All Praise to God Through Jesus

Happy Wednesday, Everyone. 😊 To be honest with you, it took me a bit to see where this blog should go. But, a bit of context in the verses that come before this passage along with God’s insight enlightened me – I think.

In the Old Covenant, atonement for sins was made through the blood of animals sacrificed by the priests. This had to be done on an ongoing basis because, as now, sin was not a one and done act. Once an animal had been sacrificed, it was taken outside the camp to be burned.

In the Old Covenant, the Law had to be kept perfectly, something no human (other than Jesus) is or was capable of accomplishing. So the sacrifices were necessary for the people to be reconciled with God – if even on a temporary basis.

Enter Jesus. Jesus kept the Law perfectly. Then, on our behalf, took on all of our sins and the sins of the entire world and was the Perfect Sacrifice. This Sacrifice happened outside of Jerusalem – outside of the Old Covenant.

With Jesus comes the New Covenant. And that New Covenant takes us outside the walls of the Old Covenant where we are with Jesus and reconciled to God. 

So, when we worship and praise, that can be interpreted to be a sacrifice to God through the Blood of Jesus. If you are like me, you don’t really think of worship and praise as sacrificial acts (unless you count getting out of bed early on Sunday morning to participate 😊). But the writer of this letter seems to believe that our praise may be equivalent to the sacrifices the Old Covenant people brought to God to be reconciled to Him.

When we believe in Jesus and are washed in His Blood, we “go outside” with Him into the New Covenant where we are free from the eternal consequences of our guilt and shame and sin.

As much as I love being outside and love Jesus and worship and praise, this really appeals to me. What do you think? Do you have a different perspective on this passage? I’d love to hear it …

Blessings and Love, 😊 Ceri