New World Order

DEVOTION

HEBREWS

NEW WORLD ORDER

Heb 9:6-10

6 When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. 7 But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. 8 The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing. 9 This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. 10 They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings — external regulations applying until the time of the new order.

NIV

Just think about that, a new world order sounds pretty radical doesn’t it? Yet we are still seeing how the old order was all about the outside appearance, doing all the right things, the ceremonies that needed to be performed in order to enter into the presence of God, to be right  with him. But it was all a show, put on by God so the people could see they would never be able to be right with God, unless it was God who was making them right. External regulations applying until the time of the new order was the way back then, and it seems some still want those external regulations today. The list of do’s and don’ts is too long to include in a short devotion, but we all know the list. Why do we want all those external regulations anyway, when they no longer apply? Do we think they make us ceremonially clean, being a good Christian? Yes, we need to live a life pleasing to God, but the great pleasure he has is having us accept his Son as our Lord and Savior. Yes, we need to find out what pleases the Lord, and surely it is accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, accepting the new order, accepting the blood of Christ for our sins, and allowing us entrance into the Holy of Holies.  It is true that we should not continue to live in the manner we once did before accepting Christ. Yes, we should try to live our new a new way, so why would we yoke ourselves with the heavy burden of external rules and regulations? Do we think that because we do all the right things, live according to every precept in the Bible, do everything God declares in his Word that we will be right with him? Isn’t that much like the old order? Yes, we need to follow Christ, Yes, we need to have the beatitudes in our heart, we need to have the fruit evident in our lives, we need to express the gifts in the body of Christ, we need to wear the armor, we need to rid ourselves of and clothe ourselves with. But all that is response to the act of a loving God, it is not in order to make ourselves right with him. He knows we are not perfect; we do not have to pretend to be perfect. Our conscience can be completely clear of our human condition because of the blood of Christ, the final sacrifice, the new world order.