Scripture

By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.

Observation

Faith is confidence that God will fulfil our hopes and certainty about things we cannot yet see. It shows us that God created all things.

By faith Abel brought a better sacrifice than Cain, and by faith Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying. It is impossible to please God without faith.

Noah built his ark by faith. God warned him about things that had never happened before. Noah believed God and was saved in the flood that condemned the rest of the world.

Application

Hebrews 11 is often described as the faith chapter, because it starts with a definition of faith and then travels through the Old Testament to highlight the famous examples of men and women of faith.

We believe that God created everything with a few words of command. He created everything that can be seen out of nothing.

This is an awesome thought. in recent years, science has found more and more things that exist in our universe. All of this just demonstrates that God is infinitely greater than we can imagine.

Some scientists try to have us believe that everything just came from nothing in a “Big Bang.” Then, after things settled down a bit, life created itself with no help from a Creator.

We believe that there is a God who made it all, and that He loves His creation.

Prayer

Lord, the whole of creation sings of your glory. Praise be to God. Amen.

Scripture

Just think how much more the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which makes us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and having insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us .

Observation

If we deliberately and will fully keep sinning after we come into the way of truth, then there is no other sacrifice available to us. Under the law of Moses, those who refused to obey were put to death. How much worse then is the punishment for those who trample on the Lord Jesus.

God has told us that he will take revenge. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

T he people addressed in this letter were ridiculed, beaten, and imprisoned. but they accepted this suffering with joy. They should endure, remembering the great joy that comes when we remain steadfast.

Application

This passage is not about christians who continue to sin after they are saved. Everybody falls, and as we grow in maturity of faith, we learn how to live according to God’s standards for holiness.

This passage is about people who turn their backs on the way of salvation. They once believed but no longer do so. In the context of the letter, it is directly about those who caved in to pressure from the Jews and returned to obeying the law, thus denying salvation by faith in Christ.

It is sad when anybody turns away from the Lord. It is even worse when they are high profile leaders in the christian community. How often have we heard the phrase, “I no longer identify as a christian.”

Jesus himself said that anyone who denies him in this life will find that He denies them at the Judgement.

This is not to say that there is no chance of redemption for such people. But it is very hard to walk away from Jesus and then to try to come back.

Prayer

Lord, please help me to stay true to you all of my life. Amen.

Scripture

And let us not neglect meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is near.

Observation

We can boldly enter the Most Holy place of Heaven because of the blood of Jesus. His death opened a way through the curtain that separated us from God. Let us go then right into God’s presence.

We must hold tightly to hope, encourage one another in love, and keep on meeting together to build one another up.

Application

Meeting together with our brothers and sisters in the Lord is a basic part of Christian living.

God has called us to be a community of faith, a people who witness together and worship together.

How can we love one another, encourage one another, bear one another’s burdens and so on, unless we actually meet together?

The church functions best when all of its members meet together in large groups and small groups. Meeting is great for worship and instruction. The smaller group is best suited for personal ministry, exhortation and fellowship.

Jesus did not minister as a “Lone Ranger” but through a band of followers whom he trained into ministry.

It is in exploring life together that we become mature in our walk with the Lord.

Prayer

Lord, I thank you for your body, the church. Thank you for all of those brothers and sisters who encourage me regularly. Amen.

Scripture

When sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices

Observation

Christ cancelled the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. God’s will was for us to be made holy by the once for all sacrifice of Christ.

Under the old covenant the priests offered sacrifices again and again. but our High Priest offered himself as a sacrifice. Now he sits at the Father’s right hand, waiting for his enemies to be humbled.

Now there is no need for further sacrifices because our sins have been forgiven.

Application

In A.D. 70, God allowed the Roman army to enter Jerusalem and destroy to the ground the Temple. Not one brick remained on top of another as Jesus had prophesied.

God destroyed the Temple because it was obsolete. There was no need for sacrifices any more because the perfect sacrifice had been offered.

Jesus was described as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” The sins are gone. All offences are forgiven and guilt removed.

Jesus has taken away my sins forever. There is no need for me to ever offer anything back to God to atone for my sins.

As Jesus said on the cross,”It is finished.” Amen

Prayer

Thank you Jesus for being my perfect sacrifice, the once and for all time offering. Amen.

Scripture

For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Observation

The old system with its law and sacrifices was a dim shadow of what was to come. The sacrifices had to be repeated year after year because they could not provide perfect cleansing.

If they did, the sacrifices would have stopped for the worshippers would have been purified once for all time.

Sacrifices did nothing to purify, they just reminded people of their sins. The blood of animals cannot take away sin .

Christ said to God,”You do not want animals or sacrifices for sin, but you have given me a body to offer.”

Application

The sacrificial system of the Old Testament was imperfect. It could remind people of their sins. It could cover their sins. But it could do little to purify them from the sinful nature.

We are condemned to sin unless God changes our hearts. The animal sacrifices could not do this. But the sacrifice of Christ does.

The death of Christ on the cross demonstrates to us how much God loves us. He has given Himself up for us.

I see my Saviour on the cross dying for my sin, it makes me realise that sin is a big issue for God.

But His love also convicts me that my sin hurts Him and distresses Him. In my love for God, I do not want to hurt Him, and so my heart is changed.

Not only that, but God has given me the Holy Spirit to help me in my times of trial and temptation.

Prayer

Thank you Lord for taking away my sin and my desire to sin. Amen.

Scripture

Just as each person is destined to die once, and after that comes judgement, so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people.

Observation

Christ did not enter into a man-made holy place. He entered into the real one in Heaven.

