Tetelestai - It is finished!

God's Word is fascinating! No matter how many times you read the very same story, its always new! Every time I study the passover its like I hear the story for the first time again. Its absolutely pregnant with truth - and such deep symbolism. It completely amazes me how much meaning can be packed into what would seem like a simple feast.

This past Sunday our church participated in Lord's supper and Brother Fred Wolfe spoke on Christ's death - the FINAL sacrifice. Its hard to really get my mind around it, but can you imagine living during the time of Christ's death and trying to understand the depth of what happened. All of history was changed at that moment. Everything they knew up to that point was now different. No sacrifice for their sins was necessary. All that was finished, the perfect lamb had given His life for the eternal payment that was due for our sins - MY sins.

Before Christ died, the Holy Spirit resided in the Temple behind a 10 inch thick curtain in an area called the Holy of Holies. No one was permitted to enter that area except the high priest - and only once a year. During the passover celebration a "perfect" lamb would be sacrificed for the sins of the people and the priest would take the blood from the lamb into the Holy of Holies and splatter the mercy seat with the blood of the sacrifice. This was the covering of their sins for the past year.

The part in this whole story that I had never caught before was incredible! I knew that God had given strict orders on exactly how the temple and mercy seat would be built...but I didn't know that it was an exact replication of the one in HEAVEN! Stay with me and I will try to explain this where it makes sense!

All those years, it was the people's responsibility to make the sacrifice of a perfect lamb to get the blood to cover their sins. We know that when Christ died, the ONLY perfect lamb, that job was no longer necessary because His blood would satisfy the payment for all time. What I had never realized was after Christ died, He entered Heaven and took His own blood to the REAL tabernacle - before the very presence of God himself! Christ sprinkled His blood on the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies in HEAVEN!

For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands,
which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself,
now to appear in the presence of God for us;
Hebrews 9:24

But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come,
with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands,
that is, not of this creation.
Not with the blood of goats and calves,
but with His own blood He entered the
Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
Hebrews 9:11-12

Is that way cool, or what!!!! Now when God looks at me, He sees me through Jesus' blood on that mercy seat! WOW!

Now each time we celebrate The Last Supper (which is a celebration of the passover) we are proclaiming Christ's death until he comes. NEVER LET US FORGET! IT IS FINISHED! He paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay!

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you:
that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which
He was betrayed took bread;
and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said,
“Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you;
do this in remembrance of Me.”
In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in My blood.
This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup,
you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26