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The letter to the Hebrews was basically a sermon written to a largely Jewish Christian congregation who were beginning to wonder if they had made a mistake by becoming Christians. They were thinking about the possibility of returning to their old, Jewish religion with the high priest, the Temple, the altar, the sacrifices, and the blood of goats and bulls instead of continuing with the simpler religion of Christianity. The Epistle to the Hebrews gives the explanation that the purpose of all the Old Testament ritual and ceremony served as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. The earthly tabernacle was given to God’s people as a picture of what is going on in heaven. God’s people could see the details going on before them, but they were to know that it was just a shadow of the reality of what is going on in heaven before God. This heavenly reality has been perfected by the blood of Jesus.
Jesus the Great High Priest shed His blood and brought it into the heavenly Holy of Holies. The Lord Jesus offered his own blood for the forgiveness of sins which blinds people from the kingdom of God and binds them to the world. Jesus’ blood has the mysterious power to set people free from the bondage of sin and to the blindness that it causes those who give in to it. Jesus offered His own blood on the heavenly altar that we might be sanctified at heart, and cleansed in our consciences. To come into God’s presence, we need our hearts washed and our consciences cleansed from all sinful acts. Inner change requires that the conscience be thoroughly cleansed from all the sins that pollutes it.
What God wants is not outward appearances or merely outward purifications, but he wants inner change. And inner change requires repentance and faith in Christ. This is the hope that Jesus brought when he shed his own blood and offered it on the heavenly altar. When that blood touches our heart and life, it thoroughly washes us on the inside. Only the blood of the Lord Jesus can do this for us. There is nothing the devil hates more than the mention of Jesus’ blood, because it’s the one power far greater than his own binding power of sin which he exerts on people.
The benefit of the blood of Christ for all faithful Christians is that; the blood of Christ sanctifies our hearts, and cleanses our consciences. The blood of Christ restores our Eternal Inheritance. It frees us from the power of sin. The apostle Peter puts it that: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18-19)
As Christians purchased by the blood of Christ, we should not be deceived to focus on worldly pleasures and only pretend to please God with the outward things we do for God and for each other and for the church. When John the Baptist was calling people to be baptized in preparation for the coming of the messiah, many came to him to be baptized. But John could see through to their hearts and said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Matthew 3:7-8) They wanted to be among those who were getting baptized. They wanted to go through the act of outward baptism. But that wasn’t at all what God was asking them to do through the message of the Baptist. It’s the inside that God wants cleansed, and not the outside only. As Christians, we have a calling to belong to Christ Jesus and to act and behave like those who have been cleansed by His blood. Indeed, Jesus expects all Christians to live and act like those who belongs to him.
The Most Rev Dr Justin Badi Arama
Archbishop and Primate of the
Episcopal Church of South Sudan and
The Metropolitan Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Juba
For further information or query on GSFA, please email secretariat@thegsfa.org
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