He did not offer Himself over and over like the High Priest offers sacrifices year after year. No, once for all time, Christ appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by His own death.

Each person dies once, and then faces judgement, so also Christ died once as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. He will come again, not to judge sin, but to save those waiting for Him.

Application

Some religions, including the pagan religions often called the New Age Movement, teach that when we die we are reincarnated on this Earth to atone for previous sins.

The Bible says that we live once and die once. We do not come back over and over to work our way up to Heaven.

Jesus paid for our sins. If we put our trust in His sacrifice, then it makes no sense to believe that we will be reincarnated after we die.

We have been born again to a living hope, and this hope is better than being born over and over.

When we believe in Jesus and receive His salvation, then we are promised eternal life. Our bodies, which deteriorate with age and ultimately die, will be replaced with perfect bodies that neither age nor become sick. We will live with God forever.

Prayer

Hallelujah! Lord what a salvation you give to us in Jesus Christ! Thank you. Amen.

Scripture

Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.

Observation

When someone leaves a will, it is effective only after the person dies. For this reason, the first covenant was put into operation with the blood of an animal.

When Moses read the commandments, he sprinkled the book of the law and the people with the blood of calves and goats. in the same way, he sprinkled blood on the Tabernacle and everything used for worship. There is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood.

The Tabernacle, and everything in it, had to be purified with the blood of animals. But the real Tabernacle in heaven was purified with a far better sacrifice.

Application

Our salvation was purchased by the shed blood of Christ.

This is something that we can tend to forget in our nice, clean, sanitised worship. Even the celebration of communion, in which we specifically remember the body and blood of our Lord, is very well mannered.

We speak the words of atonement, but the reality rarely affects us.

Jesus Christ died for sinners. He died in a barbaric way, agonising, tortured to death.

The blood of Christ brings us forgiveness because of who He is, and not because we are in any way deserving.

Because of that death, the blood poured out for us, we are now forgiven.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, what suffering you endured for me. Thank you for laying down your life so that I can live for ever. Amen

Scripture

By the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.

Observation

Christ is now the High Priest over all the good things that come from the covenant. He is in the perfect heavenly Tabernacle. He offered His own blood and now lives in the Tabernacle forever.

Under the old covenant, the blood of various animals could cleanse a person from various sins. But Christ has offered His own blood, a perfect sacrifice for all sins.

Christ now mediates a perfect covenant in which we receive an eternal inheritance.

Application

Under the old covenant, a sacrifice was required to cover various sins, even various natural occurrences which made a person “unclean.”

When a person sinned again, a new sacrifice was required because the blood of animals had a limited effectiveness.

But now Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, has offered His own blood to pay for our sins.

Because He is God and is perfectly good, His blood covers every sin. We don’t need to come back to God with a new sacrifice every time we transgress the law. The blood of Jesus covers it all.

While the blood of Christ has the ability to cover every person, we have to apply it to our own lives. If people want to live apart from God, and continue in their own selfish ways, God gives them that option.

To everybody who comes to Him with a repentant heart Jesus grants total forgiveness.

Prayer

Thank you Jesus for paying for my sins. Your death on the cross has set me free from the penalty of sin. Amen.

Scripture

By these regulations, the Holy Spirit revealed that the entry to the Most Holy Place was not truly open as long as the Tabernacle and the system it represented were still in use.

Observation

In the first covenant, there were regulations for worship and for a place of worship. The tabernacle had two rooms. In the Holy Place there were a lamp-stand, a table, and sacred bread.

In the Most Holy Place, there were a gold altar and the Ark of the Covenant.

The priests regularly entered the first room, but the Most Holy Place could only be entered on one day of the year by the High Priest. This was to show that the Most Holy Place was not freely open as long as the Tabernacle remained.

Application

Under the old covenant, worship was, in many ways, determined by regulation. in particular, only priests could offer sacrifices in the holy place. Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies on just one day of the year. Even then, he first had to offer sacrifices for his own sins and for those of the nation.

On the other hand, we have been cleansed by the blood of Christ, and we have free access to God’s presence all the time. Worship springs from our hearts and not just according to the law.

More importantly, we don’t come into the presence of God. The presence of God, the Holy Spirit, is in us. He leads us, equips us, and transforms us to be more like Jesus.

The new covenant, which has been mediated for us by Jesus, is far superior to the old covenant with its rules and regulations.

Prayer

Thank you Father for the privilege of worshipping you and fellowshipping with you daily. Amen.

Scripture

“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the Lord. ” I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be there God, and they will be my people.”

Observation

The first covenant with not perfect, and so the Lord brought a new covenant. He foreshadowed this through the prophets.

The new covenant would be different to the old. Instead of a written law telling people how to behave, the Lord would write his laws on their hearts and minds. He will be their God, and they will be His people.

Nobody will need to teach their neighbours or relatives, or exhort them to know the law. Everyone from the youngest to the oldest will know Him already.

Application

When we walk with the Lord, there is no reason for laws, rules and regulations. If we all love the Lord, we will all love one another.

There is a tendency in every move of the Holy Spirit to codify what is happening, so that new converts know how to honour the Lord. That is not a bad thing. The trouble is that, over time, we may start to elevate the rules above the Holy Spirit. Eventually, what started as a life-giving move of God is stifled by legalism.

God has written His laws on our hearts. If we keep desiring to please God, He will show us what is required in every situation.

Prayer

Lord, I thank you that you do not require us to learn rules and live by laws. I have a living relationship with a living God and I can trust you to lead me. Amen.