But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises....Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.

Hebrews 8, 13

But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises....Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Hebrews 8:6, 13:2-21

This morning, my focus is DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotion, where John Piper seeks for believers to prepare our hearts for Christmas.  Today's Solid Joys daily devotion marks day 14 of Advent, and today John Piper describes how Jesus is not just the Great High Priest whose death and sacrifice on the cross supersedes and replaces the role of the Old Testament priests and sacrifices made by these priests (see post couple of days here and here), but He is also the Great High Priests who "makes [this final reality] real for His people."  Piper states that by Christ serving as a better mediator of a better covenant (secured by His blood), "[i]t means that God, according to the new covenant promises, brings about our inner transformation by the Spirit of Christ. And it means that God works this transformation in us through faith — faith in all that God is for us in Christ. The new covenant is purchased by the blood of Christ, effected by the Spirit of Christ, and appropriated by faith in Christ.  It means that God, according to the new covenant promises, brings about our inner transformation by the Spirit of Christ.  And it means that God works this transformation in us through faith — faith in all that God is for us in Christ."  God makes it real for us by working in us.  Piper wraps up the devotion sharing how we connect this to Christmas: "...the meaning of Christmas is not only that God replaces shadows with Reality, but also that he takes the Reality and makes it real to his people. He writes it on our hearts. He does not lay his Christmas gift of salvation and transformation under the tree, so to speak, for you to pick up in your own strength. He picks it up and puts it in your heart and in your mind and gives you the seal of assurance that you are a child of God."  Jesus is the greatest gift of all time!

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are a great God indeed - thank You for coming to save me and for providing the greatest gift of all time.  I am not deserving of such a gift as my sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus.  Help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message today and every day.

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.

Leviticus 24

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. Matthew 6:53-58

This morning, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - wrapping up chapter twenty-one - In God's Presence  - covering Leviticus 24:1-23, looking specifically at the fifth and final theme for the chapter - Christ Fulfills the Tabernacle Perfectly.  Here, the commentary summarizes Leviticus 24 by emphasizing how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament law.  It also looks at key aspects of the tabernacle as described in Leviticus 24 - the menorah (v1-4) and the bread (v5-9) - and how Jesus lives in us, and He is our light and our bread. The commentary refers us to the following scriptures (here and here) to reinforce these key points:

•  Matthew 5:17: Jesus came to fulfill the law, not abolish it
• John 1:14: Jesus became flesh and dwells within us
• John 8:12: Jesus is "the light of the world. Whoever follows [Him] will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
• John 6:35, 51-58: Jesus is the bread of life 
• Colossians 2:16-17, Hebrews 8:1-6: communion and the bread used during communion represents a symbol of taking Jesus into our lives; the commentary states that "[t]he meal is the physical shadow; fellowship with God is the spiritual substance." 

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who loves me and who is full of grace and compassion for me - You dwell within me and You feed me both physically and spiritually.  You also never leave or forsake me.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such love and grace and provision.  I sin...daily...including worry, etc. Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You. Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.  

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us[.]

Leviticus 13-15

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us[.]...John 1:14

This morning, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - continuing chapter thirteen - Unclean! - covering Leviticus 13-15, looking specifically at the fourth theme - Jesus Transforms Access to God's Presence.  Here, the commentary starts by looking at how believers today can apply the teachings in Leviticus (including 13-15).  It starts by stating that, for believers, "God has now established the new covenant in Jesus.  God's old covenant prepared for Jesus' coming and taught us principles that help us understand the person and work of Jesus.  God always knew that when the Messiah came and He initiated the new covenant, the old covenant would become obsolete." The commentary then encourages us to see "three ways Jesus transforms access to God's presence:

• Jesus eliminates ceremonial law" - we are encouraged to review the interactions Jesus had with the Jewish leaders and how they placed emphasis on rituals as an end in of itself vs Jesus teachings, using ritual cleansing as an example, where such ritual cleansings were not a matter of external cleanliness but of internal cleanliness and our heart condition with respect to a right relationship with God; Jesus also pointed out the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders who observed the ceremonial law but not the moral law; see also John Piper on the extent to which believers are to observe ceremonial law; see also Piper on the extent to which only worship, among all the activities done within the church, is an end in itself.  The commentary refers us to Matthew 15:1-9 and Mark 2:23-28 as a scriptural basis to underscore this point.
  
• Jesus graduates us from symbol to substance" - using Colossians 2:16-17 as a scriptural basis for this point, the commentary highlights how the ceremonial laws were a "shadow" of what was to come with Jesus and the new covenant, and Jesus is the substance.  The commentary writes: "[t]he old covenant law shows us our dirtiness in God's sight, and Jesus came to be the way we become clean--not just clean on the outside, but clean on the inside, and clean forever.  He graduates us from symbol to substance."
  
• Jesus incarnates God's presence" - whereas in the Old Testament, the tabernacle, Tent of Meeting, and temple were the places that symbolized the presence of God (even though it also writes about God's omnipresence), the commentary urges us to understand that with the new covenant God is always among and within us - residing in our hearts. We are referred to John 1:14 as the scriptural basis for this takeaway. 

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who loves me and who lives in my heart - thank You Jesus for walking with me in my journey and for sanctifying and refining me into more of Your image!  I am not deserving of such a blessing - my sins of worry, etc. continue.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.