sacrifice

Tuesday November 10, Hebrews 9: ^24-26For Christ didn't enter the earthly version of the Holy Place; he entered the Place Itself, and offered himself to God as the sacrifice for our sins. He doesn't do this every year as the high priests did under the old plan with blood that was not their own; if that had been the case, he would have to sacrifice himself repeatedly throughout the course of history. But instead he sacrificed himself once and for all, summing up all the other sacrifices in this sacrifice of himself, the final solution of sin. Worship is a secondary experience. It may reflect a primary experience in our lives or in the lives of others. Sometimes, what it reflects is a secondary experience that for us, at one brief moment became a primary experience. A primary experience is a direct encounter with God, a secondary experience is a celebration remembering that experience. Animal sacrifice was always a secondary experience. Since the time of Abraham sacrificing the ram instead of Isaac, it was the stepping stone that allowed humanity grasp, even if secondarily, a connection with God as well as a move away from the earlier norm of human sacrifice. When Christ comes into the picture, animal sacrifice is eliminated and humanity is one step closer to worship as a direct connection to God. Revelation tells us that the final act is the Holy City come down to us with God as it’s center and it’s light.