When That Which Is Perfect Is Come
When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he … entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.
Hebrews 9:11-12
Which would you prefer: seeing the shadow of the Eiffel Tower or seeing the Eiffel Tower itself, seeing a famous person’s picture or meeting that celebrity in person? In each case, the former hints at what only the latter can reveal.
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The Old Testament system of sacrifices was an imperfect forerunner of the perfect New Testament sacrifice to come.
B. F. Westcott probes the meaning behind both the old and new sacrifices.
WALK WITH B. F. WESTCOTT
“The levitical sacrifices expressed the ideas of atonement and fellowship resting upon the idea of a covenant.
“In vivid symbols and outward forms they showed how human beings might yet reach the destiny for which they were created.
“The self-sacrifice of Christ upon the cross fulfilled absolutely all that was thus shadowed forth. That sacrifice had a spiritual, eternal, and universal validity, where the ‘shadow’ had been necessarily external and confined.
“And when we look back over the facts of Christ’s sacrifice brought forward in the epistle, we notice two series of blessings gained for mankind by him: the one being the restoration of man’s right relation to God which has been violated by sin, and the other fulfilling the purpose of creation, which is the attainment by mankind of the divine likeness.”
WALK CLOSER TO GOD
What the readers of the Old Testament could only picture imperfectly, we can appreciate and appropriate fully: the perfect sacrifice of Christ.
The picture, no longer shadowy, is perfectly clear. The way of redemption and right standing with God is possible through Jesus Christ.
The question remains: Are you perfectly clear about your standing with God?
