Hebrews 9:16-28; Psalm 121

OK! This is like coming back to school after summer vacation! I hope we haven't forgotten everything, but I think we'd better review a little! If we had to put the book of Hebrews into a nutshell, we might say that the theme is that Jesus Christ is superior in every way to anyone or anything else--especially the Jewish laws and traditions of the Old Testament. The Old Testament worship was full of pictures and examples of the coming of the Messiah, the Savior, our Redeemer. Now He has come and has finished the work of salvation.

Hebrews 9:16-28

Verses 16 and 17 show was that Jesus had to die in order for us to inherit salvation. In the Old Testament, The animal sacrifices of the Old Testament pointed to the one great sacrifice of Christ on the cross. So it wasn't just the life of Christ that is important to us, but His death in particular. "For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness." v. 22 The Old Testament pictured the work of Christ by sacrificing an animal and sprinkling its blood on the tabernacle and on the people. Christ is not the picture or the copy, but He is the real thing! His blood is "sprinkled" on us who believe to show that His blood cleanses us from our sin. "But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice. And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him."  vv. 26-28  Those who are eagerly waiting for Him are those of us who have trusted the blood of the perfect, spotless Lamb of God. We will not be judged for our sin because God's perfect Son, Jesus, was sacrificed in our place. When God looks at us, He sees not our sins Jesus' perfect righteousness.

Psalm 121
Our help and protection come from the Creator Himself! He formed the mountains, and He can surely hear and help all who call on Him. He watches over us night and day. Remember that He never sleeps, so we should be able to rest assured that we are safe in His care.