Here is the revelation that is shaping my life today – I am home free, no more sacrifices required of me, only the faithfulness to come and be loved.
Hebrews 10:1 TPT
[1] The old system of living under the law presented us with only a faint shadow, a crude outline of the reality of the wonderful blessings to come. …9] And then he said, “God, I will be the one to go and do your will.” So by being the sacrifice that removes sin, he abolishes animal sacrifices and replaces that entire system with the new covenant…..14] And by his one perfect sacrifice he made us perfectly holy and complete for all time!….18] So if our sins have been forgiven and forgotten, why would we ever need to offer another sacrifice for sin?…..20) For he has dedicated a new, life-giving way for us to approach God. For just as the veil was torn in two, Jesus’ body was torn open to give us free and fresh access to him!…..22] We come closer to God and approach him with an open heart, fully convinced by faith that nothing will keep us at a distance from him. For our hearts have been sprinkled with blood to remove impurity and we have been freed from an accusing conscience and now we are clean, unstained, and presentable to God inside and out!
Observation
The law was a shadow of grace. So when grace came in the incarnational God-man Jesus, the law book was closed for good, one could say slammed shut by God himself. Sin is no longer the issue to be dealt with, God herself, love himself, comes as the “sacrifice that removes sin…and replaces that entire system with the new covenant.” So stop completely all our foolish sacrifices to impress love, to seduce love, to qualify ourselves for love. For love herself has given herself so that we can have and enjoy the beauty of “free and fresh access to him,” access to love himself. Everything we deeply desire is now freely available to all who would come and be loved.
The issue is not sin, God is not focused on what he abolished. The issue is who will “come closer to God and approach him with an open heart, fully convinced by faith that nothing will keep us at a distance from him.” The only issue now is intimacy. It’s a personal experience of the intimacy of love. And it’s only when you know that you are “clean, unstained, and presentable to God inside and out,” will you come into the presence of love with unveiled lives and excited expectations of the transformative impact of love herself. This is the why behind the incarnation of God.
And yet we still let sin have a voice. We do not trust that God has been able to do what he says he has done. We put our trust in ourselves, and our capacity to cleanse ourselves through good works and become presentable and acceptable. Or we allow our accusing conscious to have the final word and so we stay clear of love because of our unacceptability. It’s all been cleaned up and shut up, but we continually give it place and voice. Whenever sin can speak love will be muted or muffled. It’s only with an open heart can we hear the beauty of love’s unconditioned passion and pleasure. And you only open your heart when you are convinced by faith, not knowledge or emotions, but faith, “that nothing will keep us at a distance from him.”
Application
Shut the sin up. Start to dance in the celebration of freedom that love has opened the way to her presence. No stains on me, I’m “perfectly holy and complete for all time.” I’m not keeping my distance or trying to earn my place in the heart of love, I’m coming all the time no matter what is going on in my journey of life.
Response
Thank you that you clean me up rather than reveal my sins and send me on a get yourself together fix-it plan, you remove my sin and send me on a come and enjoy love plan. It’s an outrageously good way to live life, completely enjoying yourself. I don’t think I will ever stop celebrating your goodness to me, and this I also love.
Meditation
Meditate – I am clean, unstained, and presentable to God inside and out.
Consider:
How often does sin get the upper hand in the intimacy with God stakes in my life?
Am I enjoying the full freedom that love has offered me?
JOURNEY DEEPER
