Friday, September 13, 2013
Hebrews 12:18-24 "You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them ... The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, 'I am trembling with fear.' But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel."
YOU HAVE COME TO MOUNT ZION
Here the inspired author of Hebrews contrasts Mount Sinai where Moses received the Ten Commandments with "Mount Zion" or "the heavenly Jerusalem" (a picture of the New Testament church). As one who has become a member of this church through faith in Christ, you need not tremble at the thought of standing in the presence of your holy God, for He has made you a fellow citizen with the holy angels and all His believers of the past, present, and future. God has conferred on you, for Jesus' sake, all the benefits and "perks" that accompany citizenship in His kingdom: Jesus' righteousness credited to you by faith, the peace of God that transcends all understanding in the forgiveness of your sins, the sure hope of eternal glory, and the blessed assurance (right now, as you pilgrim through this temporary world) that every facet of your life is being guided dependably by your heavenly Father for your ultimate good.
Paul sums it up like this: "He raised you up with Christ and seated you with him in the heavenly realms, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6-7).
How truly good your God is! How truly blessed you are to be one of His blood-bought saints!
