But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
The writer of Hebrews is writing to Hebrew Christians. The writer is fearful that they will turn back from following Jesus, their Messiah, and return to the Temple system. Since the actual temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, we can assume this letter was written to these Hebrew-Christians just prior to that event. So that these Christians would know that Christ is superior to the Temple worship and the Old Testament system, the author, in the above passage, outlines what happened to them when they came to Christ in faith. Entering the Temple worship system was of great fanfare. That is because it was all external. It was tangible. Since coming to Christ is internal, we see less pageantry and, rather, more simplicity. Yet, that is what the physical eye sees. In the above text we find seven truths about our coming to Jesus that are beyond our imagination and though unseen, show that coming to Jesus is superior to any visible system:
1). We have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. The writer makes sure they know that their faith in Jesus brings them to a place better than the physical Jerusalem. When we are saved, our relationship with God is restored and we enter into a relationship with God in the heavens. Much more superior than an earthly city, in Israel.
2). We have come to innumerable angels in vestal gathering. The fanfare we miss with our physical eyes is still present with our spiritual eyes. When a sinner is converted angels rejoice in heaven. (Luke 15:7,10)
3). We have come to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven. Our salvation is one that gathers us with the rest of the saints. We are brought into the cloud of witnesses spoken in Hebrews 12:1-2. We are among those enrolled in heaven.
4). We have come to God, the judge of all. The actually Greek construction of this phrase is that we have come to the judge, the God of all. The point of the phrase is that we are no longer alienated from God and are no longer the enemies of God. We are now able to come to Him in full assurance of faith. (Romans 5; Hebrews 10:22).
5). We have come to the spirits of the righteous made perfect. Being declared perfect means we have been giving a righteousness not of our own. We have been giving the righteousness of Jesus while He took on our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21).
6). We have come to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant. All that has been written previously explains this. Jesus’ death and resurrection made Him the mediator for us between God and us. This is the new covenant that we rejoice in and live in with God.
7). We have come to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better world than the blood of Abel. This might be the more difficult phrase in all the above descriptions of our salvation. When Abel was slain by his brother Cain, we read in Genesis 4:10 that Abel’s blood cried out to God from the ground for vengeance. Jesus’ blood is better than Abel’s blood because Abel’s blood only cried for revenge. Jesus’ blood cries for regeneration through atonement.
Jesus is superior the Temple system because Jesus is the Son of God and gave His life for us.
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