Page 52 - Living Light 86

THIS WEEK’S BIBLE INSIGHTS ARE BY:
Kevin Shaw and are based on Hebrews 10 (NIV)
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ MORE ON THIS WEEK’S MAJOR THEME:
John 10:11-18
1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you
prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings 7 and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am – it is written about me in the scroll – I have come to do your will, my God.’”
8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” – though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
50
Sunday October 27 - Out with the old?
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the
realities themselves. Hebrews 10:1
I have encountered Christians who prefer ‘manifestations of the Spirit’ over reading the New Testament, whilst others prefer the grace of the New Testament and ignore the Law of Moses and its 613 ‘commandments’. However, if we want to know and encounter Jesus, we must understand the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. Fruit trees must have roots, branches and fruit!
Many Old Testament books are closely related to New Testament books, examples being Genesis and John, Proverbs and James, Daniel and Revelation. The book of Hebrews finds its roots in the book of Leviticus, the meticulous blueprint for how sacrifices must be prepared and carried out in the Tabernacle and, later, the Temple at Jerusalem. The title ‘Leviticus’ is however from the Greek translation (Septuagint), because Hebrew manuscripts do not give titles but rather use the first line of the book to identify them. Leviticus in Hebrew is called ‘Vayikra’, which is from the opening line, ‘The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him...’ See then how Hebrews picks up on this, beginning: ‘In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets... but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son...’ (Hebrews 1:1-2). The Bible contains the story of how God has spoken to us, and how Jesus is the ultimate fulfilment of God’s Word. We must therefore study it all.
Father God, let me grasp your whole counsel, from the roots of the old, to the branches of the new, and the fruit of today, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY