Today I am pondering Hebrews Chapter 7, and one special phrase in the following passage that especially stirs my spirit:

The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

Hebrews 7:18-19

The “former regulation” is, of course, the Old Covenant, the covenant of Moses, in which God established laws requiring bloody animal sacrifice to remain in good standing with Him. Those laws, and their performance of the sacrifices, were the source of their hope of being acceptable to God.

But we have a better hope!

Our hope is in Christ of course, because it is HIS sacrifice and HIS New Covenant by which we draw near to God.

I hope that amazes you as it does me. We can draw near to God!

Beloved, this is not a mere metaphor, it means what it says. How can we be sure?

Because in celebrating His final Passover meal with his disciples, Jesus lifted the third cup, the cup of redemption, and declared, “this cup is the New Covenant in my blood.”

At the same event Jesus told his disciples something incredibly amazing: that they would soon realize that that Jesus is in the Father, and that they would be in Jesus, and Jesus would be in them! (John 14:20, Luke 20:20)

How, I ask, can you get any nearer than that?

Of course, his incredulous disciples didn’t quite know what to do with that. Jesus continued on with this crazy talk, saying he would show himself to them, uniquely, in the new life to come. Why, they wanted to know, would Jesus show himself to them and not to everyone in the world?

His response also confirmed his previous statement:

Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

John 14:23

The God who could only be approached through bloody sacrifice, through the mediation of a holy priesthood (to keep the worshipper at a safe distance from God) — proclaimed in the sacrifice of His Son that His people would live in Him, and He in them. That is the epitome of nearness.

Do you still struggle with the idea of being able to draw near to God?

Is it still hard to accept the idea that He lives right with you, even making your heart His home? That not only can you can whisper and know He hears, but that He will whisper to your spirit, and you can hear? That the Lord is so near He can express His Presence right now in your life, with comfort and wisdom and His heart full of love for you?

If so, I hope this changes for you today. I’m so grateful for the labors of the author of Hebrews, who so long ago carefully inked pen to scroll, striving to convince you that in Christ, you can draw near to God. That God wants to draw near to us, and make His home with us, here and now. The author reinforced this again in his letter:

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,

20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,

21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,

22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10:19-23

Did the author of Hebrews nail you there?

If you struggle with the idea of living near God in this present life, verse 22 quite possibly identifies the barrier in your mind: a guilty conscience. A self-view still more focused on what you imagine makes you unacceptable or unworthy, than simply trusting God’s New Covenant promise, “they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.” A self-view that won’t let you relax into the nearness of God and enjoying Him. As if you have more faith in your human failings than in the cleansing blood of Christ.

Yes, that was blunt, but if you needed new words to see yourself by, I’m here to faithfully speak them. (And I have words for stuff like that only because I’ve been there, too.)

Hebrews makes the point that Jesus didn’t just cleanse you of your sin; His blood so effectively washes you in the eyes of God that He now invites — even calls you to live near Him. If you believe Him, you should have a clear conscience. You can rest in what Jesus did for you. If you shrink back from closeness to God because you just can’t let that stuff go, just know God isn’t joining you in that.

The only barrier to drawing near God, now lives in your mind.

Hebrews gives you the bottom line in verse 23: He who who promised is faithful.

What did He promise in the New Covenant? Forgiveness and a clean slate.

Just to make sure you believe it, the author of Hebrews repeats that New Covenant promise not once, but twice in His letter:

For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.

Hebrews 8:12

“Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

Hebrews 10:17-18

Believe God’s promise.

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