A daily devotional moment by Chris Garcia
Hebrews 8:1–3 (NKJV): Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.
I want to start out this focus on Hebrews 8:1–3 (NKJV):, “Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, Who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, (or built) and not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices.” I would like to break this down further. The main point of the writer of Hebrews, which some say is Paul others say it is someone else but the point of the author in this eighth chapter of Hebrews, is that he is being inspired by the Holy Spirit to write the following. We have such a High Priest. Now what is a High Priest? The Scripture is divided into two sections. The Old Testament and the New Testament. Another way of describing the Testament is the word Covenant or promise. The first Covenant. The second Covenant. It is divided into two parts the Old and the New. We will get into more of this as we dig deeper, as it is a part of this chapter in Hebrews. Think of the Old Testament as before Christ and the New Testament as after or during Christ. The Old Testament was the Law which is the first 5 books of the Old Testament. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The prophets of the Old Testament gave testimony of the Messiah Who was to come. From the very beginning man sinned. God told man in Genesis chapter 3, “Adam where are you?” God still asks humanity the same question. “Where are you?” “Where are you with me?” “Where are you in your standing with me as God?” The Scripture says from the very beginning, the very foundations of the earth. Before the earth was Christ died for us. The God who was and is and is to come knows past, present and future and already provided the sinless spotless Lamb. The prophets of the Old Testament prophesied about One Who was to come that would take away the sins of the world and who would be the righteous servant. He would be the one Who would take on the sin of Adam and forgive the sins of the world. Think about this for a moment. Why wouldn’t God just say, "You are forgiven" and be done with it? He could have just said you are forgiven and be done with it.
Why did God send Jesus Christ into the world? Well, because first and foremost we have to understand the reality that God created man in His own image and likeness. God gave man dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living creeping thing that is on the face of this earth. God gave dominion over to man to become a mirror reflection of God's image on the earth. Genesis 1:26, “Man is made after the image and likeness of God.” Man is made in the mirror image, the reflection. We were born to reflect God's goodness. His character. His image on the earth. We are mirrors and reflections of God. Human beings were called from the beginning to become imagers of the divine presence of God. But what happened? Man went his own way. Man Sinned. Man forfeited that call to become an image of God. Because man sinned, death came into the world through that one man. Separation came. Not only physical death but also spiritual death came. This separated humanity from God. "But it was not this way. If God is so good and so powerful then why do all these evil things happen?" That’s the wrong question to ask. I’ll clarify for you why. It is because God gave man divine rulership and authority and stewardship over this world. Because God is sovereign and powerful. He gave humanity the authority to reflect God. But because man sinned and went his own way. A man brought death and wickedness into the world. The better, more accurate statement to the question "If God is so good why does this happen," is to say the following. Because man is so wicked, man has released evil onto the world. But this was not the original intent of humanity. So God extends forgiveness by becoming a man. In this way, he is rightfully and legally releasing the captivity of death and sin through man. Man brought death into this world. So God becomes man to rightfully bring this world that is governed by man to be rightly alighted with God and man again. Jesus is the last Adam. Jesus is the firstborn of the new creation. Jesus is the redemption that Adam had forfeited. So you see, God extends forgiveness. God extends the right relationship back by becoming a man. This is why He sent His only begotten Son.
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