows what it is to deal with our cravings and insecurities; his experience enables him to minister for us in God’s presence.
Once we understand who Jesus is, we move to what he has done for us. As a priest, he offered himself – the only sacrifice God would accept. Hebrews 10 makes clear that God did not want animal sacrifices, even though they were stated in the law. Rather, animal sacrifice never could do what the people expected it to do. They wanted the regular sacrifices to clean them, remove their guilt. Instead, it only reminded them of their guilt. So Jesus offers himself, and God is pleased. God had prepared Jesus for this very purpose. Now, using the metaphor of the Tempe sacrifices, we have been sprinkled with Jesus’ blood. The sprinkling makes us clean – holy – prepared to be in God’s presence. Dirt was a good metaphor for sin in the Old Testament. Dust and grime got everywhere in the lives of wandering shepherds. Having been washed by water, we can be sure that the sin has been removed. That is the work of Jesus.
These two things together mean that we are welcome in God’s presence. Not that God is not to be approached in reverence, but God has a heart tender to us, and he sees us cleaned by Christ’s sacrifice. We can come to him with thanks, with concern, with our weakness and even with our uncertainty. And knowing how far Jesus went gives us the proper experience to really trust him. We can know that God will be faithful; he will live by his word, by his promise.
The interesting thing to come out of this short passage is what follows. Since we can feel welcome in intimate relationship with God, we are now urged to spend time with other believer! We are encouraged to love them, to do good things for them. We are encouraged to be the encouragers. We are told to make time for each other regularly. Intimacy with God leads to community. That is amazing, if you ask me.
Some people who claim the name of Christ seem to think in terms of a private relationship between them and God. As if God demands some personal moral and religious behavior but faith has no social dimension. We can actually avoid growing spiritually if we just avoid others! But that isn’t the point. God wanted our intimacy with him to result in intimacy with others. He knew that would happen. Christianity is meant to be lived as part of a team, part of a body.
So take advantage of every opportunity to develop those attachments to the body. Minister to others with your hands. Use your mind and voice to bring joy and comfort. Use wisdom to point out sin, and use humility to guard against a false sense of righteousness. Get in a life group, bible study or family group. Eat meals together and share birthdays and anniversaries. Share kids going to school and learning to discipline with grace and hope. Meet each other’s needs, and give each other an umbrella of grace, allowing them to fail and offering forgiveness and the chance for restoration.
Be a family, since you are now joined to the Father.
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