Galatians 5:2, this is one of the most frightening statements in the New Testament, how could doing something religious make Jesus Christ have no value? The Galatians thought they were just adding a little extra obedience to their faith, they believed in Jesus, but they also wanted to be serious about their religion, they thought the equation for salvation was Jesus plus circumcision, but Paul stops them and says the math does not work that way, it is not Jesus plus something else, it is Jesus or nothing. The moment you decide that you need to do something to finish your salvation, you’re saying that the cross was not enough, you are insulting the sacrifice of Jesus. You are telling God, that the death of his son was only a partial payment and that your human effort will pay the rest of the bill.
Hebrews 9:18-28, thousands of years before Jesus was born, God gave Moses instructions to build a tabernacle in the wilderness, it was a portable sanctuary, a place where heaven and earth overlapped, where the presence of God would dwell among his people. The tabernacle had two rooms, the first room was called the Holy Place, Priests entered it every day to perform their duties. Inside the Holy Place was a golden lamp stand, a table holding 12 loaves of bread and an altar of incense, where the prayers of the people rose like smoke toward God. But behind a thick curtain was a second room, this room was called the Holy of Holies, it was the most sacred space on earth. Inside the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant, a golden chest that held three objects and was covered by a golden lid, called the Mercy Seat. The Mercy Seat is where God’s presence rested and almost nobody could go in, only one person on the entire planet was allowed to enter that room, the High Priest.
The High Priest could only enter once a year, on a single day called the Day of Atonement and he could never go in without blood. The High Priest would remove his ornate robes and dress in simple white linen, he would first sacrifice a bull for his own sins and the sins of his family, because even the Holiest man in Israel was not clean enough to enter God’s presence without blood covering his own failures first. Then the High Priest would take the blood of a goat and carry it behind the curtain into the Holy of Holies, he would sprinkle that blood on the Mercy Seat, the golden lid of the Ark of the Covenant, to atone for the sins of the entire nation. This is the system God established and for centuries, it was the only way anyone could come near the presence of God.
Hebrews 9:18-28, thousands of years before Jesus was born, God gave Moses instructions to build a tabernacle in the wilderness, it was a portable sanctuary, a place where heaven and earth overlapped, where the presence of God would dwell among his people. The tabernacle had two rooms, the first room was called the Holy Place, Priests entered it every day to perform their duties. Inside the Holy Place was a golden lamp stand, a table holding 12 loaves of bread and an altar of incense, where the prayers of the people rose like smoke toward God. But behind a thick curtain was a second room, this room was called the Holy of Holies, it was the most sacred space on earth. Inside the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant, a golden chest that held three objects and was covered by a golden lid, called the Mercy Seat. The Mercy Seat is where God’s presence rested and almost nobody could go in, only one person on the entire planet was allowed to enter that room, the High Priest.
The High Priest could only enter once a year, on a single day called the Day of Atonement and he could never go in without blood. The High Priest would remove his ornate robes and dress in simple white linen, he would first sacrifice a bull for his own sins and the sins of his family, because even the Holiest man in Israel was not clean enough to enter God’s presence without blood covering his own failures first. Then the High Priest would take the blood of a goat and carry it behind the curtain into the Holy of Holies, he would sprinkle that blood on the Mercy Seat, the golden lid of the Ark of the Covenant, to atone for the sins of the entire nation. This is the system God established and for centuries, it was the only way anyone could come near the presence of God.
