15^th January

“He is the kind of High Priest we need because He is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honour in Heaven. Unlike those other high priests, He does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. BUT JESUS DID THIS ONCE AND FOR ALL WHEN HE OFFERED HIMSELF AS THE SACRIFICE FOR PEOPLE’S SINS.”

Hebrews 7:26-27

The most comforting thing about living a life for Christ, is that we do not worship a religion but a person, Jesus. It is for that reason that there is no long list of rules and regulations that we have to adhere to, in order to reach God. Yes of course God has set us guidelines of holy living in His word (the Bible), but the reason we are saved from our sins, is not because we have followed ‘the rules’ meticulously but rather because we have faith in Jesus Christ, and because we believe and accept that His victory on the cross, was more than enough to save us from our sins. It is because we believe that by the grace and the free gift of Jesus’ redeeming love, we have had our guilty verdict overturned and are pronounced innocent by the Judge, Almighty God.

Jesus, the perfect, sinless Saviour, offered Himself on our behalf to pay the debt we owed. Notice the words the writer of Hebrews uses, ‘Jesus did this once and for all’! Yes, you can smile! You can lift your voice in thanks! Jesus’ sacrifice was not something He had to do over and over again. It was an exchange between God and humanity. Our wretched and filthy sins were exchanged to clothes of righteousness. It was a ‘once and for all’ action.

It is in this forgiveness and acceptance that we can find our peace, joy and purpose in life. We are loved by the creator of this world. And it is by His grace that we can live for Him and love Him too.