Enough Death

ALL – Psalm 107:1-43
ALL – Proverbs 27:11
OT – Ezekiel 20:1-49
NT – Hebrews 9:11-28

Interesting passage for the day: Nor has he offered himself again and again, as the high priest down here on earth offers animal blood in the Holy of Holies each year. If that had been necessary, then he would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But no! He came once for all, at the end of the age, to put away the power of sin forever by dying for us. – Hebrews 9:25-26, The Living Bible

Thought: We still sin, but we no longer need new sacrifices. Have you ever thought about that? It feels like there’s something wrong with this picture. Shouldn’t we need to bring fresh sacrifices to God every time we sin?

Under the Old Testament, they had to bring fresh sacrifices. Regularly. So what’s the difference now?

There are three differences: 1) our high priest, 2) our sacrifice, and 3) our temple. The Old Testament high priests were themselves sinners, so they kept having to seek forgiveness for their own sins, let alone the people’s. And the Old Testament sacrifices were bulls and sheep—nothing nearly good enough to truly cover the weight of a guilty human conscience. Also, the Old Testament temple/tabernacle was just a copy of the heavenly tabernacle, and was not truly the holiest place to come to for forgiveness. But under the New Testament/Covenant, our high priest is sinless and has no need to offer a sacrifice to cover his own guilt. And under the New Testament, the sacrifice that has been offered is the perfect, sin-free blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man. And this sacrifice has been accepted in the heavenly tabernacle, where nothing impure can ever enter and defile it.

And so when we sin now, no new sacrifices are needed. The high priest is still sinless. The sacrifice is still enough to cover every sin. The tabernacle is still holy and untouched by defilements. We’re covered. Jesus’ death was enough for us, and still is.

Question: When we know that we have been forgiven so completely, what keeps us away from living the righteous lives we’ve been given the freedom to live? “He who has been forgiven much loves much.” What greater forgiveness could there be?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

The Church’s Perfection

ALL – Psalm 106:1-12
ALL – Proverbs 27:4-6
OT – Ezekiel 14:12-16:42
NT – Hebrews 7:18-28

Interesting passage for the day: Under the old system, even the high priests were weak and sinful men who could not keep from doing wrong, but later God appointed by his oath his Son who is perfect forever. – Hebrews 7:28, The Living Bible

Thought: “Why do church-goers sin?” I hear that kind of question all the time, whether it’s just in my own mind as I reflect on my life and my personal sinful failures or whether I’m dialoguing with an atheist who’s trying to prove that there’s no benefit in being a Christian.

It’s a legitimate question. At least, it seems to be. The church claims to be the group of earthly people who will end up in heaven. And heaven is only for sinless people. Nothing sinful or impure will ever enter its gates. So you would think that finding sin in the church would be harder than finding a needle in a haystack—nearly undetectable.

But you’d be wrong. Finding sin in the church is more like finding candy at the Swanton Corn Festival parade: you can find loads of it everywhere you look. Perhaps the sin we find in the church is more subtle than the sin we find outside her walls. Outside the church, sinners sin proudly and don’t care whether you think they’re sinning or not; the lie they proclaim is that their sins aren’t actually sins. Inside the church, sinners sin stealthily and cover every sinful flaw with a veneer of spirituality; the lie we try to proclaim (not with our lips, but with our masks and patterns of projecting over-spiritual images of ourselves) is that we’re beyond sinning. So inside the church we’re more subtle about our sins; we’ve learned at least to admit that sins are sins and to strive to separate ourselves from sin.

But sometimes we go too far. And we end up feeding the world the lie that we are going to heaven because we’re such deserving, upright people. That’s absolutely not why anyone in the church is going to heaven! Just like always, even the best of us on his or her own is a weak and sinful human. I’m not saying that we have no one in the church who lives an incredibly good life, because I’m not denying that Jesus Christ changes His people from sinners into saints. But what I am saying is that our hope, and the hope that we should constantly let our friends and neighbors in on, is that we get to go to heaven because Jesus Christ is our new high priest, and He is righteous. He always has been. He always will be. And that is why we are always going to be acceptable to God—because our high priest Jesus Christ is always acceptable, and He is representing us. It’s definitely not because we manage never to sin.

Question: Do you sometimes find yourself wishing you weren’t part of the church—or glad that you aren’t part of it? If so, is it because you’re looking at how messed up the church’s humans can be? What difference would it make in your perspective being part of the church if you focused instead on the perfection of the church’s sinless high priest Jesus Christ?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Ownership Blues

ALL – Psalm 51:1-19
ALL – Proverbs 22:24-25
OT – Song of Solomon 5:1-8:14
NT – 2 Corinthians 9:1-15

Interesting passage for the day: Yes, God will give you much so that you can give away much, and when we take your gifts to those who need them they will break out into thanksgiving and praise to God for your help. – 2 Corinthians 9:11, The Living Bible

Thought: I really struggle with ownership. I’m not saying that I have a hard time owning. I own much more than I need to own. But I struggle with that reality. On the one hand, I’m called to give thanks for God’s wonderful provision. On the other hand, I’m called to be generous. And I live with a sense of guilt that says I fall short in both areas. I’m neither as thankful nor as generous as I ought to be. And then when I start to think about how I ought to be managing our family finances and belongings in such a way that they grow to the point where I can still care for my wife when I get to old or weak to work, my sense of tension goes through the roof! How can I be thankful and content, yet seek more? How can I both build personal wealth and be generous to the extent that I believe God wants?

I can’t. I just can’t. I’m not perfect. And I don’t see perfection coming my way too quickly, either. In fact, I’ve come to the point that I believe this is a tension I’m going to have to live with for the rest of my life. And Jesus will grow me in all three areas as the years go by. Sometimes I’ll take a leap forward in gratitude. Other times I’ll learn more about planning for the future and providing for my family. And other times I’ll soar into higher levels of generosity. But I doubt they’ll all be at once, at least not usually.

Which will require faith. That’s what I hear Paul encouraging the Corinthians to display: faith. Faith that God is the ultimate provider. Faith that, because He is, they can be generous and provide for others. Faith that expresses thanks to God for all He does and will do. Faith that rests in God to such an extent that others in turn have the chance to thank God, too. Faith that at the end of the day, our ownership isn’t about ownership at all, but about God’s wonderful love toward us, providing enough for us all and giving us gifts that transform us into thankful recipients rather than prideful owners and managers. We may not get it all down to a T, but we can walk by faith that allows us to grow, because we can rest in God’s perfection rather than ours.

Lord, grant me the faith to provide, to give, and to be thankful through it all. And by the way…thank You. Keep taking care of us all.

Question: What have you learned about being an owner? How have you learned not to let your possessions own you? Or are you still learning? What’s the journey of faith looking like for you?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.