Hebrews 10:15-18

Hebrews 10:15-18 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.

John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This Word known as Jesus Christ came as a man in the flesh and lived among us. This divine Word encapsulates and represents God's righteousness, the fulfillment of the law. He alone lived a completely pure and holy life; He fulfilled God's demands on all flesh to do His Will. Without Christ's obedience, his righteousness, no man will see or abide with God, for outside of Christ, God's eternal judgment eventually comes upon all sin. However, since Jesus Christ is without sin, He will not face eternal judgment; consequently, we who are hidden WITH CHRIST IN GOD will not face death either. THIS SECOND COVENANT, ESTABLISHED IN AND THROUGH CHRIST, DEALT WITH THE VERY NATURE OF MAN, HIS REBELLIOUS SPIRIT that went its own way, spoiling the harmony of heaven by forsaking God's will and heeding the serpent's words: Did God really say?

The first covenant dealt with the outward man and depended on mankind's ability to keep his word, to follow through with a sacred promise, but mankind failed miserably. The sin that began in the garden corrupted the whole world, even nature. Human beings broke every commandment of the law, for their willful hearts and minds desired to perform the will of the flesh, not God's will. Since the first covenant could not change the heart, a change was required. Mankind needed a heart transplant to become conformable to God's image and to follow him, able to keep his word. Jesus was the healer, the greatest heart specialist ever to come to Earth. The covenant between God and man rested upon Jesus; the Son of God held the scalpel in his hand. When Jesus came to live as man, He came to fulfill completely the demands of the first covenant by living a righteous life. As THE WORD, righteousness incarnate, Christ fulfilled the Law; then He laid down his life for every man's sins for all time. By becoming death for us, He broke the hold of sin that leads to eternal death. He willingly sacrificed his life so the WORD could germinate within each of us.

Jesus Christ's sacrifice cleansed people from the inside out. As John told the church, But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7 KJV) Because of the cleansing power of the blood, the Holy Spirit can inhabit our earthly vessels, abide with us. He establishes THE WORD in us by teaching us all things. Since Christ the Word has already fulfilled God's demands on mankind, He is our substitute before God. As the fulfillment of the Law, Jesus Christ frees us by cleansing our hearts and our minds: forevermore He is our great SALVATION. Because of Christ's work, God says, Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more. As CHRIST ABIDES IN US AND WE IN HIM, our sins are buried in the deepest sea, remembered by God no more. And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. We need no other works or sacrifices added to Jesus' final work. Although Christians want to follow God wholeheartedly, we need not perform acts of contrition or deeds of goodness to please him. JESUS COMPLETELY PLEASED GOD at the cross; He pleases him now and forevermore. When Jesus was on the cross, He said, "IT IS FINISHED." And it is! Praise God, your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life!