“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Heb 9:11-12). Christ’s death, the spilling of His blood, was a better sacrifice. Christ’s blood not only obtained our “eternal redemption”, but it also empowers our Christian walk as we see in these verses ahead.
“For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, in order that since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance” (Heb 9:13-15).
The promise of the new covenant has an eternal and a present component. On the eternal front, our transgressions are paid in full by Christ’s blood and we have obtained an “eternal inheritance”. On the present-day front, Christ’s blood “cleanses our conscience to serve the living God”; to live godly lives. When Christ died, our old sin nature died with Him and we have been raised with Christ to walk in a new life, to walk in a new resurrection power (Rom 6:4). The ramifications of this for experiencing the supernatural Christian life are the heart and soul of what Fanning the Flames is all about. But we move on.
“For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own…so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him” (Heb 9:24-25,28). Christ’s first coming secured our initial salvation and our eternal destiny. He saved us when He bore our sins on the cross. Christ’s second coming will secure our final salvation; our ultimate rescue from this world to live forever with Him. Even so, come Lord Jesus!