Now when someone leaves a will, it is necessary to prove that the person who made it is dead. The will goes into effect only after the person’s death. While the person who made it is still alive, the will cannot be put into effect. [Hebrews 9.16-17]
Okay, I must admit, as I read further into Hebrews today, it occurred to me that to most thoroughly understand Jesus' role as our High Priest, we should first understand the original Tabernacle and its function. With this in mind, I will certainly be on higher alert as the new year begins and I start the One Year Chronological Bible readings over again - and I come to the descriptions of the Tabernacle!
That said, the passage noted above in Hebrews today stood out to me in light of what God has been speaking to me in recent days regarding my own life as it relates to His.
I have always heard this scripture and understood that it was God's way of confirming His covenant - Jesus' death, that is.
But what about us? What seals the deal on our part? Now, I understand that Jesus' death served a two-fold legal feat: as God, His blood fulfilled God's covenant commitment, and, as man, His blood fulfilled man's covenant commitment.
But, did Jesus' blood on behalf of man include every man without discretion? It indeed is available to every man, but man also has a role in it - he must accept by faith Jesus' work on his behalf.
So, what does "faith" accomplish in this exchange? Faith accepts with full confidence Jesus' death as its own. Faith is a dying to one's self in order to reap the benefit of the death of another. In other words, death is necessary on the part of all parties to fully complete a new covenant transaction.
I know this sounds crazy, but the point I wish to make here is that, in order to enjoy the benefits of the New Covenant Jesus died to secure, we too must die to ourselves. We must die to everything the world tells us makes us its relative - namely, all the base, natural, physical laws (the world's understanding of everything in light of itself rather than in light of God). Simply put, we must live by faith.
This further confirms to me what I have been experiencing recently in my statement that I do not need God in my life! No, my life does not need a "God accessory." What my life needs is to lose its self-identity and instead become an accessory to God. But I cannot become an accessory to God if I hold to my own life!
Jesus made it very clear when He said that if we were to follow Him, we must take up our Cross. In other words, we must embrace the death of our self-identity and instead embrace His identity. And, this further explains why we are to reflect Jesus with our lives. We ARE the continuation of Jesus in the earth today - the works He did, and greater works.
Jesus' ministry on earth was much more than a spectacular display of God's power in a window of time. Jesus' life and ministry on earth was a timeless demonstration of how our lives and ministries are to look on earth (again, the same works - and greater works).
But all our self-love, self-identity, self-preservation, and self-promotion will never accomplish a single thing like Jesus demonstrated. Our society of "self culture" is purely a strategy of God's enemy to keep God's creation from glorifying Him.
The root of self-love is a purely earthly goal of remaining alive and retaining identity. But that goal has nothing to do with God and His immediate and eternal plan for mankind.
Father, forgive me for allowing myself to participate in self-love as the world so forcefully promotes it. Once again today, I realize I don't need You in my life - but I need my life to be fully consumed in Yours.
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