December 21, 2012 … The Bestest of All !!

Chronological Bible Reading Plan - Day 356

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Hebrews, Chapters 1-6 To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Highlight Passages: Hebrews 7: 15-20 : [NLT] … {The Author of Hebrews is illustrating with God’s truth the superiority of the New Covenant in Christ over the Old Covenant the Jews had been under. In establishing this intent, the author [remember WHOM the Author of Scripture truly is!], shows Christ’s superiority over even the Angels or over great Jewish leaders like Abraham or Moses. In Chapter 7 we read of the Author’s apologetic that Jesus, The Christ, is mankind’s eternal High Priest, in the line of Melchizedek, the mysterious eternal high priest of faith whom God brought to Abram for God’s blessing (see Gen. 4 and Psalm 110: 4). } …  
15 The change in God’s law is even more evident from the fact that a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has now come. 16 He became a priest, not by meeting the old requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. 17 And the psalmist pointed this out when he said of Christ, … “You are a priest forever in the line of Melchizedek.” [Ps. 110: 4]  18 Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless. 19For the law made nothing perfect, and now a better hope has taken its place. And that is how we draw near to God. … 20 God took an oath that Christ would always be a priest, but He never did this for any other priest. 
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Highlight Passages: Hebrews 8: 13 : [NLT] … {Using the link above to read all of Chapter 8 , the author of Hebrews goes on to posit the High Priesthood of Christ by using Old Testament prophesy [see Jer. 31: 31-34 copied below] to establish the apologetic truth of Christ’s eternal and heavenly High Priesthood for all mankind in the New Covenant.} … And as my title to today’s journal entry declares, the New Covenant is “the bestest of all” of God’s covenant promises. ... 
13 When God speaks of a new covenant, it means He has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and ready to be put aside.  
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Highlight Passages: Hebrews 9: 27-28 : [NLT] … {Again reading from the link above, … in Chapter 9, our Author takes his Jewish readers [and all believers] back into a description of the Tabernacle, where the high priest of the Old Covenant would offer the blood sacrifice of a perfect lamb in atonement for sin; and in this description, Christ was shown to be THE PERFECT SACRIFICE, the Lamb of God, Whose shed blood atoned for the sins of all mankind … i.e., Jesus was/is the BESTEST of all sacrifices for sin. And in our faith in Christ our sins are covered by the blood of the Lamb.} …  
27 And just as it is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes judgment, 28 so also Christ died only once as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again but not to deal with our sins again. This time he will bring salvation to all those who are eagerly waiting for him. 
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Highlight Passages: Hebrews 10: 1-3; 19-23 : [NLT] … {Chapter 10 reminds believers that the old system of atonement – the blood sacrifice in the Tabernacle – only reminded sinners of their sin and their inability to be forgiven without the faith in what the sacrifice represented. In Christ’s blood sacrifice, the Lamb of God took upon Himself the propitiation for all sin. Henceforth, therefore, in the New Covenant, there is no need for the old system of sacrifice. And as we know, since Christ’s death on the cross, there have never been anymore blood sacrifices on the Day of Atonement in the Jewish calendar. And there never will be; because Jesus said it from the Cross: “It is finished!”} …  
1 The old system in the law of Moses was only a shadow of the things to come, not the reality of the good things Christ has done for us. The sacrifices under the old system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. 2 If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared. …  
And now, we who believe in Christ’s Lordship and His eternal High Priesthood, can enter the Holy of Holies, which is now in our hearts, to become God’s living sacrifice (see Romans 12: 1). ... Yes, dear fellow Christian, in Christ we truly have the BESTEST OF ALL covenants which we’ll realize when Christ returns for us to be with Him forever. ... 
19 And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 This is the new, life-giving way that Christ has opened up for us through the sacred curtain, by means of his death for us. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s people, 22 let us go right into the presence of God, with true hearts fully trusting him. For our evil consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. 23 Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 
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Reference Passage: Jeremiah 31: 31-34 : [NLT] … {The Prophet foretold the New Covenant.} … 31 “The day will come,” says the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the LORD. 33 “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 their God, and they will be my people. 34 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their family, saying, ‘You should know the LORD.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will already know me,” says the LORD. “And I will forgive their wickedness and will never again remember their sins.” 

My Journal for Today: I may seem lazy today with my journal entry. But if you’ve read Chapters 7-10 from the link provided above, as well as my journal comments in bold above, I really don’t need to add any additional verbosity here. The Author of Hebrews nailed it. … Christ is quite simply … THE BESTEST LORD OF ALL !!! …

And so let me summarize my feelings about the truth in Hebrews by linking you to this You Tube piece, which tells you that Jesus is my EVERYTHING:

My Prayer for Today … My faith in Your Lordship as the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle of my heart, is all I need for eternal life with You, … my Lord. Jesus, You are THE BESTEST OF ALL !! Amen

Blogger's PS:  Today is the last day on the Mayan calendar; or as some New Ageists believe is the beginning of a new era of humankind.   But the only way that can happen - for me - is for Jesus to come back for us today.  We'll see; ... but if not, everyday for Christians in the beginning of a new era, isn't it?!!