December 8th, 2021
One of the most beautiful things about the gospel of Jesus Christ is something you don’t hear talked about very often in mainstream Christianity and it’s a concept that’s been totally lost in the world. Purity. The Bible says in Hebrews 1:3 of Jesus:
“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
What does it mean that Jesus made a purification for sins? The power of our purity is something that God has laid on my heart recently and I just want to share a few thoughts.
First of all, purity is defined as “freedom from contamination.” It is the opposite of what the Bible calls defiled. The Bible makes clear that any type of sin will bring this defilement, staining, and contamination. In Mark 7:20, Jesus said “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” The truth is that sin is not just an outward action. It defiles us body, soul, and spirit, shaping the way we think and twisting our conscience. God created us to be in communion with Him, but sin brings a contamination that separates us from Him (Isaiah 59:1-2). God is utterly and completely Holy, set apart from all else. There is nothing and no one more holy than He is and throughout the Bible we see the truth that the holy and unholy cannot be mixed. There was always a separation between the clean and the unclean; the common and the uncommon; and the holy and the unholy.
This is why there were constant sacrifices in the Old Testament. It was necessary to bring a purification for the sins of the people. Hebrews 9:22 says, “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” The blood of the sacrifices purified from the stain of sin. However, it was something they had to do over and over again. In those offerings, the people were reminded of their sin every time they made the sacrifice and they had to do it continually. The truth though, was that those sacrifices could never actually take away the contamination of sin, because “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
However, there is blood infinitely more powerful than the blood of bulls and goats. There is one sacrifice in the history of humanity that fulfilled everything those sacrifices foreshadowed.
“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”
Jesus was the only one that could offer Himself for us, because He is the only one that was or will ever be completely spotless, pure, and undefiled. There is no contamination of sin, no shadow of darkness, no defilement in Him. He is purely light, love, hope and goodness. He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact imprint of the heart of the Father. He laid down his life, willingly shedding his blood, declaring the passionate love of God to a defiled humanity. When we accept that sacrifice, we are allowed to share in HIS purity and HIS righteousness, by HIS blood.
“For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:14).
How much more will the blood of Christ purify us? This is what God has been speaking to my heart about. See, the blood of Jesus allows us to be forgiven of sin when we believe in Him and confess Him as our Lord, but so many of us continue to live as though we’re still defiled, without even realizing it. There is a longing for purity in the heart every human being, whether they know it or not. There is a generation absolutely desperate for the purity of God’s presence, because we were made for purity.
So many of us accept God’s forgiveness and salvation, but we live as though God still sees us as the person we used to be. We think God is like us. When we forgive, we still remember the offense. God isn’t like us! Jesus didn’t die so that God could accept our sin, He died so He could remove it. Jesus “loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-26). When God looks at us, He doesn’t see who we used to be or any work that we’ve done to try to please Him. He sees the blood of His son, received by faith! The blood of Jesus has to power to purify our hearts from every memory, every condemning thought, and every stain that sin left. Jesus died to purify for Himself a bride and there is nothing sweeter than the purity of His presence. There is nothing more satisfying than the washing of the water of His word. It will purify your heart and mind and make you completely new. It’s more than just being forgiven of sin. It’s being washed so absolutely white, made so pure, it’s like the sin was never there! There is therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). We don’t have to live with any sense of the defilement and shame that sin caused, because of His blood. We can stand in confidence and purity, by the power of His blood. It’s what He died for! “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” He has set us free!
“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
What does it mean that Jesus made a purification for sins? The power of our purity is something that God has laid on my heart recently and I just want to share a few thoughts.
First of all, purity is defined as “freedom from contamination.” It is the opposite of what the Bible calls defiled. The Bible makes clear that any type of sin will bring this defilement, staining, and contamination. In Mark 7:20, Jesus said “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” The truth is that sin is not just an outward action. It defiles us body, soul, and spirit, shaping the way we think and twisting our conscience. God created us to be in communion with Him, but sin brings a contamination that separates us from Him (Isaiah 59:1-2). God is utterly and completely Holy, set apart from all else. There is nothing and no one more holy than He is and throughout the Bible we see the truth that the holy and unholy cannot be mixed. There was always a separation between the clean and the unclean; the common and the uncommon; and the holy and the unholy.
This is why there were constant sacrifices in the Old Testament. It was necessary to bring a purification for the sins of the people. Hebrews 9:22 says, “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” The blood of the sacrifices purified from the stain of sin. However, it was something they had to do over and over again. In those offerings, the people were reminded of their sin every time they made the sacrifice and they had to do it continually. The truth though, was that those sacrifices could never actually take away the contamination of sin, because “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
However, there is blood infinitely more powerful than the blood of bulls and goats. There is one sacrifice in the history of humanity that fulfilled everything those sacrifices foreshadowed.
“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”
Jesus was the only one that could offer Himself for us, because He is the only one that was or will ever be completely spotless, pure, and undefiled. There is no contamination of sin, no shadow of darkness, no defilement in Him. He is purely light, love, hope and goodness. He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact imprint of the heart of the Father. He laid down his life, willingly shedding his blood, declaring the passionate love of God to a defiled humanity. When we accept that sacrifice, we are allowed to share in HIS purity and HIS righteousness, by HIS blood.
“For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:14).
How much more will the blood of Christ purify us? This is what God has been speaking to my heart about. See, the blood of Jesus allows us to be forgiven of sin when we believe in Him and confess Him as our Lord, but so many of us continue to live as though we’re still defiled, without even realizing it. There is a longing for purity in the heart every human being, whether they know it or not. There is a generation absolutely desperate for the purity of God’s presence, because we were made for purity.
So many of us accept God’s forgiveness and salvation, but we live as though God still sees us as the person we used to be. We think God is like us. When we forgive, we still remember the offense. God isn’t like us! Jesus didn’t die so that God could accept our sin, He died so He could remove it. Jesus “loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-26). When God looks at us, He doesn’t see who we used to be or any work that we’ve done to try to please Him. He sees the blood of His son, received by faith! The blood of Jesus has to power to purify our hearts from every memory, every condemning thought, and every stain that sin left. Jesus died to purify for Himself a bride and there is nothing sweeter than the purity of His presence. There is nothing more satisfying than the washing of the water of His word. It will purify your heart and mind and make you completely new. It’s more than just being forgiven of sin. It’s being washed so absolutely white, made so pure, it’s like the sin was never there! There is therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). We don’t have to live with any sense of the defilement and shame that sin caused, because of His blood. We can stand in confidence and purity, by the power of His blood. It’s what He died for! “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” He has set us free!
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