Title: Worship and Jesus Christ
Contents
Subject: Worship and Jesus Christ
Verse: Hebrews 9:11-15
2008. 3. 23. Afternoon
1. Sacrifice in the Old Testament
We know that one of the characteristics of sacrificial ceremonies in Old Testament times is the sacrifice. The great principle of the Atonement established by God is that "life makes atonement for life" (Leviticus 17:11). In other words, it means that death pays a price with death (Hebrews 9:22b).
It is the principle that in order for souls who have already died because of sin before God to live again, a life of value that can be effective must die instead. So, under the Old Testament dispensation, animals took on the character of symbols and shapes of the facts of this reality, and animals became the sacrifices for human death.
2. Reconciliation between God and Man
Through this blood sacrifice, God and man were reconciled. The sacrifices of the Old Testament were performed with a spiritual meaning of reconciliation and substitution. The sacrificial beast served as an intermediary for humans to approach God. It's like a bridge.
However, the countless sacrifices of the beasts were a model, and the substance was separate. That reality was Jesus Christ. In the end, they did it without being sure of the reality, but God thought of it in relation to the reality, Jesus Christ.
When we humans go forward to serve God, it does not mean that anyone wants to go forward, and God does not take away our human condition as it is. If you are going to come to God, you must be qualified to be recognized by God. First of all, there must be a judgment of holiness from God. Man has no holiness to please God. This is complete corruption. That is why he said that there is no one who can see God and live. That's why the prophet Isaiah said, "Woe to me, I am destroyed" when he saw the holiness of God.
3. Jesus Christ the Mediator
In this way, we humans cannot dare to come before God. So God Himself opened the way. That way is Jesus Christ. That is why Jesus became the mediator who opened the way between God and man. No one can come to God except through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only way.
In other words, our Lord is the One who has laid the decisive foundation for us to worship God. The Lord's death and life are the basis on which we can come to God and worship Him. This means that Christian worship must be thoroughly based on Christology. According to Romans 5:10-11, Jesus Christ became the perfect and eternal propitiation sacrifice.
(Hebrews 9:26b) “Now he has appeared at the end of the world to take away sins by the sacrifice of himself once for all.” The Lord came and died in the last days of the entire history of redemption to become a sacrifice for atonement. It is on this basis that we have come to God and we are able to keep going. Our worship today must also depend on the intercession of Jesus. We must not worship without relying on the death and life of Jesus.
4. Worship in Christ
Therefore, those who worship God must not go to God alone, but with our Lord. When we worship God in Jesus Christ, we become true worship.
It is meaningless to attend a worship service in the form of vaguely following a friend to Gangnam without any thought. Rather, it is a disrespectful attitude toward God. If he does not get out of the habit of such worship, he is in serious danger to his soul. In order for our worship to be dynamic and living worship, it must always depend on the fact of the Atonement of Christ and be offered with thanksgiving.
However, our Lord not only became a sacrifice, but Himself became the high priest who carried the sacrifice and entered the sanctuary.
(Hebrews 9:12)."Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption." The high priest was also an indispensable mediator in the Old Testament sacrifices. The people could not go to God directly, but through the high priest. The high priest came to God to take atonement for the sins of all the people, and the priest's intercession was the foundation for the sacrifice of thanksgiving and devotion, not the sacrifice of atonement. So the reality and true high priest is Jesus Christ. Through the intercession of our Lord, our High Priest, we have come to God and have been able to keep going.
The Lord is still our High Priest and works as an intercessor who grants us grace.
(Hebrews 4:15-16).
“We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all respects as we are, yet without sin. Therefore we must come boldly before the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. it is"
Just as the Old Testament people could not stand at the sacrifice without the priest, we cannot go to worship without Jesus.
conclusion
The life of Jesus Christ is, in a sense, a life of worship. He lived a life of worship and laid the foundation for worship. The Lord is still with us in our worship and He is helping our worship. Therefore, we pray that you will always depend on the Lord for worship that God accepts.