According
to the writer of Hebrews, “we
are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for
all”,
and in
chapter ten and verse eleven of Hebrews the writer shares
how the “earthly”
sacrifices
which were offered “daily”
by the “earthly”
priests
“can never take away sins”
where we read:
And
every priest stands daily ministering and offering oftentimes the
same sacrifices,
which
can never take away sins:
The
verse begins, “And
every priest stands daily ministering and offering oftentimes the
same sacrifices,...”. The
writer began with the words, “And
every priest”,
which refers to “each, all, the whole and everyone of the ones who
offer sacrifices and in general are busied with sacred rites”
“stands
daily” which
means “who put, place and position themselves down from, throughout
and according to every civil day or the space of twenty four hours”
“ministering”
or “serving, rendering or performing a work of sacred rites”
“and offering”
which means “bringing to, presenting and bearing towards”
“oftentimes”
or “frequently” “the
same”
which means “the identical and aforementioned” “sacrifices”
or “victims”. All of the previous “earthly”
priests would offer the “insufficient” “sacrifices”
of animals time after time and day after day.
The
verse goes on to say, “...which
can never take away sins: ” The
writer continued with the words, “which
can never” or
“that do not have the power whether by virtue of one's own ability
and resources or state of mind through favorable circumstances or by
permission of law or custom” “take
away”
which means “remove or expiate perfectly the guilt” “sins”
or “missing of the marks, errors and mistakes”. Though these
“sacrifices” were offered by the priests every day, they were not
able to remove the “guilt of sins”.
When
we meditate these words in Hebrews, we see how the priests, as
faithful as they were, only offered day by day inadequate and
insufficient sacrifices. These animal sacrifices never had the “power
or ability” to remove completely the “guilt of sin”. Only Jesus
could do that, and when He offered Himself willingly upon the cross
to die for the penalty of sin for every person, only then was there
“release, cleansing and purging” from sin and all the guilt
associated with it. When we allow Jesus to come into our lives, we
have the “perfect” sacrifice substituted on our behalf. Oh what a
great and awesome God we have in that He provided His Son Jesus that
we may have a relationship with Him.
Next
time the writer shares
how “every
priest stands daily ministering and offering ”
but could never “take away sins”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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