December 19
Hebrews 8:1-10:39
God gets to establish standards, we don't. God alone is perfect. Problems arise when we elevate self and the things of the world. Trouble arises when we think that we know better and alter God's standards, thinking that the standards have evolved. When we allow this to happen, dangerously, we are elevating ourselves to god-like status. Many find it unfair that Moses was not allowed to enter into the Promised Land for the seemingly minor infraction of striking the Rock the second time in Numbers 20, rather than speaking to it as God told Moses to do. But this act misrepresented God and the typology that the Rock was indeed Jesus Christ, and He would be struck once and only once for the sins of mankind (1 Corinthians 10:4). Likewise, many struggle with the seemingly minor infraction of the unholy fire in Leviticus 10 with two of Aaron's sons and their instant death for this. But everything in the earthly tabernacle was a picture of the greater tabernacle in heaven. If this seems esoteric and not applicable, consider this: God gets to establish who gets married, and the roles that are established. Marriage on earth is a picture of our future marriage between the church, also called the Bride of Christ, and our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. Christ did it all for us, and willingly died for us, as a husband is to do for his wife. So the husband submits to Christ. The Bride of Christ submits to Christ, as Scripture states it should be done on earth. The woman's liberation movement, the LGBTQ movement, etc. thinks they have it right, but they have distorted God's perfect picture in heaven. When we enter into a relationship with Christ, we become God's children and as such, we submit to our Heavenly Father. Even when we get older, we never stop being His child, nor would disrespect be acceptable. In our earthly world, parenting has changed. Parents are looked at more as friends. Disrespect is tolerated and exalted in the media. Decisions are co-decided. But this is a distortion of God's perfect example.
Notice how many times in today's readings this truth is emphasized. We read in Hebrews 8:5-6, "They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: “Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain.” But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises." Both the earthly tabernacle and the priesthood was a mere shadow or dress rehearsal for the better one in heaven and the perfect Priest, Jesus Christ. The New Covenant, which is quoted in 8:8-12, from Jeremiah 31:31-34, concludes in Hebrews 8:13, "When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear." This is clarified further in 9:11-12, 15, "So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come.[a] He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever., That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant." The earthly sacrifices also foreshadowed the future sacrifice, as we read in 10:1, "The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship."
People are surprised when they hear there will be no marriage in heaven, and that there will be no childbirth in heaven, but why? These earthly examples will be fulfilled and perfected in heaven as we get to experience purely what it means to be Christ's bride and God's child. As Christians we are to hold on lightly to the things of this world as we wait in expectation of heaven. We are not to distort God's perfect prescription, by assuming god-like status thinking that we somehow know better. Why can we continue in hopeful expectation when our world seems to be collapsing all around us? We read in Hebrews 10:23, "Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise."
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: