Bible Pathway - December 14

Read Hebrews 8

Highlights:

Perfection of Christ's sacrifice; exhortation to hold fast to faith.

He said, Sacrifice . . . and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein . . . Then said He, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God (Heb. 10:8-9).

The Old Testament's God-ordained Aaronic priesthood, animal sacrifices, and Temple ceremonies were all symbolic and were fulfilled in Christ. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (9:13-14). He was the One True Sacrifice and is the One Eternal High Priest. It is Christ who is the sacrifice to end all sacrifices. As the Scripture says, He was the true perfect Lamb of God. It is through His death on the cross that God's old Covenant with man is fulfilled.

God required the Israelites to offer sacrifices and offerings for sin. But no sacrifice or offering could truly satisfy God or restore fellowship between God and man because they could not produce complete atonement for sin. These sacrifices and offerings were only symbolic of Christ who was to come. When Christ came, He did not do away with all these things, but fulfilled them all. The time of the Law was to give way to the age of grace. Jesus would hold nothing back in bringing to fruition God's plan. This was not a new idea. The plan all along was for Jesus to offer His life as a substitutionary sacrifice for all mankind.

Christ's words: Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God, expressed His willingness to do everything necessary to carry out God's plan to redeem lost mankind. For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified . . . This is the Covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put My Laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them (Heb. 10:14,16). By receiving Christ as Lord and Savior, God the Holy Spirit would now dwell within the hearts of all believers.

Life under the grace of Christ enables us to serve God without the bondage of following a legalized way of life. Christ will now guide our lives by the Word and by the Holy Spirit. We praise the Lord for the privilege to obey Him with all our Hearts!

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching (Heb. 10:23-25).

Thought for the Day: When we are aware of our unworthiness, we will seek God's mercy.

Cross References:

For Heb. 8:5: See Ex. 25:40. Heb. 8:8-12: See Jer. 31:31-34. Heb. 9:20-21: See Ex. 24:8. Heb. 10:5-7: See Ps. 40:6-8. Heb. 10:12-13: See Ps. 110:1. Heb. 10:16-17: See Jer. 31:33-34. Heb. 10:30: See Deut. 32:35-36. Heb. 10:37-38: See Hab. 2:3-4.

Word Studies:

8:10 New Covenant, I will . . . write them in their hearts, in contrast to the Old Covenant — written in stone; 9:2 candlestick, lampstand; 10:33 gazingstock, object of public ridicule; 10:36 patience, steadfast endurance, trust; 10:39 perdition, state of being eternally lost.

Prayer Suggestion: Rejoice over and pray for those who share the Good News (Nah. 1:15).

Memory Verse for the Week: Luke 1:37