This morning I am thinking about old and new things [furniture, fixtures, etc.] and how each unique piece can come together to create a welcoming environment. Frankly, I tend to have an eclectic [mixing of vintage and modern] decorating taste. Before hurricane Helene and the flooding [cleansing and purging] of our home, I had a variety of diverse pieces of which most were connected to past family members and precious memories. John and I had some new pieces we had purchased during our married life, but all in all it was a mixture of old and new.
Our home is being repaired now and before too long, we will be able to return to it. Because all but a few pieces of furniture were destroyed, I need to think about bedroom sets, a couch, tables and chairs and how they will fit in the house. What do I want? What will feel welcoming and inviting? I have to reach for replacements, but I am a bit excited about it, because I have the ability of starting over. The Spirit of God will lead me to create a new space. It will just be different when John and I, family, friends, and others enter in.
Our Lord has created a new place for us in heaven and a new life-giving way to enjoy God. We need to get really excited about that NEW, because he will return to gather his worshipers. Under the old covenant, a High Priest was able to enter the Holy of holies once a year to make atonement for himself and the people’s sins through a blood sacrifice. This was repeated year after year as a way to cleanse a person of sin. Now, under the new covenant with Christ as our High Priest, believers can enter a sacred place with God at will—the more the merrier and the happier our Father.
In our passage today, the writer of Hebrews speaks of the old vs. the new regarding the Tabernacle, the worship of the Lord, and entering into the sacred place of God’s presence. In Christ, a new way—invitation—to enter has been issued. For believers, God’s judgment of sin is behind us. There is a huge “WELCOME” sign ready to greet us. For those who live in Christ—make him Lord and give him authority—we can enter in any day and time to enjoy fellowship with God. Today, by the sacrifice of Jesus, even while living in this sin-filled world, we can enter in. However, one day the Lord will call us to enjoy his perfectly adorned HOME in heaven not made with human hands. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” (2 Cor. 2:9).
Hebrews 9:23-28 NLT
23 That is why the Tabernacle and everything in it, which were copies of things in heaven, had to be purified by the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices than the blood of animals.
24 For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf. 25 And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal. 26 If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice.
27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, 28 so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for preparing a place for us in your sacred love; we have become your Temple. We can come boldly to your throne of grace, receive mercy, and enjoy fellowship with you without limit. Thank you for the old covenant of the law that led to an even better new covenant of grace. Behold, you make all things new. We are blessed as your children called by your name. In Jesus’ name. Amen.